To lead Cowley tenner - former Illinois, OSU coach

Returning home to Arkansas City, Brad Louderback, the former men’s tennis coach at the University of Illinois and women’s coach at Oklahoma State University, has been named as the new men’s and women’s tennis coach at Cowley .

Louderback replaces Larry Grose, who retired after 18 years as coach of the Tiger men’s tennis program. Louderback also will coach Cowley’s women’s program, replacing Rebecca Meyer.

“When you lose the caliber of coach in Coach Larry, it was vital for me to get someone in here who could coach our men and women,” Cowley athletic director Tom Saia said. “We are very fortunate to have Brad come in and lead our tennis programs.”

Louderback, who has spent the past year serving as the director of tennis at the Ponca City Country Club, is looking forward to coaching the Tigers.

Louderback was the owner/director of the USA Tennis Academy in Delray Beach, Fla., from 1993-96, and was the director of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Spain from 1991-1993.

His last head coaching stint came when he led Oklahoma State’s women’s team to four straight Big Eight tournament titles from 1985-89. His overall team match record at OSU was 91-26, and all four of his teams finished in the top 15 nationally. Louderback coached the Illinois men’s tennis team from 1981-1985.

“My goal is to bring in the best coach available to lead our programs, and when you can draw someone like Brad Louderback, it tells you what they think about what we are doing here at Cowley,” Saia said.