NATCHITOCHES – Jacob Spielbauer was so upset by Northwestern State's dramatic upset of 15^th-ranked Iowa in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, he tried to shatter the TV screen in his college dorm room.

The Wapello, Iowa, native had no idea he would soon be helping coach the Demons, something he's done for the last 10 seasons.   

Spielbauer was joined by a half-dozen William Penn University basketball teammates watching the "Demons of Destiny" come from 17 points down in the last 8:29 to stun his beloved Hawkeyes 64-63 March 17, 2006, on Jermaine Wallace's fallaway 3-pointer with half a second to go.

They didn't take it gracefully.

"I threw an empty Gatorade bottle at the TV. I tried to break it," he recalls. "Stupid, but that's how upset we were. None of us knew who Northwestern State was. Iowa came off winning the Big Ten (Conference) Tournament, had a really good team. Everybody in the state was completely stunned, but once we calmed down, respectfully, we realized we lost to a very good team."

After his outstanding playing career ended a season later, Spielbauer's postgraduate plans took an ironic twist. As he searched for a spot as a graduate assistant coach, three different coaches he knew had ties to NSU assistant Jeff Moore. William Penn assistant Brandon Lenhart urged his star player to call Moore and Demons' head coach Mike McConathy.

In those initial conversations, the NSU-Iowa game came up "right away," said Spielbauer.

"I think the NSU guys brought it up. I sure didn't," he laughs. "But as things got worked out, I did let all my friends know where I was going. They all knew where Northwestern State is. Everybody in Iowa does."

Spielbauer's Demon days started auspiciously. His first season ended like his previous four had as a player – in the conference championship game, one of seven the Demons have reached in McConathy's 18 seasons in charge.

But that first year as a coach wasn't a breeze as Spielbauer, who was inducted in his alma mater's athletic hall of fame last October, adjusted from being the star to being a role player on the NSU staff.

"First-year GAs have a hard time, because we're not necessarily used to doing all the little things that need doing. It's an eye-opening experience. That first year was rough, and with a different coaching staff could have been really brutal," he said.

But McConathy, Moore and then NSU-assistant Mark Slessinger mentored their graduate assistants, through the inevitable stumbles, giving them opportunities to grow as they are earned.

Another former McConathy GA, LSU Alexandria women's coach Bob Austin, recalls preparing the scouting report for the Demons' November 2005 game at Mississippi State. When the game went to overtime, McConathy turned to Austin in a timeout and had him call a crucial play in a 76-75 win. Spielbauer remembers a similar experience win in his first season on the NSU staff, when McConathy asked him to draw up a last-second inbounds play in regulation that produced a Louis Ellis basket forcing overtime and leading to a victory.

Spielbauer's NSU mentors will be reunited Saturday afternoon when Slessinger, now head coach at New Orleans, brings his team into Prather Coliseum for a 3 p.m. contest.

"Coach Moore really helped me develop in those two years," says Spielbauer, whose progress was so striking that McConathy asked him to stay on staff after getting his master's degree, and found a way to make that possible.

It hinged on Spielbauer getting hired to teach some of the state's brightest young minds at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, housed on the NSU campus. It is ranked as the state's best high school, with a residential program offering top-ranked faculty and superior academics for the state's best students.

"We're at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit, and Coach McConathy got a call that a physical education teaching job was open at the Louisiana School. He said if I could get that job, I could also help out on our coaching staff. Once you get to the major college level, you want to stick around," he says.

While beginning his tenure at LSMSA, he was an administrative aide to McConathy in that following year, then promoted to director of operations a season later.

Slessinger's departure to become UNO's head coach six years ago was also a major career break for Spielbauer.

"I'm fulltime teaching PE at the Louisiana School, and honestly wondering if I would ever move up (on the NSU staff) or did I need to move somewhere else, or do something else," he says. "I thought, maybe I want to be a physical therapist, and I took some biology classes in the summer to move in that direction. Then Sless took the UNO job and I got bumped up."

He remained on the LSMSA faculty, where he continues to teach classes in physical education, weight training, lifetime sports, core exercise and health. He works with Dale Clingerman, who is the school's coordinator of athletics and recreation and has been key in Spielbauer's development.

