List of Morehead State Eagles men's basketball head coaches

Last updated October 02, 2024

The following is a list of Morehead State Eagles men's basketball head coaches. There have been 15 head coaches of the Eagles in their 95-season history.^[1]

Morehead State's current head coach is Jonathan Mattox. He was hired as the Eagles' head coach in April 2024,^[2] replacing Preston Spradlin, who departed from the program to coach at James Madison University.

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1	1929–1936	George Downing	7	51–45	.531
2	1936–1943 1945–1953	Ellis T. Johnson	15	179–161	.526
3	1943–1945	Len Miller	2	26–10	.722
4	1953–1965	Bobby Laughlin	12	166–120	.580
5	1965–1969	Bob Wright	4	58–38	.604
6	1969–1974	Bill Harrell	5	68–59	.535
7	1974–1978	Jack Schalow	4	45–56	.446
8	1978–1987	Wayne Martin	9	130–120	.520
9	1987–1991	Tommy Gaither	4	52–64	.448
10	1991–1997	Dick Fick	6	64–101	.388
11	1997–2006	Kyle Macy	9	105–145	.420
12	2006–2012	Donnie Tyndall	6	114–85	.573
13	2012–2016^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Sean Woods	5	77–70	.524
14	2016–2024^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Preston Spradlin	7	140–109	.562
15	2024–present	Jonathan Mattox	1	0–0	–
Totals		15 coaches	95 seasons	1,275–1,182	.519
Records updated through end of 2023–24 season Source^[1]

↑ Woods resigned on December 15, 2016 after an investigation into alleged abuse of his players. Preston Spradlin served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.^[3]
↑ After serving as interim head coach for the end of the 2016–17 season, Spradlin was named permanent head coach in March 2017.^[4]

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The 2017–18 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by first-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 8–21, 4–14 in OVC play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

The 2018–19 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by second-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 13–20, 8–10 in OVC play to finish in fifth place. They defeated SIU Edwardsville in the first round of the OVC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Austin Peay.

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The 2019–20 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by third-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 7–11 in OVC play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the OVC tournament to Tennessee State.

The 2020–21 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fourth-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 23–8, 17–3 in OVC play to finish in 2nd place. They defeated Southeast Missouri State, Eastern Kentucky, and Belmont to be champions of the OVC tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to West Virginia.

The 2021–22 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The 2022–23 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. With a victory against Eastern Illinois on February 22, 2023, the Eagles clinched their first outright OVC regular season title since 1984. They lost to Southeast Missouri State in the OVC tournament semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Eagles received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, the school's first trip to the NIT. There they upset No. 1-seed Clemson in the first round before being losing to UAB in the second round.

The 2023–24 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by seventh-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

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References

1 2 "2023-24 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Morehead State Athletics. p. 24-25. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
↑ "Morehead State Welcomes Jonathan Mattox Back to Lead Men's Basketball Program". Morehead State Athletics. April 4, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
↑ Medcalf, Myron; Goodman, Jeff (December 15, 2016). "Morehead State coach Sean Woods resigns following investigation into physical abuse". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 24, 2023.
↑ "Spradlin spreads wings for Eagles, hired as Morehead coach". The Daily Independent . March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2023.

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[WoodsSpradlin-4] Woods resigned on December 15, 2016 after an investigation into alleged abuse of his players. Preston Spradlin served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.^[3]

[SpradlinInterim-6] After serving as interim head coach for the end of the 2016–17 season, Spradlin was named permanent head coach in March 2017.^[4]

[RecordBook-1] 1 2 "2023-24 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Morehead State Athletics. p. 24-25. Retrieved October 1, 2024.

[MattoxHired-2] "Morehead State Welcomes Jonathan Mattox Back to Lead Men's Basketball Program". Morehead State Athletics. April 4, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.

[WoodsResigns-3] Medcalf, Myron; Goodman, Jeff (December 15, 2016). "Morehead State coach Sean Woods resigns following investigation into physical abuse". ESPN.com . Retrieved March 24, 2023.

[SpradlinHired-5] "Spradlin spreads wings for Eagles, hired as Morehead coach". The Daily Independent . March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2023.

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v t e Morehead State Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Button Auditorium (1929–1956) Wetherby Gymnasium (1956–1981) Ellis Johnson Arena (1981–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25