Bio
Kyle Denning is in his 10th season on the Iowa basketball staff, including his third as director of operations/assistant coach. The Iowa native previously served 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 program, including staff and team travel, supervision of student managers and serving as a liaison with compliance and student-athlete academic services.
Nine of the last 11 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 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 five seasons, Iowa combined to win 106 games, finished fifth place or better in the Big Ten standings four times, won a Big Ten Tournament title (2022), competed in three NCAA Tournaments and one NIT and won 21 games over AP Top 25 opponents.
Denning played for the Hawkeyes from 2011-15, where he played on four postseason teams, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams in 2014 and 2015. The Hawkeyes were also the NIT runners-up in 2013.
The Cedar Falls, Iowa, native 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 from the University of Iowa in May 2015 with a degree in leisure studies. He completed his master’s degree in sport and recreation management in May 2019.
Denning and his wife, Margaret (Creeden) Denning, have a two-year old son, Jacob, and twins — Sam and Gracie — who were born in October.