Brentwood, TN – Ten Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball legends, including head coach Dave Loos, were named to the Ohio Valley Conference 75th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Team, Friday.
The 2022-23 academic year marked the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley Conference. As part of the celebration of the league’s storied accomplishments, a committee working with current and former schools captured the “best-of-the-best” in each sport and marked the top athletes in league history with the 75th Anniversary Teams across all OVC sports.
The Governors’ nine selections on the OVC’s 75th Anniversary Team are tied with Belmont for the third most, while Loos was one of 10 coaching greats recognized by the league.
Altogether, Austin Peay State University’s 10 selections combined for an OVC-record 420 coaching victories, 20 OVC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, six OVC Players of the Year, five OVC Coaches of the Year, 23 All-OVC selections, the OVC’s all-time scoring average leader, two of the top nine OVC leaders in rebounds, the second-most blocks in the OVC, the top four all-time leading scorers in program history, and much more.
Dave Loos | 1990-2017
“The Dean of Ohio Valley Conference basketball coaches,” Dave Loos was named Austin Peay State University’s 11th head men’s basketball coach, on July 14th, 1990. From then until his final game in February 2017, he won 420 games and nine OVC titles, coached 39 All-OVC players and two All-Americans, and had 30 student-athletes that went on to play professionally. Loos also served as APSU’s Athletics Director from 1997-13, leading the APSU Govs to 33 OVC Championships in that span.
Loos coached six of nine Governors named to the OVC’s 75th Anniversary Team, including Bubba Wells, who became the third player in program history to earn All-America honors – and the first since Fly Williams in 1974 – following the 1996-97 season.
A 2018 OVC and 2008 Austin Peay State University Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Loos retired as the all-time winningest head coach in conference and program history, with 257 of his 420 wins coming in OVC play.
Terry Taylor | 2017-21
A two-time OVC Player of the Year, four-time First Team All-OVC selection, league record 17-time OVC Player of the Week, and Austin Peay State University’s all-time leader in points (2,507), field goals (967), field-goals attempted (1,804), games started (127), and minutes played (4,368), it seemed as if Taylor rewrote the record book each time he took the court.
The third all-time leading scorer and eighth all-time leading rebounder in OVC history, Taylor is the only player in league history to rank in the top 10 in each category. When the Bowling Green, Kentucky native’s collegiate career came to an end, he was the nation’s active career leader in total rebounds, rebounder per game, total field goals, and double-doubles.
After signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Indiana Pacers in 2021, Taylor became the fifth APSU basketball alum to appear in an NBA/ABA game and the first since Trenton Hassell in 2010.
Taylor has appeared in 64 NBA games during his professional career while playing with the Pacers and Chicago Bulls, earning eight starts, and averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He is currently on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls.
Charles “Bubba” Wells | 1994-97
From his two OVC Championships and three First Team All-OVC selections to his record-breaking senior season, there are not many categories that Wells’ name isn’t mentioned in the record book.
Wells averaged 11.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a freshman in 1993-94 and became the second player in program history to earn OVC Freshman of the Year honors (Rick Yudt, 1991). He then averaged a team-best 19.3 points and 7.6 rebounds as a sophomore before finishing third in the nation with 26.3 points per game as a junior.
Wells’ 789 points and 26.3 points per game in 1996 rank second and fourth in program history, respectively, and helped lead APSU to its second-ever OVC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. The following season, the Russellville, Kentucky native averaged a program-record 31.7 points per game in 19 appearances as a senior, earning Third Team All-America honors.
Wells was the third player in program history drafted into the NBA after being selected in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks in 1997. After spending the 1997-98 season with the Mavericks, he played professionally until 2005, before serving as an assistant on Loos’ coaching staff from 2005-15.
James “Fly” Williams | 1972-74
The OVC all-time leader in points per game and the only APSU Gov with multiple All-America honors (having nine), Fly Williams put Austin Peay State University basketball on the map and took it to unseen heights in just two seasons in Clarksville in 1972-74.
Despite playing in an era that predated the three-point line and dunking, Williams averaged 29.5 points per game as a freshman – which was an NCAA record for 16 years – to become the first OVC Player of the Year in program history. His 854 points still are the most in a single season by an APSU Gov, while his 27.5 points per game as a sophomore are the second-most in program history.
Despite playing just two seasons in Clarksville before being selected in the ninth round of the 1976 ABA Draft, Williams ranks 12th all-time with 1,541 points. In addition to being the single-season points leader, Williams also holds the single-season record for made field goals (360) and attempted field goals (800).
Williams has the only two 50-point games in program history and holds the single-game record for field goals made (24) and attempted (46). He also is the only Gov to score 25-plus points in multiple NCAA Tournament games, having accomplished the feat in three of four opportunities.
Drake Reed | 2005-09
A three-time OVC Champion and First Team All-OVC selection, Reed had one of the most decorated careers of the Dave Loos Era.
After coming off the bench in the first six games of his collegiate career, Reed remained in the starting lineup for the final 125 games of his career – the second-longest starting streak in program history (Taylor, 127).
