IBCA E-Newsletter

NFHS Coach of the Year nominees

Aaron Wolfe of NorthWood and Tony Hasenour of Forest Park have been chosen as Indiana’s nominees for the National Federation of State High School Associations national basketball coaches of the year.

Wolfe guided 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. At season’s end, Wolfe was named head coach of the 2023 Junior All-Stars and voted the IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year.

In 16 seasons, his teams have gone 281-110 with nine sectional titles as well as one regional, one semi-state and his team’s first state title all in 2023. His teams also have two NLC trophies (2022, 2023), and the Panthers have held Class 3A No. 1 rankings in 2015-16, 2016-17, 2021-22 and 2022-23. During Wolfe’s time as coach, NorthWood has had six 20-win seasons, 14 winning seasons and 15 players go on to play in college, including 11 on scholarship.

Prior to his 2023 duties with the Junior All-Stars, Wolfe was a senior Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 2016. His 2023 IBCA honor was his second, joining a previous accolade in 2014. Wolfe also 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. He also served as an IBCA district representative from 2015-18.

A 1992 graduate of Monmouth High School in Monmouth, Ill., Wolfe – who attended elementary school in Benton County, Ind. – 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 while playing for Steve Alford as a junior in 1995 with a 33-1 record. That team was inducted into the Manchester University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Wolfe also played baseball at Manchester.

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.

He is in his 17th year as a teacher at NorthWood, currently instructing students in biology, genetics and environmental science.

Wolfe and his wife, Sonya, have three children – Whitney, 22, Aidan, 20, and Ethan, 17.

Hasenour directed Forest Park to the 2022 and 2023 Class 2A state title with back-to-back 26-3 seasons, completing his seven-year head coaching career with a 130-51 record. He was promoted to athletic director in June, relinquishing his coaching duties with the move.

This past season, Hasenour’s team also won the Forest Park Sectional, Crawford County Regional and Shelbyville Semi-State. In 2022, the Lady Rangers also claimed trophies in the Forest Park Sectional, Crawford County Regional and Jasper Semi-State. Earlier, his varsity teams also won sectionals in 2017 and 2021, and he previously coached the Lady Rangers’ junior varsity team to a 203-93 mark over 16 seasons.

Hasenour was chosen a 2022 IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year and the assistant coach for the 2022 Indiana Junior All-Stars. He also was named 2022 Evansville Courier & Press Southwestern Indiana co-Coach of the Year, 2023 Courier & Press Southwestern Indiana Coach of the Year and the 2023 HBCA District 2 Coach of the Year.

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 girls’ JV coach at Forest Park. He was also the Lady Rangers’ varsity assistant coach in softball for four seasons. He was on the softball staff for three sectional titles and the 2001 Class A state championship.

He is in his 24th year on staff at Forest Park, now in his first year as athletic director after 23 years as a teacher.

Hasenour and his wife, Janelle, have been married for 22 years. They have three sons – Calvin, 19, and twins Charlie and Will, 17.

NFHS/INDIANA COACH OF THE YEAR HONOREES

2002 to Present (working to compile a complete list of honorees from prior years)

*State and Section 4 winner. Section 4 includes Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
**State, Section 4 and National winner.