Shelby Bradley | Sports Co-Editor

The Buena Vista University (BVU) men’s basketball team begins their season adding a new assistant coach to their roster. Paul Loos comes to BVU from Newell-Fonda where he held a head coaching position for 27 years. Nine of the teams Loos coached participated in the class 1A state tournament, and five of those teams participated in the championship game. In those five championship games, four of them were won. This will be Loos’ first coaching position at the collegiate level.

“I am learning a lot from an exceptional coaching staff and a very talented group of players. It has been a fantastic experience to this point, and I look forward to all the challenges this year has to offer,” Loos said.

Loos’ decision to come and coach for the Beavers was greatly influenced by the respect he has for Head Coach Brian Van Haaften.

“I have always wanted to coach at the college level, but the opportunity to be a college coach never came around until last spring. I have a great respect for how Coach Van Haaften coaches and runs his program. This was a great opportunity to work with a respected coach and friend,” Loos said.

Van Haaften also seems to be privileged to have Loos join the program.

“Paul is one of those special coaches that is looking for constant improvement each and every day. He provides an extra set of eyes that helps us evaluate our team, and in games provides a lot of experience. We are very excited to have him in our program,” Van Haaften said.

So far coach Loos seems to have been shown great respect and has made a good impression on the players.

“Coach Loos is a very experienced basketball coach who has had plenty of success in his coaching career. He is a great addition to our program because we will benefit from an additional coaching perspective and new set of eyes to identify what elements of our performance deserve attention,” senior forward Tyler Kastantin said.

Loos feels very welcomed into the BVU family community and has had a good transition into the basketball program.

“I think I am most excited about the process of helping our players get ready to play at a high level. I’m excited about working with a fantastic coaching staff and being around young men who are working hard to represent Buena Vista University’s basketball program,” Loos said.

The Beavers will have their home debut Saturday, Nov. 15 against Augsburg College beginning at 7:00 p.m.