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Dave Aaron served 25 years as Austin Peay’s athletic director. He came to Austin Peay in 1946 was put in charge of the man-sized task of supervising the steady growth of APSU athletics.
In addition to the duties as director of athletics, Aaron also served as chairman of the health and physical education department from 1946-76.
Aaron relinquished his basketball coaching duties in 1962 to devote more times to his dual duties. During his 16-year tenure as head basketball coach at APSU, Aaron won 258 and lost 174 for a .597 won-lost mark. Hs remarkable record included a 143-53 record at home for a brilliant .729 percentage; four Volunteer State Athletic Conference championships based on tournament play; six straight VSAC regular-season championships; one NCAA South Central region championship; three trips to the NCAA regional playoffs and four trips to the NAIA district playoffs.
A native of Nashville, Aaron received his secondary school training at Hume-Fogg High and later received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from George Peabody College, where he was director of athletics at Peabody Demonstration School for one year. During his time, Aaron also served on the college staff.
Aaron received the L.L.B. degree from Cumberland University in 1935 and entered the coaching ranks in 1937 at Wallace Prep School. His services continued at the Nashville school until 1942 when he entered the Navy. During his 43 months served with the Navy, Aaron advanced from Ensign to Lt. Commander.
In 1946, Aaron came to Austin Peay to assume the duties of director of athletics as well as coach. He served as head football coach (1946-54), basketball (1946-62), golf (1948-50), tennis (1948-49) and track (1954-56). He coached the football team to the 1948 VSAC championship and the golfer to two conference championships in a three-year span. Aaron’s combined coaching record at APSU was 321-227-6.
When the APSU Hall of Fame was initiated in 1977, he was the only inductee. A year later, he was inducted in the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame.
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