56.7 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsAPSU Governors Basketball to begin practice Sunday, October 4th

APSU Governors Basketball to begin practice Sunday, October 4th

Austin Peay Sports Information

Austin Peay State University Governors - APSUClarksville, TN – Even though this will be the 30th time—26 at Austin Peay State University—Dave Loos has prepared to tipoff practice as head men’s basketball coach, he nonetheless still gets excited this time of year.

And as Loos and his Governors are set to initiate practice, 6:00pm, Sunday, in Dave Aaron Arena, the Governors longtime head man anxiously awaits the official start.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Basketball. (APSU Sports Information)

“It is always exciting this time of year,” Loos said. “It is a fresh start. To a large extent, we have a new team—we have eight new players. We have three starters (Chris Horton, Khalil Davis and Josh Robinson) back. This is something that I am very excited about.”

The head coach and staff got a preview during preseason—they are allowed two hours with their team per week during preseason—and it gave them an idea about each individual and their possible capabilities to best fit into the APSU system.

“We have had a good chance to get a good look at their skill set,” Loos said. “The task now is get down to detail and most importantly, have these guys blend together as a team.

“We have given them a big picture of what we do during the first session of summer school and fall workouts.”

But now it is different. Understanding concepts on offense and defense…intensity on the defensive end…blocking out under the boards…and simply hard work matter as the team works toward the preseason exhibition games against Thomas Moore (November 2nd) and Sewanee (November 5th) before the official season opener at Vanderbilt (November 13th).

“This is the time players start facing some sort of adversity as far as facing fatigue, competition…a number of things,” Loos said. “They are in a full load of courses academically…so there is a lot to juggle while trying to grow, improve as basketball players.”

Loos will be counting much on senior post player Chris Horton, the 6-8, 220-pound Decatur, GA native who averaged 13.1 and 11.1 rebounds per game. He was the OVC’s leading rebounder (ranking eighth nationally) a year ago in becoming the first Gov to average double-figure rebounding since Tommy Brown did in 1990-91. On the surface Horton’s numbers are impressive but the head coach knows the ability is there for more.

“We have talked to Chris about taking his game to the next level, about being one of ‘the guys’ in this league,” Loos said. “Chris becomes focused about getting everyone involved and our hope is he will attempt to be a little more dominant, he is capable of that.”

The 6-5 senior forward/guard Khalil Davis and the 6-2 sophomore guard Josh Robinson offer APSU hope on the perimeter. Robinson was the Govs’ only consistent three-point shooter a year ago in averaging 9.9 points per game.

“Khalil is the guy who has the temperament and maturity to pull all this (team) together,” Loos said. “Josh is very talented, someone capable of being an all-conference-type guy.”

But to succeed in 2015-16, the Govs will need help from a bevy of new faces. One of those is the 6-6 forward Kenny Jones, who has shown the ability to score both inside and along the perimeter. Another is his former junior college teammate, 6-4 guard John Murry, who was third-team juco All-American last spring.

“Kenny Jones looks promising (at forward)—we like how hard he plays,” Loos said. “I also like our guard play. Murry is one of those guys whose shot is not always pretty but manages to score. We have some young guys who have some good basketball ahead of the, like Jared Savage, CB (Chris Porter-Bunton), who sat out last season (injury) and we have seen real good signs from Zac Glotta.”

In fact, Glotta and junior college transfer Terrell Thompson hope to end seemingly a point guard issue that has been unsettled basically since Caleb Brown graduated in 2011.

“Glotta has a good skill set and shoots the ball well,” Loos said. “He also has the intangibles you like in a point guard—knows how to play, good leadership qualities, great work habits, has some toughness about him.

“Thompson is very skilled—he has very good ability. Terrell can really push the ball, get you going in transition, can penetrate and finish. He is a very good athlete.”

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles