Summer (and fall) has brought another round of coaching changes in prep basketball. On both the boys and girls sides we saw plenty of movement for a variety of reasons.
There were retirements, there were job changes and there were other straight-up exits from schools.
All of that means we have a whole new cache of coaches heading into the 2023-24 season, some moving from other places in the area, some up from lower levels, some returning to work and some that will just be brand new when the season rolls around this fall.
None of the hires were “bad,” so how did Bounce grade out the hires?
A
Doug Curtis to Bluffton girls
This is a no-brainer as possibly the top hire of the offseason. Curtis just wins. He will head into his 17th season coaching girls basketball in this state and he has had success everywhere. Curtis was previously at Adams Central, where he had a great four-season run in which he won a sectional in 2020 and had three winning seasons. Curtis has won four other sectionals with one at Northrop, two at DeKalb and one at Angola. He also has the distinction of coaching in all four major area conferences, but his return to the ACAC with his recent knowledge of the league just makes sense.
Craig Teagle to Bluffton boys
This job opening was a rollercoaster this offseason, but Teagle will step into Bluffton and help put them in an immediate position to have some success. Teagle has been on the coaching scene since 1993 and has been a staple in the area since 1999 when he first took over at Jay County. He has won five sectionals and a semistate title, but he most recently spent eight seasons at Huntington North. After a brief stop at New Albany over the spring, Teagle is moving over to Bluffton with a pretty full cupboard of assets, which is helpful as he tries to build back up the program. Keep this in mind about Teagle, no matter your thoughts on his on-court style: since he won his first sectional in 2003, he has had just two teams finish with losing records.
Anthony Brewer to Wayne boys
I get it. This one will cause some consistency issues with my rankings as most unproven head coaches will get something close to an “incomplete” grade for the time being. So why not Brewer? Wayne comes into the new season as arguably the top area boys basketball team that returns nearly everyone from a semi-state finalist a year ago. When Byron Pickens surprisingly resigned this fall to relocate to Indianapolis, it led to the question of how Wayne maintains its level of expectations. It starts, to me, in keeping things comfortable for the cavalcade of talent there. Brewer is comfortable and familiar… that’s big and enough to make this one of the best hires in the area. Besides that, Brewer is a long-time area assistant and face in the basketball community and brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.
B
John Bodey to Garrett girls
When Bob Lapadot resigned, it was not a massive surprise that Bodey, a Garrett native, would slide into the role. This is a great hire for the Railroaders, who get another high-level coach to keep them prominent for the foreseeable future. Bodey had some good talent at Central Noble, but more of it was homegrown than some give credit for and he molded many groups to be successful. He is a more than sound fundamental coach who has the ability to get the best out of his players. The only thing that makes me mark this with a B is – despite Bodey’s instance that it won’t be an issue – that we haven’t seen him coach varsity girls basketball, so it will be a change in which you want to see tangible results before you call it an overwhelming success of a hire.
Dave Randall to Woodlan girls
It has been five seasons since Randall left the sidelines of the Woodlan boys program, but he has still been around, even being a scorebook keeper for the Warriors. With the retirement of Gary Cobb, Woodlan went in a direction that was none too surprising in bringing Randall back to the sideline. He coached the Woodlan boys for 12 seasons over the course of two different stints, winning a sectional title in 2014. He also spent one season at Heritage. Randall is a good coach with great ties to the school and that makes the hire a nice one for Woodlan. The only question: how does he do on a girls sideline?
Shane Merryman to Northrop boys
Merryman brings an incredibly high IQ to the Northrop job and yes, probably a very different style than the Bruins had under Rod Chamble. Throughout his playing days, Merryman was able to show a patient and intelligent style that he also embraces in the coaching realm. How great is this hire? Well, many other hires to bring in coaches without a previous varsity head coaching gig aren’t ranked this high on my list for a reason. Merryman defies those reasons with how well-liked and appreciated he already is at Northrop and with talent that we pretty much all KNOW is ready to go to the next level.
Eric Thompson to Huntington North boys
Thompson clearly has a vision for the Vikings, proclaiming to media to be one of the top 10 places to coach in the state upon his hiring. Thompson comes from Peru with a chance to immediately change the style and pacing at Huntington North. The Vikings have struggled recently with talent, but there are some quality guys coming back. To change up how they play the game behind Thompson is a major plus. He has won four sectionals, including the last two years at Peru. This is a major change for Huntington North and a good one at that.
Kyle Hartman to Fairfield girls
Hartman is a hardworking and knowledgeable coach that was bound to snag a head job sooner than later despite still being youn. That said, the move to the girls side is a bit of a surprise, although we have seen some traditional boys coaches make that move in recent years. Hartman knows Fairfield well and has served the past few seasons as an assistant to Derek Hinen on the boys side. This could end up being just a stepping stone for Hartman, but he really could dig in with a program that is already built for success.
