Congratulations to these eight coaches and their teams for reaching the pinnacle of Indiana high school basketball in the 2022-23 season. Here are brief biographies of each championship coach.
Boys
Class 4A: Don Carlisle directed Ben Davis to the 2023 Class 4A state championship with a state best-ever 33-0 record, capped by a 53-41 decision over Kokomo. His Giants also won the Hall of Fame Classic, the Marion County Tournament, the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference, the Perry Meridian Sectional, the Southport Regional and the New Castle Semi-State. In eight seasons as an Indiana high school head coach, Carlisle has amassed a 144-66 ledger with five sectional titles, two regional trophies, two semi-state crowns and one state championship. He was named the IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year, the 2023 Marion County Coach of the Year and head coach for the 2023 Indiana All-Stars. Carlisle’s first head coaching position came at Indianapolis Arlington, which he guided to a 46-25 record with one sectional title from 2015-18. He then moved to Ben Davis, directing the Giants to a 98-41 mark in five seasons with one MIC title to go with four sectionals, two regionals, two semi-states and one state crown. An honorable all-state player at Ben Davis, Carlisle was a star player at IUPUI and played professionally for 11 years. He began his coaching career as a developmental assistant for the IUPUI men’s program in 2007-08 season. His first work with high school athletes came in 2011-12 when he guided both boys and girls at the International School of Paris. He returned to IUPUI as a men’s basketball assistant for Todd Howard from 2012-14. He then started and operated a fitness business in 2014-15 before accepting the coaching job at Arlington.
Class 3A: Aaron Wolfe led NorthWood to a 28-2 campaign that included a 66-63 victory over Guerin Catholic for the Class 3A state championship. Along the way, his Panthers won the Northern Lakes Conference, the NorthWood Sectional, the South Bend Washington Regional and the Elkhart Semi-State. In 16 seasons, his teams have gone 281-110 with nine sectional titles plus his first regional, first semi-state and first state title this season. His teams also have two NLC trophies (2022, 2023) and the Panthers have had six 20-win seasons. Wolfe was an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 2016, and he was head coach for the 2023 Junior All-Stars. He previously was an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 2014. He was The Elkhart Truth Coach of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021, and he was The Goshen News Coach of the Year in 2016, 2020 and 2021. A 1992 graduate of Monmouth High School in Monmouth, Ill., Wolfe competed in basketball, baseball, golf and cross country while a student. He matriculated to Manchester College, helping the Spartans’ basketball team to an NCAA Division III national runner-up finish as a junior in 1995 with a 33-1 record. Wolfe earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and exercise science in 1996 from Manchester College. He earned a teaching degree in 1998 from Indiana University. He added a master’s degree in education in 2003 from Indiana University. Wolfe began his coaching career in the spring of 1998 while student teacher at NorthWood, assisting the Black Swoosh girls and former coach Steve Neff. He was a boys’ basketball assistant in 1998-99 at Westfield, then moved to Warsaw as an assistant to Al Rhodes from 1999-2007. He was hired to take over the NorthWood boys’ program in May 2007.
Class 2A: Matt Roth guided Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian to a 27-3 campaign that included a 52-45 victory over Linton-Stockton for the Class 2A state championship. This was Roth’s first season as a head coach after previously working as an assistant coach at Blackhawk Christian from 2013-16 and Heritage in 2021-22. Roth is a 2008 graduate of Washington Community High School in Illinois, where he was a four-year letterman, two-time all-state selection and set an Illinois state record for 3-pointers in a career. He then attended Indiana University, playing four seasons for the Hoosiers and averaging 4.8 points in 95 career games with a career 3-point accuracy of .416 (126-303). His 3-point sniping included a .545 mark (42-77) as a senior that was No. 1 in the Big Ten when he helped IU to a spot in the Sweet 16 of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Roth earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana. He currently is in his second year as a health and physical education teacher at Blackhawk Christian.
Class A: Remus Woods led Indianapolis Lutheran to a 20-7 season that included a 97-66 triumph over Southwood for the Class A state title. Earlier, the Saints won the Lutheran Sectional, the Martinsville Regional and the Washington Semi-State. Woods has a 73-27 record with two sectional titles plus the one regional, one semi-state and one state crown in four seasons at Lutheran, his first head coaching position. Woods is a 2000 graduate of Indianapolis Broad Ripple, where he played football and was mentored by Rockets’ basketball coach Bill Smith. Woods matriculated to Indiana University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in special education in 2005. Woods started his coaching career with youth teams at Municipal Gardens. He later assisted with football and track teams at Indianapolis Manual as well as coaching the Lutheran boys’ basketball JV team before being named the Saints’ varsity coach in 2019. Woods is in his 11th year working for the Indianapolis Parks and Recreation Department, initially at Municipal Gardens (2013-18) and currently at Washington Park (2018 to present).
