IBCA E-Newsletter

NFHS Coach of the Year nominees

Tom Bradley of Orleans and Hollie Anson-Eaves of South Knox have been chosen as Indiana’s nominees for the National Federation of State High School Associations national basketball coaches of the year.

Bradley guided Orleans to a 25-4 season that included the 2025 Class A state championship with a 64-55 decision over Clinton Prairie. In the process, his Bulldogs won the Loogootee Sectional, Seymour Regional and Seymour Semi-State.

In 26 seasons at Orleans, his alma mater, Bradley has a 425-211 record with 10 sectional titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2025), two regional crowns (2003, 2025) and one semi-state trophy (2025) in addition to the 2025 Class A state title. His teams also have won 13 Patoka Lake Conference championships (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Bradley is a 1979 graduate of Orleans, where he played four years of basketball, four years of baseball, two years of golf and won the school’s Kiwanis Athletic Award as a senior. He was a basketball two-year team leader in assists and steals while averaging 8.1 points as a junior and 9.2 points as a senior. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1983 and a master’s degree in 1987, both from Indiana University.

Bradley started his coaching career as a boys’ basketball assistant at Southwestern (Shelby) from 1983-85. He then was a Paoli boys’ assistant coach from 1985-97 and the Paoli girls’ head coach – compiling a 30-13 record – from 1997-99.

He was voted an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 2007, and he is a four-time HBCA District 4 Coach of the Year (2005, 2015, 2021, 2023). He was the Junior All-Stars head coach in 2007 and an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 2012.

Now in his 27th year as the Orleans coach, Bradley retired in 2022 after also serving the school for 23 years as a math teacher, physical education teacher and athletic director.

He and his wife, Belinda, have two adult children – Whitney and Trey – and five grandchildren.

Anson-Eaves directed South Knox to a 28-2 record that included a 55-33 victory over Rensselaer Central for the Class 2A state championship in 2024-25. During the season, the Spartans also won the Corydon Central Invitational, Blue Chip Conference, North Knox Sectional, Charlestown Regional and Jasper Semi-State.

In 11 seasons, Anson-Eaves has a record of 177-110 with previous sectional titles in 2017 and 2019. She was voted the 2025 IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year and served as head coach for the South Team in the 2025 Indiana All-Star Futures Game. She also was 2025 HBCA District 1 Coach of the Year.

Anson-Eaves is a 2007 graduate of South Knox, where she was team MVP, team captain and honorable mention all-conference in basketball while also competing in softball. She went on to Brescia University in Kentucky, where she was a scorer, shooter and defensive stopper as a three-year captain and four-year player after redshirting in 2007-08.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and special education from Brescia in 2012 and now is in her 13th year as a director for Country Fun Daycare.

Anson-Eaves and her husband, Donnie, are parents to Sawyer and Ledger.

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.