FOLLOW @CoachPSpradlin on Twitter
Preston Spradlin completed his sixth season as full-time head coach in 2023-23 after spending the majority of the 2016-17 season as interim head coach. He has been at MSU for eight seasons overall and in his 13th year working with a Division I program.
On March 16, 2017, he was named the 14th men's basketball head coach in program history.
Spradlin has led Morehead State to three consecutive 20-win seasons, an occurrence that had only happened once before in program history. He guided the program to its first outright OVC regulsr-season title in 39 years in 2022-23. The Eagles also appeared in the NIT for the first time ever and won a first-round game at ACC power Clemson. Spradlin was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 18 Coach of the Year as well as the OVC Coach of the Year. Spradlin helped lead Mark Freeman to being crowned OVC Player of the Year and First-Team All-OVC as well as Alex Gross becoming just the second Eagle ever to win OVC Defensive Player of the Year.
Spradlin led the Eagle program to prominence in 2020-21, winning the program's first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship in 10 years and leading the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 record. For his efforts, along with the staff's work, he was named OVC Coach of the Year. He was also named the NABC District 18 Coach of the Year as well as to the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Finalist list and the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Finalist list.
Some of Spradlin's accomplishments leading the 2020-21 team included: 23 wins - the most since 2015-16, a 19-2 record in the 2021 year, most wins in the state of Kentucky, tied for seventh most wins in the nation, a 12-game win streak - tying for second longest streak in program history, 17 OVC wins - the most in program history, eight OVC road wins - the most in program history, eight overall road wins - the most since 2015-16 and a 12-1 (92%) home record - the best since 2010-11.
Morehead State also defeated every OVC opponent for first time since 2010-11. The Eagles were also ranked in the top 40 in more than 10 stats categories for Division I. In addition, he led MSU to the largest one-year turnaround from 2019-20 to 2020-21 in the NET rankings and the KenPom rankings.
Spradlin helped coach Johni Broome to multiple conference and national honors, including OVC Freshman of the Year and to the Kyle Macy Freshman All-American Team.
He continued 2020-21's successes into 2021-22, where the Eagles once again won 23 games (23-11) and advanced to the OVC Tournament Championship game. Spradlin's team ranked among the best in the league in defense and rebounding again, with Broome and Ta'Lon Cooper both earning First-Team All-OVC.
He is only the second head coach in program history to lead teams to back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Spradlin officially took on the interim head coaching position on Dec. 15, 2016, nine games into the 2016-17 season after the Eagles opened with a 2-7 record. He then guided Morehead State to a 12-9 record the rest of the way and a 10-6 mark in OVC play, which ranked second in the league.
At the conclusion of the season, he finished second to Belmont's Rick Byrd in OVC Coach of the Year voting.
Under his guidance, Xavier Moon, DeJuan Marrero, Jordan Walker, LaMontray Harris, Broome, Ta'Lon Cooper, DeVon Cooper, Skyelar Potter, Mark Freeman and Alex Gross have been named All-OVC.
During his three years as assistant coach, his time was spent in a variety of areas, including recruiting, scouting, practice/game preparation and academics monitoring.
Following the 2015-16 season, Spradlin was named to the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) 2016 Under Armour 30-Under-30-Team, which recognizes 30 men's basketball coaches across the country that are under the age of 30.
In 2015-16, he helped lead the Eagles to a 23-14 overall record and 11-5 Ohio Valley Conference mark, along with a second place finish in the College Basketball Invitational.
With their trip to the championship series of the CBI, Morehead State won four postseason games, the most in program history. MSU's 20-win season marked the seventh in program history. The 23 wins marked the most victories for the Eagles since they finished the 2010-11 season at 25-10.
He helped the Eagles to a 17-17 overall record and 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference mark in 2014-15, despite over half the team suffering significant injuries.
Spradlin came to Morehead State after five seasons with national power Kentucky. He spent two campaigns (2009-11) as a graduate assistant with the Wildcats before three years as the assistant director of operations (2011-14). His duties included film breakdown, creating and maintaining playbooks, assisting with opponent scouting and day-to-day operations.
In his final post at Kentucky, Spradlin was responsible for film exchange and created a variety of opponent and self-scouting edits for coaches and players. He also worked with personnel from the National Basketball Association, while assisting in other aspects of basketball operations.
Spradlin, a native of Pikeville, Ky., served as director of the John Calipari Basketball Camps and Clinics from 2012-14. He was the primary contact for satellite tour stops across the state of Kentucky and coordinated the first-ever Basketball Fantasy Experience for UK's head coach.
Spradlin worked with the Dominican Republic National Team during the summers of 2011 and 2012. The squad reached its highest finish and won the bronze medal in the Tournament of the America's Olympic Qualifier in 2011 and came within one game of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.
Spradlin earned a bachelor's degree in history from Alice Lloyd (Ky.) in 2009 and master's degree in kinesiology and health promotion, with a sports leadership emphasis, from Kentucky in 2011. He was a four-year men's basketball letter winner for the NAIA Eagles from 2005-09.
Spradlin, a 2005 graduate of Betsy Layne High School (Ky.), is married to the former Misty Tackett. The couple has one son, Bentley, and one daughter, Aubrey.
