APSU BASKETBALL

Coach Dave Loos to take leave from Austin Peay State University, focus on health

Autumn Allison
aallison@theleafchronicle.com

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.— Long after the final basket was made, the crowd had cleared the Dunn Center and Belmont had left the building, longtime Austin Peay men’s basketball coach Dave Loos remained seated.

After completing both of his post-game interviews following the Ohio Valley Conference opener loss to the Bruins on New Year’s Eve, Loos sat quietly, hands clasped, staring down at the table as the game-day tear-down process took place around him.

The court at Austin Peay's Dunn Center was named in honor of men's basketball coach Dave Loos in 2007.

During those 20 minutes he waited before walking out the gym that night, Loos looked like the world weighed on his shoulders. And it probably did.

Less than a week later, Loos would announce he's taking a leave of absence to take care of his health.

Since the summer, Loos has been in a precarious balancing act between coaching and fighting cancer and all the weakness, sores and weight loss that comes with it. The man known as the “Dean of the OVC” was adamant from the beginning that cancer wasn’t going to bench him, missing only 18 days following his surgery to remove a malignant tumor attached to the outside of his colon.

But the scale has tipped. And while Loos still isn’t benched, weeks of chemotherapy compiled with the grind of the season has required one of the nation’s longest active tenured coaches to step away from coaching to focus on his health.

Loos is officially taking the leave of absence starting with Thursday night’s game at Tennessee Tech. The decision was announced by the athletics department Thursday morning.

“Our primary concern right now is the health of Coach Loos," said Austin Peay Athletics Director Ryan Ivey in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

Current assistant head coach Jay Bowen will fill in as interim during Loos’ leave.

“I have complete confidence in Coach Bowen and our entire coaching staff to lead our program during this time,” Ivey said in the statement.

Over his 27-year-tenure at Austin Peay, Loos has managed to secure four conference tournament titles, including last year’s miracle run that saw APSU become the first No. 8 seed to win the title, tying the record for most tournament victories in OVC history. He is the only coach to be named OVC coach of the year five times, the only APSU coach to produce NBA players and is the program’s longest serving coach and all-time wins leader.

Prior to taking over the position at APSU in 1990, Loos spent four years as the top assistant at his alma mater University of Memphis and had a four-year stint as the coach of Christian Brothers College, where he recorded three straight 20-win campaigns.

The Missouri native played both basketball and baseball for Memphis and was inducted in the athletic Hall of Fame in September 2002. He is also a member of the Saint Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

It is unknown at this time how long Loos’ absence will be.

Reach Autumn Allison at aallison@theleafchronicle.com or 931 245 0248. Follow her on Twitter: @Aallison25.