Dennis Springs took over as head coach of the Owens men's basketball program on Dec. 16, 2016 following the resignation of Dave Clarke.

In doing so, Springs became the first African American head coach in the history of the program, and he was the first mid-season coaching replacement since the 1984-85 season when Jamie Gill took over for DJ Cameron.

Prior to that, Springs served as an assistant coach with the program since the start of the 2013-14 season.

In his very first game, Springs led Owens to an 84-81 upset of undefeated and No. 4 ranked Sinclair Community College on the road. 

In his 21 games, Spring led Owens to a 16-5 record, which included an 11-4 record in conference play. Overall, the team's 23-9 record and 12-4 mark in conference play was good for a third place finish in the conference. The team defeated Clark State Community College in the Region XII District 11 quarterfinals before falling to Cuyahoga in the semifinals.

In the nearly three and a half seasons Springs spent as an assistant coach, Owens was 75-30 overall, including a 32-9 mark in OCCAC play. During that span, the program captured a pair of OCCAC championships, made two district championship game appearances and sent 13 players to four-year schools.

In 2015-16, Springs helped lead Owens to an 18-13 mark overall and a 9-5 finish in OCCAC play. The team advanced to the Region XII District 11 quarterfinals and produced a pair of four-year signees in Xavier Cochran (NCAA Division II University of Albany) and Dilyn Good (NCAA Division II Walsh University). In addition to that, Cochran and fellow freshman Derrik Jamerson Jr. each garnered All-OCCAC recognition.

In 2014-15, Springs helped led Owens to a 25-7 overall record and a 12-2 mark in OCCAC play. The team captured a share of its second straight OCCAC regular season championship before falling in the Region XII District 11 championship game to Lakeland, produced 16 games of 100 or more points and finished with an average of 96.3 points per game, and had six players sign with four-year schools following the season.

In 2013-14, Springs helped the Owens men's basketball team come within seconds of a second straight trip to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. The team finished 25-6 overall and won the program's first regular season conference championship since 2001-02. The program sent all five sophomores to four-year schools following the season.

For the two years prior to starting at Owens, Springs was a varsity boys basketball assistant coach at Scott High School in Toledo, OH. Additionally, he was the head coach for the seventh and eighth grade boys basketball teams at Scott.

Springs is a graduate of Scott High School, where he was a member of the basketball team. During his high school career, he was named the 2001 Toledo City League Player of the Year, the 2001 Toledo Blade Player of the Year and the 2001 District Player of the Year, while also garnering All-Ohio honors.

Following his time at Scott, Springs played at Ferris State University, where he graduated with a degree in business education and a minor in history. While playing for the Ferris State men's basketball team from 2002-06, he broke the all-time assist record with 713, while leading the conference in assists in three of his four years. He finished his career ranked in the top 10 career scorers, as well, with 1,504. 

Moreover, he was voted to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (GLIAC) All-Defensive team in each of his final three years and he earned All-GLIAC honors in three consecutive seasons. In the 2004-05 season, Springs attained NCAA D-II Great Lakes Region All-Tournament team honors as Ferris State advanced to the NCAA D-II Sweet 16. Following that season, the Grand Rapids Press voted him as the player of the year.

After his time at Ferris State, Springs had a professional basketball career in the International Basketball League (IBL) in Holland, MI. While in the IBL, he ranked among the top three scorers in the league, averaging 26.1 points and 8.9 assists per game. After his stint in the IBL, Springs played in Mexico, Germany and Sweden. While in Sweden, he played two years and averaged 20.1 points and five assists per game.