Congratulations to these Administrators of the Year:
District 1
Stacy Adams, athletic director, Valparaiso
Stacy Adams is completing his sixth year as a high school athletic director, helping athletes and programs at multiple schools strive for excellence in this portion of a long career in education-based athletics.
Adams is in his first year as athletic director at Valparaiso High School, guiding the Vikings to success in multiple sports while motivating and supporting all the school’s athletes and coaches, supervising numerous events, creating and following a strict budget, creating a new Coaches’ Manual, overseeing contest scheduling and ensuring that the program adheres to IHSAA and Duneland Athletic Conference regulations.
Adams previously was athletic director in 2014-15 at South Bend Washington and 2015-19 at Griffith, performing many of the same tasks at those schools that he has done since joining the staff at Valparaiso.
At South Bend Washington, he helped guide the Panthers’ athletic finances from a negative balance to a positive balance while mentoring coaches and athletes to reach their highest potential.
At Griffith, Adams took over a program that had been last in the state in sportsmanship and, under his direction, finished first in the state in 2017 and second in the state in 2018 in that area. In addition, he and his Griffith staff hosted sectional and regional events in basketball, baseball and softball while also starting middle school teams in swimming and soccer as well as sixth-grade teams for basketball and volleyball.
Adams is a 1984 graduate of Gary Lew Wallace High School, where he was a standout football player. He earned an associate’s degree from Joliet Junior College in 1987 and a bachelor’s degree from Northwest Missouri State University in 1990, again excelling in football at both colleges and playing for coach Tom Horne while at Joliet JC.
Adams earned a master’s degree from Valparaiso University in 1997 while an assistant football coach working for Horne at VU. Adams joined the VU football staff in 1991 and served as a Crusaders’ assistant coach for 14 seasons, including the offensive coordinator for eight years. The football program went 66-82-1 during that span and twice was co-champions of the Pioneer Football League (2000 and 2003).
Adams was named to succeed Horne as Valparaiso University’s head football coach in 2005, compiling a 15-40 record over five seasons in that position. While at VU, he was one of only 10 black NCAA Division I head football coaches in the country.
In 2010, Adams became head football coach, assistant track coach and dean of students at East Chicago Central High School. He served as head football coach for four seasons, leading the Cardinals to a 32-14 mark. His final team went 11-3 and captured sectional and regional championships. He was named Coach of the Year by The Times of Northwest Indiana in 2012. He was voted Region 1 Coach of the Year by the Indiana Football Coaches Association in 2012 and 2013.
Adams then moved into athletic administration, initially at South Bend Washington. In 2016, while at Griffith, Adams began his first term on the IHSAA Board of Directors. Now in his second three-year term in that role, he helps create IHSAA policies and procedures for the organization’s 22-sport program. In addition, he serves as a mentor to other athletic directors from across the state.
Adams married his wife, Donna, in 2004. They have one son, Jaden. Adams also has two step-sons, Richie and Aaron.
District 2
Shane Osting, athletic director, New Castle
Shane Osting is completing his fifth year as athletic director at New Castle High School, where he oversees a 21-sport program while hosting a variety of IHSAA events and other special events. Overall, Osting is completing his 15th year as an athletic director, his 17th year as an athletic administrator and his 23rd year in education-based athletics.
Osting is a 1996 graduate of Winchester Community High School, where he competed in basketball, cross country and track. He went on to attend Ball State, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2001 in physical education and health. He later earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Western Governors University in 2012.
Osting began his coaching career in 1997 while a student at Ball State as a boys’ basketball assistant to Chip Mehaffey at Winchester, serving his alma mater for four seasons and helping guide the Golden Falcons to a Class 2A state runner-up finish in 2000.
He became the varsity boys’ basketball coach at Randolph Southern in 2001, guiding the Rebels for five seasons, becoming the school’s athletic director in 2003-04 and serving as an athletic assistant the next two years. He took over the Randolph Southern girls’ basketball program in 2006, directing the Lady Rebels to an 81-32 record over five seasons that included four Mid-Eastern Conference championships, one Randolph County Tournament crown and one sectional title.
