Luke Yaklich

Luke Yaklich (born May 8, 1976)

Teams coached: UIC Flames
UIC record: 47-70 (.402)
Overall record: 47-70 (.402)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  0
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  0

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2020-2024 UIC
2019-2020 Texas (assoc. HC)
2017-2019 Michigan (asst)
2013-2017 Illinois State (asst)

Luke Yaklich Facts

  • Luke Yaklich
  • Born May 8, 1976
  • Hometown: LaSalle, Illinois
  • Alma Mater: Illinois State University (BS, 1998) / Olivet Nazarene University (M.Ed, 2004 & 2009)
  • Played a LaSalle-Peru Township HS (IL) and then graduated from Illinois State in Bloomington, IL
  • Returned to his alma mater LaSalle-Peru in 1999 and spent that season as the head girls’ basketball coach
  • Coached the Sterling HS (IL) boys’ teams from 2000-03 and the LaSalle-Peru boys’ from 2003-07; also taught US History
  • Spent six seasons as the head coach at Joliet West/Joliet Township HS (IL), going 104-62 during that tenure
    • Led the Tigers to the IHSA Class 4A Lockport Regional title in 2013, his last with the program
  • Moved up to the collegiate ranks, spending four seasons on Dan Muller‘s staff at alma mater Illinois State
  • Left for Michigan in 2017, working as one of John Beilein‘s assistants for the next two years
    • Helped transform the Wolverines’ defense; finished as NCAA Runner-up in his first season on staff
  • When Beilein left for the NBA in 2019, Yaklich moved on to be Shaka Smart‘s associate head coach at Texas
  • Hired in March 2020 to be the head coach at UIC in his home state of Illinois; went 9-13 in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season
    • Yaklich went 47-70 in four seasons, including 24-41 in two years after joining the MVC in 2022; he was fired in March 2024

Luke Yaklich Coaching Tree

  • Dee Brown (Roosevelt)
  • Brock Erickson (Nichols College)