A 1988 graduate of St. John's University, Kyrk Peponakis was promoted to the position of head coach in September of 1995, after serving as an assistant to Norman Roberts for the previous four seasons. Since taking the helm of the Knights he has led the program to the N.Y.C.A.C. Championship in 2001-2002 and 2004-2005 while also securing the college's only three NCAA Division II Northeast Regional bids (2000-2001, 2001-2002 and 2004-2005).  His team's 22 wins in 2004-2005 are also a school record.

In 2005-2006 his team won 21 games, marking only the second time in school history that the Knights have won 20 or more games in a season. After 14 seasons, Kyrk has a record of 183-179, leaving him nine wins behind Queens College men's basketball's all-time leader in coaching wins, Robert "Doc" Salmons, who won 192 games over 20 seasons.

When the final buzzer sounded on December 12, 2003 at Aquinas Hall, the Knights had won more than just a basketball game. Their 64-59 win over St. Thomas Aquinas enabled Kyrk to become only the second coach in the 65 year history of Queens College men's basketball history to win 100 games.

With that victory, Kyrk also became the only Knights coach to win 100 games since the school began play in Division II in the 1983-84 season. After twelve years as head coach, he currently sports a career record of 179-156.