Osting became the Randolph Southern athletic director a second time from 2006 through 2012, supervising 14 sports while hosting county events in basketball and volleyball as well as IHSAA sectionals in girls’ basketball, volleyball and baseball. In addition, he worked with the RSHS Booster Club to create a fall carnival to benefit all of the Rebels’ teams.
He then moved to Blue River Valley High School, serving as athletic director and assistant principal at the Henry County school. He again supervised 14 sports for the Vikings, created a Student Athletic Advisory Council, hosted sectionals in boys’ basketball and volleyball, and hosted conference cross country.
In 2015, Osting became the athletic director at New Castle. There, he has created a Student Athletic Advisory Council and started a Trojan Challenge Program where each sport competes in areas such as community service, academics, attending other sports events and can earn a multi-sport bonus. In addition, he and his staff have hosted sectionals in basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball as well as basketball special events such as the Raymond James Hall of Fame Classic, the Indiana-Kentucky Challenge Cup and a Geico/ESPN Basketball Event.
As someone who has worked in small-school and large-school situations, Osting said that he sees positives in each setting. At the moment, he noted that he really enjoys the large-school environment because of the ability to allow students to compete in more sports and the ability to have more levels of teams on a consistent basis.
District 3
Tim Grove, superintendent, South Knox School Corp.
Tim Grove is completing his eighth year as superintendent of the South Knox School Corp. as part of a career in education that has included him previously serving as a teacher, coach and principal.
In his current position, his duties include the evaluation of the administrative staff, creation and management of the corporation budget, negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement with the Classroom Teachers Association, ensuring compliance of the corporation with federal and state guidelines, recommendation of personnel decisions to the school board and the creation of agendas for monthly school board meetings, monthly administrative team meetings and monthly CTA discussion meetings.
He also has shown a strong interest in athletics, serving as a coach in basketball, football and track & field earlier in his career. More recently, he has been a member of the IHSAA Board of Directors since 2009, serving as executive committee chairman in 2014-15 and as the board vice president in 2016-17.
Grove currently is a member of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, the Indiana Association of School Business Officials, the Vincennes University Board of Trustees and the Knox County Development Corp.
Grove is a 1981 graduate of Washington Catholic High School. He went on to attend Indiana State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies education in 1988. He later received two additional degrees from ISU – a master’s degree in secondary school administration in 2000 and an Educational Specialist in School Administration and Supervision in 2008. In addition, he received a certification from the Indiana Department of Education’s Indiana Principal Leadership Academy in 2004.
Grove began his career in education as a teacher from 1993-96 at Vincennes University's extension at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. He followed by serving as a teacher at North Knox High School from 1996-2001, while also serving as a coach for seventh-grade girls basketball (1993-2001), assistant varsity football (1997-2000) and assistant varsity boys track (1999-2001).
In 2001, Grove became the principal at North Knox. There he oversaw a school with more than 600 students, more than 40 certified staff and more than 20 classified staff. In addition, he served as the corporation’s school safety specialist, Title IX coordinator and supervised extra-curricular activities in fine arts, academic competitions and athletics.
Grove moved to the South Knox School Corp. as superintendent in July 2012, where he serves as lead educator for more than 1,200 students, more than 70 certified staff members and more than 90 classified staff members. During his tenure, the corporation completed a $15.1 million construction/renovation on buildings and facilities in 2018.
Over the years, Grove has been recognized as the State Administrator of the Year from the Indiana Association of Student Councils in 2005 and the District 11 High School Principal of the Year from the Indiana Association of School Principals in 2009.
He also has served in numerous leadership positions. Those include being vice president in 2007-08 and president in 2008-09 of the Southwest Seven Football Conference; vice president in 2008-09, president in 2009-10 and boys publicity director from 2019-present of the Blue Chip Conference; and membership chairman in 2009-10, vice president in 2010-11 and president in 2011-12 of IASP District 11.
Grove and his wife, Charlene, have been married for 26 years. The couple has two daughters, Ali and Betsy, and one granddaughter, Charlotte.