Girls
Class 4A: Jeff Allen directed Bedford North Lawrence to a 27-3 campaign that included a 46-42 victory over Fishers for the Class 4A state championship. During the season, the Lady Stars also won the Hoosier Hills Conference, Bedford North Lawrence Sectional, Bedford North Lawrence Regional and Southport Semi-State. Allen is 206-40 in nine seasons as the varsity coach of the Lady Stars, a tenure that has included five HHC crowns, nine sectional trophies, three regional titles and his first semi-state and state crowns. He was named an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2023. He also was head coach of the 2020 and 2021 Indiana All-Stars, although the 2020 All-Stars did not get to play because of COVID-19. A 1979 graduate of Eastern Greene High School, Allen averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds as a senior and was named all-Southwest Indiana Conference and Bedford Times-Mail co-Player of the Year. He went on to become a two-year starter for coach Dan Sparks at Vincennes University before going to DePaul to play for Ray Meyer. Allen began his coaching career as a men’s basketball graduate assistant from 1984-1986 at DePaul while completing a master’s of business of administration. He returned to coaching in 2007 for a two-year stint as a boys’ basketball assistant at Bedford. He shifted to the girls’ program in 2009, serving as a Lady Stars’ assistant for five seasons and helping the program capture Class 4A state championships in 2013 and 2014. He was promoted to BNL girls’ varsity coach for the 2014-15 season. Allen received a bachelor’s degree in business in 1983 and his MBA in 1986. He currently is the chief financial officer for InFab, Inc., of Bedford.
Class 3A: Brodie Garber led Fairfield to a 28-2 season that included a 49-42 victory over Corydon Central for the Class 3A state championship. Along the way, his Falcons also captured Northeast Corner Conference, Fairfield Sectional, Jimtown Regional and LaPorte Semi-State trophies. Garber directed the Falcons to a 180-89 record with four sectionals and three regionals in 11 seasons. Garber, the 2023 Junior All-Star assistant coach, was named an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2023, He also was recognized as The Goshen News Coach of the Year by The Goshen News in 2018 and 2023. A 1995 graduate of Fairfield, Garber earned 11 letters an all-Northeast Corner Conference in basketball (scoring 1,076 points), baseball and tennis. He then attended Huntington University, scoring 1,766 points, earning all-Mid-Central Conference accolades four times and helping the team to the NAIA national final four in 2000. Garber also earned three letters in baseball at HU, and he was inducted into the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Garber began his coaching career as a boys’ assistant at Fairfield for two seasons (2001-03). He then became an assistant in the Fairfield girls’ program for eight years (2004-12) before become the girls’ head coach starting in the 2012-13 season. Garber, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Huntington University in 2000 and a master’s degree from Olivet Nazarene in 2003, teaches physical education at Fairfield. Garber stepped down as the girls’ varsity coach at the end of 2022-23, but he now is a Fairfield boys’ assistant coach for 2023-24.
Class 2A: Tony Hasenour guided Forest Park to a 26-3 ledger and the Class 2A title with a 52-44 victory over Frankton. Along the way, the Lady Rangers also claimed trophies in the Forest Park Sectional, Crawford County Regional and Shelbyville Semi-State. Hasenour completed his head coaching career with a 130-51 record in seven seasons with four sectional crowns. He previously coached the Lady Rangers’ junior varsity team to a 203-93 mark over 16 seasons. A 1995 graduate of Forest Park, Hasenour played high school basketball for one season. He went on to attend Ball State University, graduating in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in secondary social studies education and history. In 2005, he earned a master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University-Southeast. Hasenour began his coaching career in 2000-01 as the Forest Park girls’ JV coach. He is in his 24th year on staff at Forest Park. He currently is the school’s athletic director. He previously was a teacher and coach at the school for 23 years.
Class A: Angie Hinton directed Lanesville to a 28-2 record that included the Class A championship with a 60-41 decision over Bethany Christian. The Eagles earlier won the Southern Athletic Conference, Borden Sectional, West Washington Regional and New Albany Semi-State. Hinton has a 116-19 record in five seasons at Lanesville and an overall mark of 297-94, including 11 seasons at New Albany and one season at Louisville Shawnee. Her teams have won 10 sectionals, five regionals, two semi-states and two state titles. Hinton is a 1982 graduate of North Harrison, where she earned four letters each in basketball, volleyball and track. She matriculated to IU-Southeast, earning a degree in education in 1986. Hinton was the Floyd Central seventh-grade coach in 1986-87, the interim varsity girls’ coach in 1987-88 at Shawnee High School (going 8-2 in the season’s last 10 games) and an eighth-grade coach at Scribner Middle School from 1988-90. She then coached the New Albany varsity from 1990-2001, going 173-73 in a tenure highlighted by the 1999 undefeated Class 4A state champion at 28-0. Hinton served as an assistant coach at Charlestown in 2005-06 and at North Harrison from 2014-18 before taking over at Lanesville in 2018. She now is in her 36th year as a math teacher, one year at Shawnee, 26 years at Scribner Middle School and now in her ninth year at North Harrison.