After averaging 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, Reed had a breakout sophomore campaign, leading the 2006-07 OVC Regular-Season Champion Governors with 15.8 points a night en route to being tabbed the sixth OVC Player of the Year in program history at the time.
After finishing his career as the APSU Govs’ all-time leader in free throws made (476) and attempts (694) and top five in points (1,991, 3rd) and rebounds (794, 4th), Reed went on to play overseas in Australia, France, Austria, and Argentina.
Trenton Hassell | 1998-01
A three-time First Team All-OVC selection in as many seasons with the red and white, Hassell was the 1998-99 OVC Newcomer of the Year – the only Gov to ever earn the honor – and the 2000-01 OVC Player of the Year.
The Clarksville legend and 2001 All-American led Austin Peay State University in scoring each season, while seeing improvement in nearly every statistical category year-to-year.
After averaging 17.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman, Hassell added 18.1 points and 7.4 boards the following season. He also averaged over five assists a game as a redshirt sophomore while improving his efficiency from both the field and beyond the arc by over 20 points.
Hassell averaged 52.0 percent from the field and 39.0 percent from three-point range on over four triples a game during his final collegiate season, while averaging 21.7 points per game – the 11th-best mark in program history.
After being a non-qualifier out of Clarksville High School, Hassell graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and human performance in 2001 and was one of two athletes in the 2001 NBA draft with a degree in hand.
Hassell was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Bulls and enjoyed a nine-year career professional career with the Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and New Jersey Nets. His 3,741 career points, 644 appearances, and 428 starts in The Association are far-and-away the most by an APSU alum.
Chris Horton | 2012-16
Horton led Austin Peay State University’s historic 2016 OVC Tournament run which saw the APSU Govs become the first No. 8 seed to win the title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2013 OVC Freshman of the Year, Horton averaged 13.5 points and 9.9 rebounds during his four-year career as a Gov, but it was the Decatur, Georgia native’s 18.8 points, and 12.0 rebounds per game as a senior that cemented himself as not only as one of APSU’s greats, but the OVC’s as well. That, and his program-record 325-career blocks which rank second in the OVC.
Horton is the only Gov to record 100 blocks in a single season – doing so as a freshman – he also owns four of the top seven single-season block totals in program history, including the second-most with 92 as a sophomore.
In addition to being sixth all-time in career points (1,705), Horton is second in career rebounds (1,261) after leading the APSU Govs in boards all four seasons, second in games started (126), fourth in free throws (180), and eighth in games played (127).
Adrian Henning | 2000-03
A two-time OVC Champion and two-time First Team All-OVC honoree, Loos first met Henning in 1989-90 at Memphis State where Hennin’s father was a graduate assistant while Loos was an assistant coach for the Tigers. Little did Loos know that Wes’ son, who would come to Memphis State practices, would one day be a cornerstone to some of the most successful years of Austin Peay State University basketball.
After largely serving in a reserve role during the 2000-01 season with 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, Henning averaged 10.0 points and 5.3 rebounds as a sophomore, before continuing to break out with a career-best 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 56.1 percent from the field as a junior for the 2002-03 Govs that swept the OVC titles.
Henning led the Govs in scoring during his junior and senior seasons and ranks in the top 20 all-time in scoring (1,353, 16th) and rebounding (661, 14th).
Nick Stapleton | 1998-01
Stapleton controlled the point for the APSU Govs during his illustrious four-year career in Clarksville and is one of three players to eclipse 2,000-career points in program history.
Like his teammate, Hassell, Stapleton enjoyed year-to-year improvement across the board, albeit bursting onto the scenes as a freshman with 13.6 points per game.
After the departure of prominent scorers such as Hassell, Theanthony Haymon, and Joe Williams following his junior season, Stapleton made the most of being the Govs’ go-to score during the 2001-02 season, with 742 points and 72 three-pointers – both rank third all-time in program history.
One the first perimeter scorers in program history, Stapleton finished his collegiate career second in career three-pointers with 244, helping to earn him three All-OVC honors.
Howard Jackson | 1971-73
A 1972-73 OVC Champion, Jackson was the second player in program history to earn multiple First Team All-OVC honors and the first Gov in the modern era to average a double-double across their career.
The captain of the 1972-73 self-proclaimed “rags to riches” Governors, Jackson and teammate Fly Williams led APSU to its first OVC title.
Jackson transferred to Clarksville after spending his freshman season at Oakland City. The Louisville, Kentucky native averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds as the Govs’ primary scorer in 1971-72, before pairing with Fly Williams and averaging 11.1 points and 11.6 rebounds as a junior to lead the Austin Peay to its first banner.
Jackson’s 335 rebounds in 1972-73 are fifth all-time, while his 11.6 rebounds per game are the third-best mark in program history.
After having his playing career cut short due to an off-the-court injury, Jackson remained with the program as a graduate assistant earning his master’s degree in 1977. He then returned to the sideline as an assistant coach in 1979, was promoted to associate head coach two years later, and would go on to coach his alma mater during the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons.