Josh Riikonen to Snider boys
This one may catch Bounce some flak later when you see that most unproven new varsity coaches are lower, but if you know the boys hoops scene in Fort Wayne over the last decade or so, you know how much Riikonen’s fingerprint is on it. From the outstanding 2020 Indy Heat Red team he led with the likes of Frankie Davidson and David Ejah to his work with multiple colleges and behind the scenes on the summer circuit, Riikonen has been building for this. The only thing that keeps this from being an ‘A’ hire is that, yeah I get it, he hasn’t coached a varsity game yet, let alone constructed a program. But ALL of the signs are there that Riikonen will have Snider in championship form again.
Sherri McIntire to Jay County girls
The long-time Patriot assistant brings an immediate comfort to a program of girls looking to replace the best player in team history, perhaps even in school history. McIntire is also no stranger to being the lead on the Jay County bench, having filled in when former coach Kirk Comer was away for the team on business in the past. She is in the school system and gives the Patriots a familiarity that is important. Time will tell how she can help build off the winning expectation at Jay County, which has been dominant in the ACAC. Hiring from in-house was a real win.
Chase Holden to Hamilton boys
It is a hard one to grade, right? Can any hire turn the tide at Hamilton, which has two wins the last four seasons, no more than five wins in a season since 2001 and hired Holden as their sixth coach in 10 years? If anyone motivates me to think so it is Holden, who was a standout on the 2001 team that won 21 games and went to semistate. Holden is the fifth-best scorer in Hamilton history, which means little when it comes to coaching yet may hold the key in getting buy-in from athletes. His history in the program should be important in this season’s foundation being built.
C
Ben Lemmon to Central Noble boys
The hire of Lemmon is one that people who know Albion seem to be quite happy with. He has spent a lot of time around the program, including being the JV coach since 2019 at the school. Lemmon has also coordinated the youth basketball efforts at Central Noble, so he already has a leg up on building the program for the next set of kids. Junior varsity to Varsity for the first time isn’t always an easy jump, but Lemmon has all of the tools to find success.
Kyle Sovine to Heritage boys
This hire is a second-straight good one for Heritage, but a first-time high school coach brings a lot of questions as well. Sovine was a heck of a player during his time at New Haven and then collegiately at Saint Francis; he knows the game. But as Heritage loses its all-time leading scorer, has several solid pieces back and a few new faces having transferred in, how will a first-time head coach navigate it all? With Heritage having the chance to be good in the next few years with a solid pipeline of talent, it will be a wait-and-see situation with a coach which has no experience at this level.
Gabe Garman to Churubusco boys
Don’t let the ‘C’ label scare you off, because I really do like this hire for ‘Busco. Garman is a very intelligent coach and has long understood the depths of the game. The former Carroll assistant is a great get for a Churubusco program that needs a rebuild. It was successful under Chris Paul and when he exited, there wasn’t a lot left to work with. Garman cares about the game and I truly believe he can get a homegrown buy-in at ‘Busco that hasn’t been there for a while.
Haley Richardson to West Noble girls
One of the area’s more surprising openings, Richardson steps into a role with the Charger program in which she has played a part of in the program’s success. Not only did Richardson play for West Noble, she assisted in the program after her college playing career. We don’t know yet how Richardson will be as a lead coach on the varsity level, but she knows West Noble and in a community like this, that is critical. She won a sectional title as an assistant in 2019 and returns some pieces from a team that is just a season removed from its last postseason title. Richardson is bringing a lot of excitement to West Noble.
INCOMPLETE
Britain Isaacs to East Noble girls
Isaacs heads over to the girls side to replace Shawn Kimmel after spending time on Brandon Durnell’s staff with the East Noble boys. Isaacs will face a lot of questions, like how will he adapt to coaching girls at the varsity level? East Noble has had six straight losing seasons, so Isaacs draws an incomplete until we know fully what he is capable of.
Dave Panning to Angola girls
There was a lot of chatter around who would be the frontrunner at Angola and Panning was consistently in the conversation. After an interesting couple of seasons, would the Hornets hit the refresh button or bring on someone who knows the program? The jury is still out on what is the best choice, but Panning’s experience and the players’ comfort with him is important, especially in this particular role. This one, like with Isaacs, gets an incomplete because we have yet to see Panning coach at the varsity level for a full season.
Payton Selking to Bellmont boys
Selking will move up the ladder at Bellmont and it obviously remains to be seen what kind of changes, if any, the program will see under him. What Bellmont gets is a homegrown leader that takes over a Braves team that has a lot of production coming back. Moving up the ladder is hard, but Selking has a good base in place for both himself and his program.
David Prokop to Eastside boys
Prokop sounds the part of a really motivated young coach, which is important at a school that takes a lot of pride in their athletics and a program that has seen some modicums of success under each of the last two coaches. He has some hurdles to overcome with Eastside, including the transfer of its best player from a season ago, so it remains wait and see with this rookie head coach.
James Benson to Lakeland girls
This was a late add on to the openings in the area and a bit of a surprise one. Benson joins a group of incomplete because of the fact that his experience isn’t at the varsity level. There is a great foundation at Lakeland for the former Garrett girls and Central Noble boys assistant. It is a perk to be someone who knows the NECC as he was the Garrett girls assistant just last season, but Benson isn’t battle tested yet.
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