IBCA E-Newsletter

2025-26 championship coaches

Congratulations to these eight coaches and their teams for reaching the pinnacle of Indiana high school basketball in the 2025-26 season. Here are brief biographies of each championship coach.

Boys

Class 4A: Joe Bradburn led Mt. Vernon (Fortville) to a 28-3 record that included a 52-50 victory over Crown Point for the Class 4A state championship. During the season, his Marauders also won the Homestead Invitational, Hoosier Heritage Conference, Greenfield-Central Sectional, Southport Regional and New Castle Semi-State. Bradburn is now 64-18 at Mt. Vernon and 365-252 in 27 seasons as a varsity coach. His overall mark includes 7-13 in one season at Cowan, 134-89 in 10 seasons at Yorktown, 56-30 in four seasons at DeKalb, 28-38 in three seasons at Huntington North and 77-64 in six seasons at Greenwood. A 1984 graduate of Wapahani, Bradburn played basketball and baseball for four seasons each in high school. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in business education from Ball State in 1989 and later earned a master's degree in administration from Ball State in 1999. Bradburn began his career in coaching as a Cowan assistant from 1989-93. Over the years, his teams have captured five sectional championships (1998, 2005, 2020, 2025, 2026), three regional titles (1998, 2025, 2026), two semi-state crowns (1998, 2026), a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 1998 and the 2026 Class 4A state crown. He was the 2003 IBCA District 4 Coach of the Year, served as a 2003 Junior All-Star assistant coach and was a 2026 Indiana All-Star assistant coach. He currently is in his 32nd year in education and his fourth year at Mt. Vernon, where he teaches business and cooperative education.

Class 3A: Jason Delaney guided Cathedral to a 25-5 season and Class 3A championship with a 71-61 victory over New Haven to become a four-time state title-winning coach. Along the way, the Irish also won the Indianapolis Attucks Sectional, the Martinsville Regional and the Seymour Semi-State. Delaney has a 196-57 record in 10 seasons at Cathedral and a 374-162 mark in 22 years overall. A 1995 graduate of Lafayette Central Catholic, he competed in basketball for the Knights. He attended Ball State, where he received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 2001. Delaney began his career as a head coach at Waldron in 2003-04, guiding the Mohawks to the Class A state title with a 27-0 record. He then coached at Southport for four seasons, Anderson Highland for one season, Indianapolis Washington for one season and Indianapolis Tech for five seasons – and winning the 2014 Class 4A state crown – before moving to Cathedral in 2016 and winning the 2022 Class 4A state title there. He has the distinction of leading three schools to state titles. He currently works as the associate athletic director at Cathedral.

Class 2A: Rich Schelsky directed Parke Heritage to a 27-4 ledger and Class 2A title with a 57-56 decision over Westview. Earlier, his Wolves won the Wabash River Conference, Greencastle Sectional, Martinsville Regional and Southport Semi-State. He is 169-58 in eight seasons at PH and 188-88 in 10 seasons as a boys’ varsity coach, including 19-30 in two seasons at Rockville (2002-03 and 2017-18). He also went 113-51 in seven seasons as a girls’ coach at Western Boone for a 17-year overall varsity mark of 301-139. His teams have won seven sectionals, five regionals and two semi-states. Schelsky is a 1993 graduate of Rockville where he was a four-year letterman in basketball and averaged 26.6 points as a senior. He went on to play one season at Franklin College, then attended Indiana State from 1994-99. Schelsky was a boys’ basketball assistant coach at Rockville from 1997-2002, then the Rox head coach in 2002-03. He was a Northview boys’ assistant from 2003-05, worked as an assistant golf professional from 2005-08 at Rea Park in Terre Haute, then was a Western Boone boys’ assistant in 2009-10. He was the WeBo girls’ head coach from 2010-17, then returned as boys’ coach in 2017-18 at Rockville, which consolidated into Parke Heritage beginning in 2018-19. He also was head baseball coach at Rockville from 1997-2005 and Western Boone from 2009-11. Schelsky was a 2014 IBCA girls’ District 2 Coach of the Year and currently is athletic director at Parke Heritage.

Class A: Heath Howington led Barr-Reeve to a 28-1 season and Class A state title with a 50-37 decision over Triton. Along the way, his Vikings won the Blue Chip Conference, the Loogootee Sectional, the Washington Regional and the Washington Semi-State. Howington has an overall record of 182-158 in 14 seasons as a head coach. He previously went 83-113 with one Pocket Athletic Conference title in eight seasons at North Posey (2012-20) and 71-44 with one sectional crown in five seasons at Evansville Memorial (2020-25). Last season was his first season at Barr-Reeve. Howington was voted 2026 IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year and served as an assistant coach for the 2026 Junior All-Stars. He is a 2002 graduate of Evansville Reitz, where he was a varsity letterman as a senior, was named two-time Academic All-City. He attended the University of Southern Indiana, earning bachelor’s degrees in business education and marketing in 2007. He later earned a master’s degree in education from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2012. He was a teacher and assistant coach at Eastern Greene, Bloomington South and Evansville Harrison before becoming a head coach at North Posey in 2012-13. Howington currently teaches business and advanced physical education at Barr-Reeve.

