Loras athletic director and head men's basketball coach Chad Walthall has accepted a position as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team at Division I Iowa under new coach Todd Lickliter.
Associate head coach Greg Gorton was elevated to the head coaching position.
Walthall's seven-year Loras career culminated with being named the 2006-07 Iowa Conference Coach of the Year, and the men's basketball team finishing as conference champions and conference tournament champions (a first for the college since 1951 and the school's first ever tournament title). He leaves Loras as the third winningest coach of all-time with 116 career wins.
In discussing his decision, Walthall said, "It has been a privilege and an honor to work at Loras College. Loras has given my family and me so many wonderful memories over the years. We will forever be grateful. We will miss the many people we have gotten to know in the Loras and Dubuque communities. There are very few opportunities that would have had us consider leaving. The position I accepted happened to be that rare, special one."
The 2006-07 season was a memorable one for Loras. Walthall led the team to a 15-1 conference record, its first IIAC tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
This past season's 21 wins are the school's most since joining Division III in 1986. In the three years preceding Walthall's arrival, Loras had won 35% of its conference games and 40% overall, culminating in a 10th place, 5-15 finish in the IIAC in 1999-2000. In Walthall's first season of rebuilding the program in 2000-01, Loras dramatically improved with a fourth place finish. Since that time, Walthall progressively built Loras into a perennial league contender. Over the past three seasons, Loras has won 77% of its conference games, 70% overall.
Walthall came to Loras from Division I Eastern Michigan, where he was an assistant coach. At Eastern Michigan, Walthall coached with Lickliter. He also was a graduate assistant coach at Division II St. Cloud State, head high school boys coach at Redwood Falls and assistant coach at St. Olaf.