Danny Kaspar is in his eighth season at Texas State, after coaching 13 seasons as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin. Kaspar ranks No. 3 all-time as a head coach for Texas State men’s basketball with 119 career wins and is in his 30th season as a head coach, ranking among the Top 25 winningest active Division I coaches with an overall career record of 584-302. His .659 winning percentage ranks in the top 30 active NCAA Division I coaches. In the last four seasons (2016-2020), Kaspar has led the Bobcats to a total of 82 wins which is the sixth most of 23 NCAA Division I programs in Texas.
At Texas State, Kaspar has recruited four All-Sun Belt selections including Emani Gant (2014-15 second-team, 2015-16 third-team), Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (2016-17 first-team), Tre’Larenz Nottingham (2018-19 third-team), and Nijal Pearson (2017-18 third-team, 2018-19 first-team, 2019-20 first-team). Pearson, who is currently the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,122 points, became the first All-American for the program since joining the NCAA Division I ranks after being selected to the 2019-20 Lou Henson All-America Team, and is the first Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and first league MVP since 1999 (Donte Mathis, Southland Conference).
The Bobcats were on pace for another historic season in 2019-20 as they posted a 21-11 record, including a program-best 13-7 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. It was the program’s first back-to-back 20-win seasons in 43 years (1977-79) and they also have collected three 20-win seasons in a four-year span for the first time since 1957-61 which includes the NAIA National Championship team (1959-60) who finished 29-4 that year. The Bobcats also matched a program-record 15 wins at home (15-3) in the 2019-20 season, joining the 1993-94 squad who was a perfect 15-0 in Strahan Coliseum. Despite a 1-4 start in league play, the Bobcats finished second in the Sun Belt Conference and received a bye to the quarterfinals round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. In that game, Texas State downed Appalachian State 85-68 in front of 6,308 fans, the second-largest crowd in program history. With the victory, the Bobcats were set to advance to the semifinals where they would have faced No. 2 seed South Alabama, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2018-19 campaign was a historic season across the board for the program. Kaspar led his team to a 24-10 record, marking the highest win total since the 1993-94 season and a program best 12-6 record in league play since joining the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats tied for second in the Sun Belt and played their way to the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals game. The maroon and gold earned its second trip in three seasons to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and set new single-season records with 1,290 rebounds and 244 made three-point field goals. They made an appearance in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for 16 consecutive weeks, including their highest ranking at No. 17 on Jan. 21, and received four votes in the USA Today’s Coaches Poll throughout the season. The program also set a new attendance record with 44,772 fans that featured a game of 6,581 fans Feb. 2 vs. UTA, ranking as the highest attended men’s basketball contest at Strahan Arena [Coliseum].
In the 2017-18 season, Texas State recorded a six-game win streak, the longest in the last 14 years for the program, and eventually advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Pearson became the second highest scoring sophomore in Bobcat history with 502 points on his way to being named to the All-Sun Belt Third Team.
The 2016-17 season saw Texas State finish 22-14 to achieve the first winning season in program history in 14 years. The campaign also saw the Bobcats make its first postseason tournament appearance in 20 years with a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and reach the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to come within a victory of making the NCAA Tournament.
Texas State’s win total gave the program its second 20-win season in program history since becoming a Division I program and first since 1993-94. During the Bobcats’ run to the CIT quarterfinals, the team won its first postseason game as a NCAA program, picked up the first postseason win since 1980 and won two postseason contests for the first time since 1979. A trip to the SBC Tournament Championship game saw Texas State defeat ULM in the quarterfinals and shock No. 1 seed UTA in the semifinals before falling to Troy in the finals. It was the program’s first conference tournament finals appearance since 1999.
In the 2015-16 season, Kaspar guided the Bobcats to a 15-16 record and the program's second straight appearance in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Of the 15 victories 13 came against Division I opponents, the most by a Texas State team since the 2010-11 season. He became the 25th active head coach to reach the 500-career win mark when the Bobcats defeated Troy 78-57 at home on Mar. 3.
Kaspar is the third coach in program history to increase his win total in each of his first three seasons. The seven-win increase from his first year to year three is the largest in Bobcat history.
