IBCA E-Newsletter

From The Coaches’ Box

Welcome to the start of the 2023-2024 season. My hope is that you were able to get some much deserved rest, and that you had an enjoyable and productive summer with your team. I am sure you are excited to see all the possibilities this season may bring. There is something about all the sounds and the smells of a gym and having the opportunity to work with your assistant coaches and kids to build a team. Nothing like it. Savor every minute!

Please allow me to start by saying how honored, humbled, excited and appreciative I am to have this opportunity to serve as your Indiana Basketball Coaches Association president. Growing up in Southern Indiana and getting to experience Hoosier Hysteria as a player and then as a coach for 37 years, it goes without saying how much I am looking forward to this challenge.

Know that the IBCA is here for you. Being an IBCA member affords you, your staff and your players so many benefits and opportunities. I encourage you to look over the IBCA web site to ensure you take full advantage of all we have to offer. In addition, please refer to the IBCA calendar to make sure you don’t miss any important deadlines.

Once again, the scholastic exposure events this past summer were huge successes. The IBCA/IHSAA Top 100 Underclass Showcase and the IBCA/IHSAA Team Showcase (in memory of Charlie Hughes) received tremendous support, participation and positive reviews. These events provided many opportunities for our student-athletes to showcase their talents and to gain valuable experiences. College coaches from around the country once again were impressed by how well these events were conducted.

In fact, I often hear from college coaches on how Indiana is special, different. This is for sure a special place to play and coach, and we are the envy of many. No one does hoops the way we do it in Indiana. The positive feedback we received from coaches, players and fans is reassuring that we are continuing the tradition and doing some great things.

Already, I have had the opportunity to communicate with a lot of our coaches throughout the state, and I have listened to concerns on a variety of issues. I believe it is important that we keep communicating in order to keep moving forward and to continue to make improvements for our game. The IBCA has tremendous leadership in place. From our executive board to our district representatives, we all are here to listen. Concerns can be discussed when we meet as a board, and our goal is to work together to make our game better for players, coaches and all those involved.

With this being said, our strength is in numbers and working together. We need your support and help. We are working hard to increase our membership numbers. One only needs to go on the web site to understand the value of becoming a member. We are asking all head coaches to register all of your coaches who are involved in your program. The insurance benefit alone is worth the cost of membership. Also, I am asking that you participate and respond to all IBCA surveys. This allows us to present our ideas and concerns to the IHSAA, and your participation increases our chances of ideas being acted upon.

Also, I would like to recognize and thank our corporate sponsors for their support of the IBCA. BSN Sports, Ballogy, Energy Systems Group, Hoosier Shooting Academy, Franciscan Health Sports Medicine, Point Guard College, Shoot-A-Way Systems/The Gun and The EMS Group 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 sponsors on the web site and consider patronizing them and thanking them for their support.

Allow me again to remind you of how honored and 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,