Mascoutah basketball coach Justin Love found unresponsive at school, pronounced dead

Mascoutah High School boys basketball coach and former Saint Louis University standout Justin Love died suddenly Tuesday morning.

School officials said Love was found unresponsive on campus around 11:15 a.m. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. He was 41 and had been with the school for three years.

The St. Clair County coroner’s office was unable to provide further details as of Wednesday.

Athletic Director Scott Battas said he didn’t have any further information, but called Love “an outstanding coach and a better person.”

“I usually have words for everything,” he said. “Obviously, it’s been a tough day here on campus and in the community. I think everybody’s still kind of in shock.”

Love grew up in San Francisco and played basketball at Saint Louis University, and he was inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame in 2009. After a brief stint in the NBA, he spent more than a decade playing professionally overseas. Before being hired at Mascoutah in 2017, he was an assistant coach at Belleville West.

Belleville West Assistant Athletic Director and former head basketball coach Joe Muniz built a pair of state championship teams with Love on his staff. Muniz said Love had “a lot to do” with the team’s run off success because he connected so well with the players.

“I’ve heard from a lot of those kids today, how much he means to them,” he said. “The first day I met him, I knew that was the guy I wanted to be on my staff. We became good friends. The way he’s touched people at Belleville West, people at Mascoutah — our hearts go out to Justin Love’s family.”

Mascoutah hadn’t had a winning season in the eight seasons prior to hiring Love. In his first season as coach, the Indians won 17 games and a regional championship. They improved to 23 wins in 2019.

Battas said the district was working on plans to honor Love.

“Obviously, (Tuesday) was an extremely tough day at MHS. I can’t express the pain we feel today knowing Coach Love has left us far too soon,” Battas said. “Coach Love was an incredible man who genuinely cared about people, and led with tremendous passion and joy. My memories of Justin will always be about his infectious personality, a huge smile, and an authentic passion for people, especially kids. My heart just goes out to is wife Katy and his beautiful children. They are a great family and they are all in our thoughts and prayers.

“Justin will be remembered for far more than anything he did on the basketball court, but it won’t be lost on us that in his short tenure as a Head Basketball Coach Here, he led us to our first sweet 16 appearance since 1972. He created memories and he built relationships, and that is why he was so special. We lost a great man today, and this community will never ever forget him. “

Love played two seasons at SLU. He was a first-team All-Conference USA selection and most valuable player of the conference championship game in 1999-2000 season. He was inducted to the Billiken Hall of Fame in 2009.

His 16.3 points per game remain the eighth-best career average in school history.

“Our hearts are hurting today as we learn of the passing of a great Billiken, Justin Love,” the men’s basketball program at SLU Tweeted Tuesday. “We send our deepest condolences to his family, friends, students and teammates.”

The loss is the Mascoutah athletic program’s second this year. In October, longtime tennis coach Sam Graf died at age 62.

BND sports writer Dean Criddle contributed information for this article.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 4:54 PM.