| The Danny Kaspar File |
|
| Coaching Experience |
| 1980-1981 |
Lamar |
Assistant Coach |
| 1981-1983 |
Midwestern State |
Assistant Coach |
| 1983-1986 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Assistant Coach |
| 1986-1991 |
Baylor |
Assistant Coach |
| 1991-2000 |
Incarnate Word |
Head Coach |
| 2000-2013 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Head Coach |
2013-Present
|
Texas State |
Head Coach |
|
| Head Coaching Record |
| 1991-2000 |
Incarnate Word |
219-52 |
| 2000-2013 |
Stephen F. Austin |
246-141 |
| 2013-Present |
Texas State |
119-109 |
|
| Coaching Notes |
| 25th Winningest Active Division I Coach |
| Second Winningest Active Division I Coach in Texas |
| Third Winningest Active NCAA Coach in Texas |
| Winningest Division I Coach in the State of Texas from 2007-13 |
| Second Winningest Division I Coach in the State of Texas from 2001-13 |
| Led Incarnate Word to six NAIA National Tournaments |
| Incarnate Word was ranked No. 1 at the end of the 1998-99 regular season |
| Won eight conference championships |
| Won six conference or district tournament championships |
| Earned a trip to the District 8 NAIA Finals |
| Posted an overall record of 219 -52, and that was the best record for any four-year institution in Texas for the decade of the 1990's. |
|
|
| Coaching Honors |
| Four-Time Heart of Texas Conference Coach of the Year |
| 1999 |
Sporting News National Small College Coach of the Year |
| 2008 |
Southland Conference Coach of the Year |
| 2009 |
Texas Assoc. of Basketball Coaches
Division I Coach of the Year |
| 2013 |
Southland Conference Coach of the Year
TABC Division I Coach of the Year
NABC District 23 Coach of the Year |
|
| Conference Championships |
| Stephen F. Austin |
2008, 2009, 2013 |
| Incarnate Word |
1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 |
|
| Conference Tournament Championships |
| Stephen F. Austin |
2009 |
| Incarnate Word |
1995,1997, 1998, 1999 |
|
| District Tournament Championships |
| Incarnate Word |
1993 |
The 2014-15 season saw Kaspar guide Texas State to a six-win improvement, the most in a single season since the 2006-07 year. The Bobcats also made their first appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, where they earned their first win in the event by beating UT Arlington 68-62 in the quarterfinals.
Defensively, Kaspar improved on an impressive 2013-14 season by lowering the Bobcats points allowed to 59.8 per game, which was the lowest average in a single season at Texas State since 1982-83. The 59.8 points per game were the fewest points allowed in the Sun Belt Conference and ranked among the top 23 defenses in the country.
In his first season at Texas State, Kaspar led the Bobcats to their best defensive performance in over 15 years and the third best performance since 1982-83, allowing just 66.0 points per game. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt in scoring defense. Their best single-game performance was at UL Monroe, when the Bobcats allowed just 36 points, the fewest by an opponent since 1985.
Prior to joining the Bobcat family, Kaspar spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin where he led the Lumberjacks to a 246-141 record that included seven, 20-win seasons and three Southland Conference Championship titles (2007-2009, 2012-13). Similar to much of what he is doing here in San Marcos, Kaspar took a struggling program at SFA that totaled 10 wins in two years before his arrival and made them a powerhouse in the Southland Conference by making nine conference tournaments in 13 seasons, including five trips to the tournament championship game.
Highlighting his time at SFA was the 2008-09 season where Kaspar led SFA to its first NCAA Tournament berth in school history after hoisting its second consecutive SLC title. In 2007-08, Kaspar’s team put together a 26-6 record that marked the program’s best in the school’s 25-year history as a NCAA Division I program at the time. The conference championship that year was the first for the Lumberjacks as a member of the SLC, and first since they won the Gulf Star Conference in 1986-87 under one of Kaspar’s mentors, Harry Miller. Kaspar served as an assistant coach at SFA under Miller from 1983 through the 1986 seasons. During his three seasons as an assistant, the Lumberjacks recorded two 20-win seasons, won 16 games in the other season, and never finished lower than third in the conference.
Shortly after he was named Texas State’s head coach, Kaspar received the CollegeInsider.com Hugh Durham Award, which is given to the nation’s top mid-major coach and was named the 2012-13 NABC District 23 Coach of the Year, Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ (TABC) Division I Coach of the Year, and Southland Conference Coach of the Year after leading SFA to its best NCAA Division I record at the time with a 27-5 overall record. The Lumberjacks won their third Southland Conference championship in six years and a berth to the NIT. It was the second time Kaspar was named SLC Coach of the Year (2007-08) as well as the TABC D-I Coach of the Year (2009). During his 16-year time at SFA, Kaspar recruited five Southland Conference Most Valuable Players as the head coach, and one MVP of the Gulf Star conference as an assistant.
A 1978 graduate of the University of North Texas, Kaspar is no stranger to winning. He spent nine seasons as the head coach at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. In his tenure, Incarnate Word posted an overall record of 219-52, which was the best record for any four-year Texas institution during the 1990s and recruited four players that was named to the NAIA All-American Team. In 1999, The Sporting News named him National Small College Coach of the Year.
His teams at Incarnate Word posted nine straight 20-win seasons, including five seasons where his teams won 25 or more games in a single campaign. Kaspar's Incarnate Word teams also won or shared five regular season conference titles as well as four conference tournament titles. He was tabbed the Heart of Texas Conference Coach of the Year four times during that span.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Kaspar served as an assistant for some of the legends of college basketball coaching. In addition to working under Miller, he also was on the staffs of Billy Tubbs (Lamar), Gene Iba (Baylor) and Dr. Gerald Stockton (Midwestern State).
During his one season with Tubbs at Lamar, the Cardinals won the Southland Conference title and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 1980. Under Iba, the Bears made three consecutive postseason tournament appearances including the NIT in 1987, the NCAA tournament in 1988, and another NIT appearance in 1990.
In 41 years as a collegiate coach, Kaspar has only been associated with six teams with losing records and a total of 32 of his players have gone on to play basketball overseas.
Kaspar and his wife, Deborah, have a daughter, Nicole, who graduated from Texas State in December 2013.
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