Delaware State University

Horace "Pappy" Owens, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) draft pick and McDonald's collegiate All-America, joined the Delaware State staff in July 2021.  
 
Owens previously spent 14 years as an assistant coach at La Salle University before shifting roles in the 2019-20 season to serve as a special assistant, contributing to game preparation, player development, and mentoring.
 
Owens was instrumental in La Salle’s 2012-13 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 season. The Explorers won 24 games that season, including three in the NCAA Tournament (vs. Boise State, Kansas State and Ole Miss).
 
La Salle also recorded wins over #9 Butler, #16 VCU, and #12 Kansas State. They finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference, ranked as the seventh-best conference in the nation, during the 2012-13 season.

He played a key role in the Explorers’  2011-12 campaign season. The team won 21 games and reached the NIT First Round, the first postseason appearance for the program in 20 years. The 21 wins were also the most since 1990.

Owens entered the collegiate coaching ranks after 14 years as a juvenile probation officer for the city of Philadelphia.

As the North Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the renowned Sonny Hill Basketball League, Owens has been a fixture in Philadelphia high school basketball. He coached the Philadelphia Phoenix AAU teams for six years, mentored stand-outs Michael Blackshear (Simon Gratz/Temple), Wayne Marshall (Martin Luther King/Temple), Chaz Crawford (Northeast/Drexel), Steve Smith (Northeast/La Salle), and Troy Roundtree (Northeast/Delaware State), among dozens of others who have played Division I basketball.

Owens stands as one of the all-time greats at the University of Rhode Island (1979-83), where he is seventh on the all-time scoring list (1,750) and is second all-time in field goals. He averaged 22.3 points per game as a senior to earn an Honorable Mention All-America citation and First Team All-Atlantic 10. He was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1996.

Owens was the 44th pick of the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets in 1983 and was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he spent one season at the professional level.

An outstanding player at Philadelphia's Dobbins Tech, he was named First Team All-City in 1979 and Second Team in 1978. Owens was the Daily News and Markward Club Player of the Year in 1979 after averaging 29.3 points per game. He averaged 25.0 points per game as a junior. His 1,420 career points rank second in Dobbins history behind Bo Kimble.

Owens was named to the Second Team All-City in the Daily News' look back at the past 35 years. He was also First Team All-Public in 1978, and in 1979, he was First Team All-Public, First Team All-City, Player of the year in the area, and First Team All-State.