Welcome to the start of the 2024-2025 season. After my first year as president of the IBCA, I am so proud to be a part of what I consider to be the best coaching organization in the nation. Having an active role in all of the events of the prior year has me excited about what opportunities the IBCA presents for our coaches and teams across the state. Thank you for making the last year so great. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.
I want to start by saying that the IBCA is here for you. Being an IBCA member affords you, your staff and your players so many benefits and opportunities. Last year, at least one coach from 92 percent of our teams was a member, which is outstanding. However, our goal is always to achieve 100 percent membership. Please remember to register your entire staff, so we move closer to our goal and everyone can enjoy the benefits. I encourage you to look over the IBCA website to ensure you take full advantage of all we have to offer. The insurance benefit alone is worth the cost of membership. In addition, please refer to the IBCA calendar to make sure you don’t miss any important deadlines, and please participate and respond to all IBCA surveys.
New items this year are the "Preseason Watch List" and the "Mental Training Plan." The Preseason Watch List, which ran in September, was a great way for coaches to provide insight about the best players in their area, helping with their exposure and cluing us in for what players to keep an eye on throughout the season for selection to the IBCA/IHSAA Top 100 Underclass Showcase. The Mental Training Plan is a great tool for coaches to use to learn more as they continue on their coaching journeys. We are very excited about these new programs, as well as adding more in the future.
Once again, the scholastic exposure events this past summer were huge successes. The IBCA/IHSAA Top 100 Underclass Showcase, the IBCA/IHSAA Team Showcase in memory of Charlie Hughes and the Indiana All-Star doubleheaders received tremendous support, participation and positive reviews. We had record numbers in the Charlie Hughes events this summer – 170 boys’ teams and 92 girls’ teams participated with a record number of college coaches attending these events. The feedback from the college coaches made us very proud of the events and the opportunities we provided for these coaches and student-athletes. Nobody does high school basketball like we do here in Indiana.
The past year has taught me a lot and given me ample opportunity to speak to coaches throughout the state, hear their ideas and concerns, and work to keep making improvements. I think communication is vital to the success of the IBCA and to grow our game. I believe the IBCA has tremendous leadership in place, and we encourage every coach to reach out to his or her local representative if he or she has any concerns so we can continue to move forward and make improvements. There have been many new additions and changes to the lineup of district representatives. If you have any questions about who is leading you, please check our website and know that we are all there for you.
Also, I would like to recognize and thank our corporate partners for their support of the IBCA. BSN Sports, Ballogy, Energy Systems Group, Hoosier Shooting Academy, Franciscan Health Sports Medicine, Point Guard College and Shoot-A-Way Systems/The Gun head the list. Their contributions provide a real benefit to our organization. Their support enables us to continue our mission to make high school basketball a great experience for our coaches and student-athletes. Please take a look at a complete list of our corporate partners on the web site and consider supporting them.
Allow me again to thank you for this honor and express how humbled I am to get this opportunity to serve you. I am just an email or phone call away from helping you and your program in any way that I can. Thank you in advance for all you do for student-athletes and for supporting the IBCA. Best wishes to everyone for a successful and fulfilling season.
Yours in Hoops,
– Michael Adams
