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OUAZ Athletics

Brad Louderback resized original HS

Brad Louderback

A veteran tennis coach with wide-ranging success, Brad Louderback came to OUAZ to begin the men’s and women's tennis programs in 2017. During his four seasons of competition leading the Spirit, OUAZ has a combined record of 37-58 with the men compiling an 25-25 mark and a runner-up finish at the NCCAA National Championships.

With 30-plus years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, Louderback previously served as head coach at Illinois (Big 10), Oklahoma State (former Big 8), Cowley College (Jayhawk), Wichita State (former Missouri Valley) and assistant coach at Clemson (ACC). He has a career record of 325-209 (.609) with his men’s teams going 229-151 (16 seasons) and the women’s side recording a 96-58 (eight seasons) record.
 
OUAZ (2017-Present)

The 2021 season saw the Spirit men post a 7-2 overall record with an appearance in the GSAC Championship Match. They recorded a 4-1 mark in conference matches and picked up a pair of non-conference wins over NCAA D2 opponents. The OUAZ women finished 6-5 to record the first winning season in program history. The team went 5-2 in conference play and reached the semifinals of the GSAC Tournament.

The 2019-20 season was cut short when sports were canceled due to COVID-19. At the time of the shutdown, the Spirit men held a 2-7 record while the women were 0-7.

The program’s first season in the NAIA and GSAC showed growth as both the men and women would qualify for the GSAC Tournament. The men advanced to the championship match of that tournament and used the momentum to a runner-up finish at the NCCAA National Championships. The 2019 women’s team doubled their wins from the previous year and finished sixth in the final GSACV standings.

In the program’s inaugural season, Louderback guided the teams to a combined record of 4-13. That total tally doesn’t include several wins in exhibition matches.
 
Before OUAZ
Wichita State (2009-16): Prior to joining OUAZ, Louderback served eight years as Head Men’s Coach at Wichita State University posting a 127-73 mark. Under Louderback, the Shockers won 3 MVC Tournament titles including the Regular Season MVC Team title, Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors. Louderback’s teams had a 100% graduation rate and his squads made 3 NCAA Tournament appearances, earned a top 40 National ranking, garnered 31 individual conference honors and reached the ITA All-American doubles quarter finals.

Cowley College (2006-07): Before his time at Wichita State, Louderback was the head men's & women's tennis coach at Cowley College. At Cowley, Louderback coached eight All-Americans, four national champions, and the No. 1 ranked singles player and doubles team in the nation. His teams also had a 100 percent graduation rate. While at Cowley, Louderback led both the Cowley men’s and women’s teams to top-10 national rankings.

Oklahoma State (1986-89): After his tenure in Illinois, Louderback served as head women’s tennis coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma State from 1986-89. While at OSU his squads won more than 90 matches and went undefeated in the Big Eight regular season all five years beating each team 9-0.  All five of his squads finished among the top 12 nationally each year, including a 25-7 campaign in 1989 that finished seventh nationally. Louderback coached eight All-Americans, seven Academic All-Americans and 20 Big Eight champions during his time in Stillwater while winning five team conference titles.

Illinois (1982-85): Louderback’s first head coaching position came at Illinois from 1981-85, leading the Illini to a 77-53 overall record and a 25-14 mark in Big Ten play. The Ilini finished at the bottom of the Big Ten prior to Louderbacks’ first year and three years later the 1984 team won its first Big 10 Regular Season title. His 1984 squad also finished the season ranked No. 21 nationally. While at Illinois he coached six Big Ten individual champions and six All-Big Ten performers.
 
Other Coaching Roles
Louderback served as assistant Junior Davis Cup coach in 1981 and 1982-1985 became Captain/Head Coach for the National JDC Team. The JDC consisted of the top 12 nationally ranked juniors in the United States that included Patrick McEnroe, Larry Scott (Commissioner of the Pac-12), Luke Jensen, Ritchie Reneberg and Rick Leach (former #1 world doubles ranking).

He also served as Director of Tennis at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Spain before founding the USA Tennis Academy in Delray Beach, Fla.  He also spent two years as the Director of Tennis at The Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell, GA. From 2000-2004 Louderback served as the Director of Operations for the Zurich of New Orleans PGA Tour event.

In April of 2003, the Louderback family was honored by the USTA with the Tennis Family of the Year Award, presented to one family consisting of USTA members and volunteers who have excelled in advancing the USTA's mission to promote and grow the game of tennis both on and off the court.

College Playing Experience
A 1979 graduate of Oklahoma State with a B.S. in Business management, Louderback had a successful playing career as a Cowboy as well, serving as captain of the team that won three-straight conference titles and appeared in the NCAA Tournament three-consecutive years. During his time at OSU, Louderback was also a conference singles and doubles champion and in his senior year ranked as high as #30 in ITA singles.

Personal

Brad’s daughter Erin, her husband Eric and three grandchildren, Ainslee, Eion and Ecklan, live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His son Luke lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
 
In 2012, Arkansas City High School renamed the tennis center after the Louderback family, the Louderback Family Tennis Center.