Girls

Class 4A: Kevin Stuckmeyer directed Center Grove to a 29-0 campaign that included a 56-53 decision over Norwell for the Class 4A state championship. Along the way, his Trojans won the Johnson County Tournament, the Center Grove/Carol Tumey Holiday Invitational, the Center Grove Sectional, the Greenfield-Central Regional and the Jasper Semi-State en route to becoming the state’s 18th girls’ basketball unbeaten champion. Stuckmeyer has a 187-49 record in nine seasons as coach of the Center Grove girls, a tenure has included five sectional titles and three regional crowns as well as the one semi-state banner and the one state trophy. He previously also was a boys’ head coach at Plymouth for three seasons, posting a 31-38 record with one sectional title. He was the 2026 IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year and was head coach for the South Team in the 2026 Futures Game. A 2001 graduate of Plymouth, Stuckmeyer played four years of basketball and three years of baseball for the Pilgrims. He was a two-time all-Northern Lakes Conference selection and IBCA honorable mention all-state as a senior in basketball. He matriculated to Grace College, where he played four years of basketball and was a two-time NAIA Academic All-American. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business education in 2005 and later a master’s degree in business administration from American Public University in 2013. Stuckmeyer started his career in education as a teacher and boys’ basketball assistant coach from 2005-07 at Logansport. He was a teacher and boys’ assistant at Plymouth in 2007-08 before leading the Plymouth boys from 2008-11. He was a boys’ assistant from 2011-13 at LaVille and a boys’ assistant from 2013-17 at Center Grove before becoming the CG girls’ head coach in 2017-18. He is in his 14th year as a Center Grove teacher, where he instructs students in business courses. This is his 22nd year overall as a teacher.

Class 3A: Andy Heim led Bellmont to a 25-3 season that included a 55-46 victory over Indianapolis Roncalli for the Class 3A state crown. Earlier, his Braves won the Mississinewa Sectional, Bellmont Regional and Logansport Semi-State. Heim has compiled a 211-143 record in 15 seasons at Bellmont with a previous sectional title in 2022. His teams also captured Northeast 8 Conference titles in 2017, 2019 and 2025. Heim was named the 2026 IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year and an 2026 Outside The Huddle co-Coach of the Year for the Fort Wayne area. He was an assistant coach for the 2026 Junior All-Stars and head coach for the Indiana team in the 2026 Nancy Rehm Classic that pairs teams from Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio. A 1997 graduate of New Haven High School, Heim played four years of basketball and four years of baseball for the Bulldogs and was chosen honorable mention all-conference in basketball as a senior. He attended Purdue for one year, then completed his education at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, graduating in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in English education. He later earned a master’s degree in education from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2007 and a second master’s degree in English from Indiana University in 2018. Heim began his coaching career at New Haven, serving as a boys’ basketball JV coach from 2002-11. He became the Bellmont girls’ varsity coach beginning in 2011-12. He began his teaching career in 2005 at Bellmont. He is in his 22nd year as a teacher at the school.

Class 2A: Taylor Drury guided Eastern (Pekin) to a 21-7 ledger that included a 50-32 triumph over Oak Hill for the Class 2A state championship. Along the way, her Musketeers won the Pekin Sectional, Charlestown Regional and Greencastle Semi-State. Drury’s teams are 48-54 in four seasons at her alma mater, for which she totaled 1,326 career points and was a senior on-court leader when it claimed a previous state title in 2017. She went on to the University of Indianapolis, where she played five seasons, tallied 1,386 career points, three times earned all-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors and twice was GLVC all-academic while earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 2021 and a master’s degree in management in 2022. Drury returned to Pekin as head coach in 2022-23. She now in her first year as a high school health and physical education teacher after four years as a middle school health and physical education teacher.

Class A: Matt Vick led Borden to a 25-4 season that included a 51-31 victory over Fremont for a second consecutive Class A state title. Earlier, his Braves won the Southern Athletic Conference, West Washington Sectional, Jasper Regional and Charlestown Semi-State. He has a nine-year record of 131-88. Vick is a 2006 graduate of Borden, where he played four years each of basketball, baseball and tennis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University-Southeast in 2011. Vick began his coaching career as a Henryville girls’ assistant from 2012-14. He then was a Borden boys’ assistant from 2014-17 and became the Borden girls’ head coach starting in the 2017-18 season. Vick now is in his 16th year as a math teacher at Borden.