Kyle Denning is in his eighth season on the Iowa basketball staff, his first as director of operations after previously serving four years as assistant director of basketball operations and two seasons as a graduate student manager.
Denning handles many of the business and operational functions for the UI basketball program, including staff and team travel, supervision of student managers and serving as a liaison with compliance and student-athlete academic services.
Seven of the last eight seasons while on staff, the Hawkeyes have finished in the upper division of the Big Ten and had a first-team All-Big Ten honoree six times.
Since 2019, Denning and the Hawkeyes won 20+ games, have been a mainstay in the national rankings and NCAA Tournament, and captured the 2022 Big Ten Tournament championship.
Denning was a member of a staff that coached consensus first-team All-Americans each of the last three seasons: Luka Garza (2020 and 2021) and Keegan Murray (2022). Garza was also a two-time National and Big Ten Player of the Year, including winning the 2021 Naismith Trophy and John R. Wooden Award, while Murray was also the recipient of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and finalist for the Wooden and Naismith.
Over the last three seasons, Iowa combined to win 68 games — the fourth most over a three-year stretch in program history and most since 1987-89 — finished each season ranked in the AP Poll — something that has not been accomplished in over three decades — and won 17 contests over AP Top 25 opponents.
In addition to winning the Big Ten Tournament championship last season, Iowa finished fourth in the conference and won 26 games, the second highest single season win total in program history.
In 2021, Iowa won 14 Big Ten regular season games, its highest total since 1987. The Hawkeyes earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, tying its highest ever seed in tournament history.
Denning is a recent University of Iowa graduate and former Hawkeye basketball student-athlete (2011-15), playing on four postseason teams, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams in 2014 and 2015, and NIT runners-up in 2013.
The native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, was a walk-on for the first three years before earning an athletic scholarship his senior season. Denning played in 35 games at point guard, shooting at a 50 percent clip during his career.
Denning ran the team’s scout team for four seasons and earned the team’s Appreciation Award in 2015.
Denning graduated in May 2015, with a degree in leisure studies from the University of Iowa. He completed his master’s degree in sport and recreation management in May 2019.
Denning and his wife, Margaret, have an infant son, Jacob.