Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Former Saluki Chris Lowery Named Basketball Assistant
08/29/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 29, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - SIUC men's basketball coach Bruce Weber named former Saluki point guard Chris Lowery assistant coach on Wednesday. Lowery replaces Lynn Mitchem, who left a week ago to take a position on the staff at Illinois-Chicago.
Lowery, a four-year letterman from 1990-94, was the floor general who helped lead SIU to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1993 and `94 and NIT berths in 1991 and `92. He ranks 18th all-time in scoring at SIU with 1,225 points.
"I'm very pleased to hire an SIU grad, especially someone who understands and loves the University as much as Chris does," Weber said. "As a player, he was a leader who really understood the game. He was part of one of the best runs in school history."
The Salukis were 86-37 during Lowery's four-year career. He started his last three seasons at point guard and was a second team all-conference pick in 1992 when he averaged a career-high 13.1 ppg and dished out 118 assists.
"Being here when we had all that great success, this is like home to me," Lowery said. "I've always rooted for SIU, even after I went away."
Lowery, 29, spent last season as an assistant on Gary Garner's staff at Southeast Missouri State, helping SEMO to an 18-12 record. Prior to that he coached at Missouri Southern State College (1997-2000). In 2000, Missouri Southern finished 30-3 and advanced to the national semi-finals. Lowery began his coaching career as an assistant at Rend Lake Community College (Ill.) in 1995. The 1996 Rend Lake team advanced to the NJCAA Division II Illinois regional finals.
"He's worked his way up through the coaching ranks and learned that it's not always glamorous to be a coach," Weber said. "He has great recruiting contacts in St. Louis, and being from Indiana, has instant name recognition in that state."
Lowery will begin his coaching duties at SIU on September 1. He and his wife, Erika, have three children.
