Six girls coaches honored by IBCA for 2020-21 season

Six girls coaches honored by IBCA for 2020-21 season

Redding, Seibert, Buckley, Smiley, Rehmel and Schoen cited as girls’ District Coaches of the Year

Six Indiana high school girls basketball coaches have been chosen as 2021 Bob King Coaches of the Year by their peers in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Tuesday (March 30).

Mark Redding of Carroll (Fort Wayne), Chris Seibert of Crown Point, Donna Buckley of Noblesville, Debbie Smiley of Brownsburg, Jared Rehmel of Linton-Stockton and Scott Schoen of Silver Creek have been selected as honorees for the 2020-21 season through voting that occurred from late January through early March, IBCA executive director Steve Witty said.

Honors are awarded according to IHSAA district boundaries, and two coaches from each district are recipients – Redding and Seibert in District 1; Buckley and Smiley in District 2; and Rehmel and Schoen in District 3.

Here is information about the six girls’ Coach of the Year honorees.

>> Redding is recognized after leading Carroll (Fort Wayne) to a 25-3 season that included championships of the Summit Athletic Conference, the DeKalb Sectional and the Marion Regional. He has amassed a 334-249 record in 26 seasons as a varsity girls basketball coach, his teams winning 11 sectionals, three regionals, one semi-state and one state championship. He coached at Fort Wayne Elmhurst for 15 seasons, guiding the Trojans to a 175-148 mark with five sectionals, two regionals, one semi-state and the Class 3A state title in 2009. He then coached Fort Wayne Wayne to a 19-24 mark in two seasons. Redding has been the Carroll coach the past nine seasons, leading the Chargers to a 140-77 mark with six sectional titles and one regional crown. Redding began his coaching career in 1992 as an Elmhurst boys’ basketball assistant for one season. He then was an Elmhurst girls’ basketball assistant for two seasons before becoming the team’s head coach. A 1984 graduate of Elmhurst, Redding earned a bachelor’s degree from IU Kelley School of Business in 1989 and a master’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan in 2007. He previously was an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 2009.

>> Seibert is cited after guiding Crown Point to a 25-1 season that included the Class 4A state championship. Previously, Crown Point won the Duneland Conference, Chesterton Sectional, LaPorte Regional and LaPorte Semi-State. Seibert is 128-29 in six seasons with the Bulldogs, including three conference titles, three sectional crowns and two regional regional championships. He has a 187-106 in 12 seasons as a girls’ varsity coach. He previously was coach at Portage for six seasons and was the boys’ varsity coach at Hammond Morton for one season. He started his coaching career as a JV girls’ assistant at Wheeler in 2003-03. He then was a boys’ assistant at Wheeler for five seasons before going to Hammond Morton. Seibert is a 2001 graduate of Valparaiso High School and a 2005 graduate of Valparaiso University. He was an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 2019 and an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 2019.

>> Buckley is honored after directing Noblesville to a 21-5 campaign that included the championship of the Zionsville Sectional. Buckley has compiled a 183-114 in 13 seasons at Noblesville with two sectional crowns. In 21 seasons as a varsity coach, she is 279-188 with previous stops at Fort Wayne South (10-11 in one season) and Greenfield-Central (86-63 in seven seasons). The former Donna McCarty is a 1993 graduate of Clinton Central and later played basketball at Taylor University for two seasons. She started her coaching career as an assistant at South Adams for three seasons before becoming head coach at Fort Wayne South in 2000-01. Buckley was an IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 2015. She was named a Junior All-Star assistant coach in 2014. She also was named a senior All-Star assistant in 2020 and again in 2021 as the 2020 games were canceled.

>> Smiley is recognized after directing Brownsburg to a 17-11 season that included a Class 4A state runner-up finish. Earlier, her Bulldogs won the Terre Haute North Sectional, Decatur Central Regional and Jeffersonville Semi-State. Smiley has guided Brownsburg to a 108-49 record in six seasons, including five Hendricks County titles, one Hoosier Crossroads Conference crown and four sectional trophies. She has a 235-182 in 18 seasons as a varsity coach, including a 127-133 in 12 seasons at Greenwood. Smiley previously was an IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 2018 and was head coach of the Junior All-Stars the same year. She was head coach of the senior All-Stars in 2019 and twice has been voted HCC Coach of the Year. Smiley is a 1991 graduate of Rushville, where she played four seasons. She then went to Franklin College, where she played for the Grizzlies, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1995 and a second bachelor’s degree in education in 1997. She received a master’s degree in education from Indiana Wesleyan in 2002. Smiley began coaching as a women’s basketball assistant at Franklin College from 1995-2001. She then assisted the Greenwood girls for two years before becoming the team’s head coach.

>> Rehmel is cited after guiding Linton-Stockton to a 27-1 slate that included a second consecutive Class 2A state championship. Along the way, the Miners won the Southwestern Indiana Conference, North Knox Sectional, Crawford County Regional and Jasper Semi-State. Rehmel has compiled a 106-72 record in seven seasons with the Miners with two sectionals, two regionals, two semi-states and two Class 2A crowns. Rehmel is a 2006 graduate of Shakamak, where he played basketball and baseball and helped the Lakers to baseball Class A state runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2006. He played basketball at Olney Central College, the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Southern Indiana, earning a bachelor’s degree in sports management from USI in 2012. He began his coaching career as basketball assistant at USI in 2011-12, working with the Screaming Eagles’ men’s and women’s teams in strength and conditioning.

>> Schoen is honored after leading Silver Creek to a 25-3 season that included the Class 3A state crown. Earlier, the Dragons won the Mid-Southern Conference, Madison Sectional, Charlestown Regional and Jeffersonville Semi-State. In 11 seasons at Silver Creek, Schoen has compiled a 155-108 record with two sectionals, one regional, one semi-state and this year’s 3A state title. He previously was a boys’ basketball assistant at North Harrison from 1999-2001, the boys’ varsity coach at Shoals from 2001-04, a men’s basketball assistant at Georgetown College for one season and a girls’ basketball assistant at South Central (Elizabeth) for three seasons. Schoen is 1993 graduate of South Central, then went on to plays basketball for two seasons each at Brescia College and Georgetown College. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in 2000 and a master’s degree from Louisville in 2001.

These six coaches will receive plaques as an IBCA District Coach of the Year during the 2021 IBCA Clinic, the in-person portion will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16 at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. There also will be a virtual portion of the 2021 IBCA Clinic where this year’s Coaches of the Year — six girls and six boys — will make a video presentation on a basketball-related topic. The “virtual clinic” is planned to be available online starting April 23.

The Coach of the Year award is named for the late Bob King, the IBCA executive director from 1984-94. King was a Lebanon native who coached at Sacred Heart and Shortridge high schools in Indianapolis before serving as an assistant basketball coach at Purdue and later as an assistant and associate athletic director at Purdue.