The road to the top of Indiana girls basketball rarely follows a straight line. For Bellmont head coach Andy Heim, the journey from struggling program to 2026 Class 3A state champion was anything but smooth. Instead, it was built on patience, resilience and a long-term vision that transformed the Braves into one of the most respected programs in northeast Indiana.
That is why Andy Heim is the 2026 Outside the Huddle Co-Coach of the Year.
It was the type of long build that has made Bellmont and, of course, Heim a rare gem in area basketball.
When Heim took over the Bellmont program ahead of the 2011-2012 campaign, the Braves were far from a powerhouse. For much of the early 2000s, Bellmont girls basketball had been overshadowed by conference heavyweights in the now-defunct Northeast Hoosier Conference. The program simply hadn’t experienced sustained success, and changing that culture was going to take time.
The early seasons under Heim reflected just how difficult that rebuild would be. In Heim’s first few years, wins were hard to come by as the Braves tried to find their footing. The process reached its lowest point during the 2013-2014 season, when Bellmont endured an 0-23 campaign during Heim’s third year, a season that could have broken many programs (and coaches).
But the winless year did not break Heim’s belief in what Bellmont could become. Instead, it hardened the program’s resolve. Heim doubled down on building a culture centered on defense, accountability and development, emphasizing that long-term growth mattered more than short-term results.
That culture began to show signs of life when a young player named Grace Hunter walked into the Bellmont gym. Hunter, who would go on to become the program’s all-time leading scorer, quickly emerged as the type of player capable of changing the trajectory of a program.
Hunter’s scoring ability was undeniable, but her impact went well beyond points. She brought a competitive edge and work ethic that helped shift expectations inside the program. Teammates followed her lead, and suddenly Bellmont began believing it could compete with the conference’s established powers. As Hunter developed into one of the area’s top players – and eventually the inaugural OTH Player of the Year in 2018 – the Braves began stacking wins and drawing attention across northeast Indiana. What had once been a rebuilding program slowly became a dangerous opponent, capable of challenging anyone on a given night.
Hunter’s career eventually carried her to the Division I level, first at Northern Illinois and later at North Florida, but the impact she left behind in Decatur proved lasting. She had helped establish the identity and belief that Heim had been trying to build since his arrival.
What followed was the next stage of the program’s evolution. Rather than fading after Hunter’s graduation, Bellmont continued to grow. Heim developed new waves of players who embraced the same culture of toughness and unselfish play that had defined the earlier turnaround. So while Hunter was a massive foundational cornerstone, Heim’s desire to continue pushing forward and not take steps back was revolutionary for the program. When struggling programs get a bright spot, it is rare and difficult to turn that into sustained growth and success, but Heim was the masterful mind behind making it happen at Bellmont.
He molded the program from there, using a legacy bolstered hand-in-hand with Hunter on the court while he patrolled the sideline.
“I think this is one of the most frustrating and exciting things as a high school coach,” Heim told Outside the Huddle at the beginning of this season. “I could always recruit players that fit ‘my’ system. In high school, you do not have that luxury. Each offseason the coaching staff and I re-evaluate our offense and defense,”
But the reevaluation, not just locking in on the same style for his players their entire lives, has given Bellmont a different kind of exciting edge.
Year by year, the Braves became more consistent, more confident and more dangerous. Bellmont went from a team trying to climb out of the bottom of the conference standings to one that expected to annually compete deep into the postseason. That has been a unique part of Heim’s strength as the head coach of the Braves program: he was taking on young ladies who didn’t know how to win as Bellmont made its turn to a success. In general, they didn’t know how to compete on a high level, they didn’t all have the right mentality or flow. Heim generated all of that alongside his players with a steady presence and a voice that mattered.
All of that steady growth finally culminated during the 2025-2026 season, when Bellmont completed its remarkable rise by capturing the Class 3A state championship. For Heim, the moment represented the payoff for nearly 15 years of building a program, brick by brick.
The title was about far more than one season’s success. It represented the full arc of Bellmont’s transformation — from a program that once endured a winless season to one standing atop the state.
And in many ways, that long journey will always be the most impressive part of Andy Heim’s legacy in Decatur.
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