Kyle Denning is in his ninth season on the Iowa basketball staff, his second 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.
Eight of the last 10 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 seven times.
Since 2019, Denning and the Hawkeyes won 19+ 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 All-Americans each of the last four seasons: Luka Garza (first team in 2020 and 2021), Keegan Murray (first team in 2022) and Kris Murray (third team in 2023). Garza was also a two-time National and Big Ten Player of the Year, including winning the 2021 Naismith Trophy and 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 four seasons, Iowa combined to win 87 games, finished fifth place or better in the Big Ten standings, won a Big Ten Tournament title (2022), competed in the last three NCAA Tournaments, and won 20 games over AP Top 25 opponents.
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 (Creeden) Denning, have a one-year old son, Jacob.