Stan Spirou Led SNHU to Impressive Heights Over a Dynamic Coaching Career

Posted: Jan 12, 2021

By the time Southern New Hampshire University joined the Northeast-10 Conference to begin play in the 2000-01 season, its men's basketball head coach, Stan Spirou, had already begun to cement his legend status. Spirou, who was named the head coach at then-New Hampshire College on July 2, 1985, was the winner of 334 games, six conference championships and four regional crowns during his 15-year tenure.

Spirou then bolstered his resume in the highly competitive NE10, winning 306 more basketball contests, capturing a pair of league titles and visiting another Elite Eight.

When all was said and done, Spirou had produced an illustrious 33-year career that included 640 victories, eight conference championships, five Elite Eight berths and a pair of Final Four appearances. Spirou finished with a 640-341 mark, good for a .652 winning percentage over 981 total games, including 524 of those in the NE10.

When he retired following the 2017-18 campaign, Spirou was the 11^th longest tenured active head coach in NCAA Division II, with only three others having been at the helm of their current team for longer than Spirou, and only one of those featuring a higher winning percentage. His 640 victories ranked 25^th against active NCAA coaches at all three divisions, while they placed him fourth amongst active Division II coaches and seventh all-time in DII. Spirou also walked away as the winningest coach in New Hampshire basketball history, regardless of division, while he ranked fourth all-time in New England, including first for DII.

Spirou, who averaged an impressive 19.4 victories per season over the length of his career, recorded 17 20-win campaigns and finished at .500 or better 27 times in 33 seasons. He led the Penmen to NE10 titles in 2012-13 and 2015-16, as well as a spot in the Elite Eight in 2014-15 when he was crowned the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year.

After winning 20 contests in his first year in the NE10, Spirou put together a record of 68-25 (.731) over three seasons from 2002-05, reaching the conference finals in both 2002-03 and 2003-04, while earning the first three of seven NCAA berths as an NE10 representative.

Spirou finally broke through for his first NE10 crown in 2012-13 and then returned the Penmen to regional and national prominence in 2014-15, posting a 24-8 record, capturing the NCAA East Region title and advancing to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in Spirou's tenure and seventh time in program history.

Spirou guided the Penmen to their second NE10 title in 2015-16, as the team went 23-11 and earned an NCAA Tournament berth. The Penmen made some history along the way, becoming the first team in the division-era ever to knock both No. 1 seeds out of the NE10 Championship, in addition to being the second team to win four games in a single NE10 postseason, with three of those coming on the road. SNHU then became the first 8-seed ever to topple a No. 1 seed in the East Regional, giving it four straight road wins in the postseason – all coming against top-five teams in the region. Spirou collected win No. 600 of his career with an 88-82 NE10 Championship first round win against American International College on Feb. 26.

The 2016-17 Penmen reached the conference title game for the third time in five years and earned NCAA Tournament appearance No. 20, as well as the 18^th and final for Spirou.

Spirou, while recognized as a legendary basketball coach with a penchant for being animated on the sideline, might be better known for his work within the Manchester, N.H., community and his penchant for helping individuals. Spirou would often aid former players with internships and job searches after their Penmen careers came to a close. He was also the ultimate advocate for student-athletes, staying diligent in his efforts for them to complete their education.

An avid golfer and trivia whiz, Spirou also served as the director of the popular New Hampshire All-Star Basketball Camp, which he ran every summer at SNHU, in addition to holding free basketball clinics in his native country of Greece every summer for a long period of time.

Spirou earned a basketball scholarship to Keene State College, where he lettered two years for the Owls. He received his bachelor's degree in history from KSC in 1974 and later earned a master's degree in school administration from Antioch University in 1979.

A resident of Manchester, Spirou was inducted into the Queen City Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He was also named to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in October 2009, inducted into the AHEPA Hellenic Athletic Hall of Fame in July 2011 and enshrined in the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester Hall of Fame in November 2015. He and his wife Patricia, a marketing professor in SNHU's School of Business, have three children and six grandchildren.

Stan Spirou Links of Note:

ABOUT THE NE10
Beginning its 40th anniversary season, the NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.

Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.