Daniel Joseph Kaspar (born November 16, 1954) is a former American college basketball coach. Kaspar served as men's basketball head coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, Stephen F. Austin State University, and Texas State University. He has also been an assistant coach at Lamar, Midwestern State and Baylor.

Early life

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Kaspar graduated from Mary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi in 1973. He then attended Texas A&I University, a NAIA program at the time, and played shooting guard on the Texas A&I Javelinas basketball team for one year. He then transferred to McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas and North Texas State University. On the North Texas State Mean Green basketball team, Kaspar averaged 7 points as a junior in 1976–77 and 4.2 points as a senior in 1977–78. Kaspar graduated from North Texas State in 1978.

Coaching career

Kaspar began his career as an assistant coach to Billy Tubbs at Division I Lamar University in the 1979–80 season, a season when Lamar finished the regular season first in the Southland Conference and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1980, Kaspar became an assistant coach at Division II Midwestern State. Kaspar then became an assistant on Harry Miller's staff at Stephen F. Austin in 1983 for three seasons, including two seasons in Stephen F. Austin's transition from Division II to Division I (1984–1986).

From 1986 to 1991, Kaspar was an assistant to Gene Iba at Baylor.

Incarnate Word (1991–2000)

Kaspar was head coach at the NAIA program Incarnate Word for nine seasons from 1991 to 2000 and had a 219–52 record there. In his tenure at Incarnate Word, Kaspar earned four Heart of Texas Conference Coach of the Year honors and led Incarnate Word to five regular season conference championships.

Stephen F. Austin (2000–2013)

In 2000, Kaspar returned to Stephen F. Austin to be head coach, having previously been an assistant coach from 1983 to 1986. Kaspar had a 246–141 record at Stephen F. Austin. Stephen F. Austin had six seasons with 20 or more wins under Kaspar's tenure, four regular season Southland Conference championships, and made the 2009 NCAA tournament after winning the Southland tournament that year. Additionally, Stephen F. Austin appeared in the National Invitation Tournament in 2008 and 2013.

Texas State (2013–2020)

Kaspar became head coach at Texas State in 2013. Texas State finished 8–23 in Kaspar's first season. In seven seasons he has compiled a 119–109 record and lead his team to two CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament appearances.

Investigation and resignation

In June 2020, Texas State University initiated an investigation into allegations that Kaspar had made racially insensitive remarks to players. The investigation was launched after former player Jaylen Shead stated Kaspar dropped "a series of N-bombs around African-American players." Shead went on to reveal several of the racially charged remarks aimed at his African-American and European players, including saying that Shead was "running like the cops are behind him" during drills, telling another Black player he would be working at Popeyes due to his grades, and threatening to deport a European player if he kept "messing up." On September 22, 2020, Kaspar announced his resignation from Texas State.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Incarnate Word Crusaders (Heart of Texas Conference) (1991–1999)
1991–92Incarnate Word21–96–43rd
1992–93Incarnate Word28–48–21stNAIA Division I First Round
1993–94Incarnate Word24–67–31stNAIA Division I First Round
1994–95Incarnate Word26–88–63rdNAIA Division I First Round
1995–96Incarnate Word20–911–31st
1996–97Incarnate Word25–414–22ndNAIA Division I First Round
1997–98Incarnate Word26–512–2T–1stNAIA Division I Elite Eight
1998–99Incarnate Word28–29–11stNAIA Division I Second Round
Incarnate Word Crusaders (NAIA independent) (1999–2000)
1999–00Incarnate Word21–5
Incarnate Word:219–52 (.808)75–23 (.765)
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (Southland Conference) (2000–2013)
2000–01Stephen F. Austin9–176–1410th
2001–02Stephen F. Austin13–1510–10T–5th
2002–03Stephen F. Austin21–816–42nd
2003–04Stephen F. Austin21–910–64th
2004–05Stephen F. Austin12–156–109th
2005–06Stephen F. Austin17–129–7T–4th
2006–07Stephen F. Austin15–148–8T–3rd (West)
2007–08Stephen F. Austin26–613–31st (West)NIT Opening Round
2008–09Stephen F. Austin24–813–31st (East)NCAA Division I First Round
2009–10Stephen F. Austin23–911–51st (East)
2010–11Stephen F. Austin18–119–7T–3rd (West)
2011–12Stephen F. Austin20–1212–42nd (West)
2012–13Stephen F. Austin26–316–21stNIT Opening Round
Stephen F. Austin:246–141 (.636)139–83 (.626)
Texas State Bobcats (Sun Belt Conference) (2013–2020)
2013–14Texas State8–234–1410th
2014–15Texas State14–177–139th
2015–16Texas State15–168–12T–7th
2016–17Texas State22–1411–7T–3rdCIT Quarterfinals
2017–18Texas State15–187–11T–9th
2018–19Texas State24–1012–6T–2ndCIT First Round
2019–20Texas State21–1113–7T–2ndPostseason cancelled[1]
Texas State:119–109 (.522)62–70 (.470)
Total:584–302 (.659)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

1.^ Cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic