A roundtable of former coaches is one of the items planned for the 2017 IBCA Spring Clinic. This year’s panel features a trio of coaches – John Heaton, Wayne Kreiger and Don Lostutter – who will offer their expertise on building programs that stand the test of time.
Here is more info on each of the panelists.
John Heaton
John Heaton amassed a 418-377 ledger in 33 seasons as a varsity boys’ basketball coach at Eastern Greene, Southwestern (Shelby), Silver Creek and Shelbyville high schools.
During his time on the sidelines, Heaton’s teams won 16 sectionals, five regionals and one semistate. They also captured six conference titles and five holiday tournament crowns. He was chosen as a coach of the year by the Mid-Hoosier Conference, the Mid-Southern Conference, the South Central Conference and by multiple newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal and the Jeffersonville Evening News.
While coaching, Heaton also served on the Board of Directors and as president of the IBCA. In 1995, he was chosen as an assistant coach of the Indiana All-Stars. Upon retirement from coaching, Heaton was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash award in 2000 by then-Gov. Frank O’Bannon.
Since his retirement after 42 years as a teacher in 2005, he has served on the Shelbyville City Council and has worked as executive director of the Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition and as coordinator of the Shelbyville Central Schools Expulsion Center.
Heaton is a 1958 graduate of Bloomfield High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1963 and a master’s degree from IU in 1965.
He began his teaching and coaching career at Orleans in 1963, serving three seasons and being part of a sectional winner in 1965. He became the head coach at Eastern Greene for three seasons, then went to Anderson Madison Heights for one season as an assistant. He then was head coach at Southwestern (Shelby) for two years before taking over at Silver Creek for 11 seasons. He closed his coaching career with a 17-year tenure as head coach at Shelbyville, highlighted by a State Finals appearance in 1986. He continued as a teacher at Shelbyville until 2005.
Heaton and his wife, Laura, reside in Shelbyville. They have two adult sons and six grandchildren.
Wayne Kreiger
Wayne Kreiger compiled a 588-233 record as a varsity girls’ basketball coach at Columbia City and Fort Wayne Canterbury, leading the Cavaliers to the 2013 Class A state championship and amassing three state runner-up finishes (one at Columbia City, two at Canterbury). He remains the state’s fifth all-time winningest coach for girls basketball.
In 33 seasons from 1977-2010 as the girls coach at Columbia City, Kreiger’s teams went 520-222 with 16 sectional titles, eight regional crowns, one semistate trophy and claimed Class 3A state runner-up honors in 2000. He later coached three seasons at Canterbury, 2012-15, guiding the Cavs to a 68-11 mark that included the aforementioned state crown plus Class 2A state runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015.
Kreiger is a 1960 graduate of Huntington Township High School, where he competed in basketball, baseball and track & field. He went on to Manchester College, competing in basketball there, and received a master’s degree from Ball State in 1968.
He began his career in education with West Noble Schools in 1964-65, then worked in Huntington County Community Schools from 1965-70. He moved to Columbia City Schools in 1970, serving two years as a boys basketball assistant and two years as boys basketball head coach before taking over the Eagles’ girls program in the fall of 1977.
He was an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 1989 and a Junior All-Star assistant coach in 1996. He was presented the Claude Wolfe Coach of the Year Award from Manchester College in 2005.
Kreiger was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Kreiger has been married to his wife, Debbie, for 27 years. He has three children, two step-children and 13 grandchildren.
Don Lustutter
Don Lostutter guided teams to nearly 300 wins in 22 seasons as a varsity boys’ basketball coach in Indiana.
His teams captured seven sectionals, six regionals and twice reached the elite eight with stops at Indianapolis Arlington, Rushville, Lafayette Jeff and Madison.
Lostutter began his varsity coaching career at Arlington, guiding the Golden Knights for 10 seasons highlighted by the 1972 Indianapolis City Tournament championship. He went to Rushville for one year, then moved to Lafayette Jeff for six seasons. After three seasons out of coaching, Lostutter concluded his coaching career with five seasons at Madison. He ended his time on the sideline with 296 victories.
Over the years, Lostutter’s teams played against 10 Mr. Basketball winners and he recalled a game in 1969 when George McGinnis of Indianapolis Washington was honored as the all-time leading scorer in Indianapolis history.
Lostutter coached three Indiana All-Stars himself – Rodney Scott, 1972 of Arlington; Wayne Radford, 1974 of Arlington; and Dennis Goins, 1979 of Rushville. Lostutter was named Marion County Coach of the Year in 1972 and North Central Conference Coach of the Year in 1981.
A 1957 graduate of Versailles High School, Lostutter was a three-year starter and earned all-county and all-sectional honors as a senior while playing for Hall of Fame coach Gus Moorhead. Lostutter later was a two-year starter at Hanover College and graduated in 1962.
He began his coaching career as an assistant for one season at Versailles, then moved to Arlington for two seasons as an assistant before landing the Golden Knights’ head job. While at Arlington, he was part of the original board for the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
He worked as a math teacher throughout his time as a teacher and coach, also serving as an adjunct professor at Purdue while in Lafayette and later at an Indiana-Purdue extension campus in Versailles. He also taught at Madison for five years beyond his coaching tenure.
“If I had it to do all over again, I would,” he said. “It was that much fun.”
Lostutter and his wife, Linda, have been married for 54 years and live in Madison. They have three adult children (Rhonda, Rick and Trent) and eight grandchildren.