"I've really learned over eight years how to develop relationships with those talented kids. I wasn't great at it at first," he admits, even though he was an outstanding student himself, twice earning Academic All-America honors at William Penn. "Dale has been a great help.

"Along with teaching, I think my greatest role is getting kids to be confident in themselves to be in a PE class again. Some are, but a lot of them come from schools where they weren't comfortable in a PE class because they weren't as skilled athletically," says Spielbauer. "Getting these kids to have fun, be themselves, and be active is the goal. It's also a stress reliever for them. They're not coming to my class to do the amazing things they do in their other classes. They're very gifted young people."

Although some LSMSA students aren't athletically inclined, he's found them easy to coach.

"I've never had an issue with a kid not doing anything I asked. They want to succeed. It's fun working with them," says Spielbauer.

Working for two bosses has also been a pleasure. His first seven years at LSMSA were under executive director Dr. Pat Widhalm, who moved on last summer, replaced by NSU vice president Dr. Steve Horton.

"Dr. Pat, Dr. Horton, Coach McConathy are really similar. They delegate a lot, trust in the people under them. They are morally strong, well respected, well liked people, great family men," he says. "You don't take that for granted."

His unconventional dual role has made him a better basketball coach, says Spielbauer.

"I've learned how to simplify things because some of the Louisiana School kids really have no sports background. And honestly, that helps me be more effective with our players. You think that Division I players have great basketball aptitudes, but that's not always the case, and there's not a player who can't get a lot better and learn a lot more about the game."

One most important evolution has also impacted his coaching style. Spielbauer and his wife Shicarra, a former Demon Dazzler dancer, became parents to darling Maci Jean on April 22, 2014.

"I'm more patient and understanding, and seeing things from the other side," he says. "Being a dad has been the greatest thing in my life, and it's helped me be a better teacher, which helps me be a better coach."

It figured that a guy whose dad and two aunts preceded him in the William Penn athletic hall of fame would have a career in athletics. His father has coached basketball in Iowa for over 32 years at Wapello High, where Jacob's mother is a chemistry and biology teacher. Along with teaching and coaching, much of the Spielbauer family tree is in the medical field.

"That was a direction I thought about, but I'm doing what I love," he says, "and I'm really blessed to be working for Coach McConathy.

"He allows you to coach and contribute in every aspect, which isn't the case everywhere. Some head coaches are really controlling and limit what the assistants do and even say to the players and others. Here it's a family atmosphere and it's about developing the guys in all aspects, not just basketball.

"The community involvement, the big emphasis on our camps to help younger players develop, the focus on academics and graduating players, that's as important in our program as winning championships," he says.

Now, Spielbauer's role includes producing scouting reports, practice and game coaching, coordinating the team's expansive equipment needs, overseeing housing for players, and managing most of the camps staged by the Demon staff. As he looks ahead, hoping to become a head coach, possibly back in the Midwest near his family, at any level of college basketball, he knows the lessons he's learning will position him for success.

"Coach McConathy's record is amazing, all those wins. Having two wins in the NCAA Tournament, and the coaches he beat – Steve Alford is now the UCLA coach, and Gregg Marshall is at Wichita State. Those are a couple of the best in the business. So is Coach McConathy," he says.

His NSU experience is filled with priceless memories, topped by helping the 2013 Demons reach the NCAA Tournament.

"Small details, like the lush carpet leading to the floor, the team escorts from the hotel to the arena, the team hosts, the entire scene. There's nothing like being part of March Madness."

And for a child of the Midwest, entering fabled Assembly Hall at Indiana to play one of the country's most accomplished programs, the Indiana Hoosiers, is a memory he savors.

"When you grew up watching Bob Knight coach there, and Iowa was a huge rival of his, that experience coaching against Indiana was special."

One ultimate stop remains on his Demon bucket list. Spielbauer is still a devoted Iowa Hawkeye fan, but he would be thrilled to be involved in a rematch of the 2006 NCAA Tournament classic.

"I couldn't find enough tickets if that ever happened, that's for sure," he says. "And it would be the only time I'd want Iowa to lose."