Bloomington North names new coaches for girls' basketball, softball
Kiley Jarrett has seen the Bloomington North girls’ basketball program at its best.
She was a big reason as starting point guard for the Cougars’ only semistate qualifier in 2003. Now, she wants to be one of the reasons why North gets back to that level, only this time, she’ll do it as head coach.
Jarrett’s hire was made official at Tuesday’s MCCSC board meeting where the Cougars also added a new head softball coach, elevating assistant Kat Edmonds.
Jarrett, an officer with the Bloomington Police Department, has been an assistant with the Cougars and briefly at Edgewood when Curt Simic was head coach. She hadn’t planned to be a head coach quite so soon, but the opportunity was here and now with a program that means everything to her.
“It just holds more excitement coaching at the school you attended and played for,” Jarrett said. “You want to see it succeed just that much more. I definitely want to get the program back to where it was when I played, to be recognized in the state ranks.
“It’s a very good opportunity to do it. We have players capable of getting North back to where it was. I was fortunate to be the first female Indiana All-Star for North, so the foundation is in place. I just don’t want to stop with myself and Alex (Guyton).”
North’s administration recognized her strong connection to the Cougars’ program in the hiring process.
"We’re excited about adding Kiley as head coach,” North athletic director Andy Hodson said. “She has great enthusiasm and passion for the program because she lived it and breathed it. It’s not that often you can get somebody back in their hometown.
"The thing about her, she wants Bloomington North girls basketball to rise to the top and she will be anything it takes to get there.”
Kiley Jarrett was a decorated player
Jarrett, who stood just 5-foot-4, was a four-year starter for North under Steve Goddard, never missing a game. She averaged 12 points and three assists and more importantly to her, went 74-19. She was an Indiana junior and senior all-star who went on to play for Ball State. There, she helped the Cardinals make it to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as a 12th seed and upset powerhouse Tennessee.
In 2019, she was inducted to the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame.
Jarrett majored in criminal justice and began working with the Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy and working as a K-9 officer before switching to BPD. A change in schedule gave her the opportunity to live her dream of becoming a head coach after Jeff Turmail resigned to move into school administration, taking a job in Cloverdale.
“I didn’t know it would come up this soon,” Jarrett said. “When Jeff informed us he would be stepping down, it was just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Fortunately enough, my police work schedule allows me to do this and to be able to give back to basketball in a capacity like this.”
More familiar faces will return with Stew Cutshall and Kasandra Mack remaining on staff as assistants.
Jarrett inherits a program on the rise. The Cougars finished 17-7 and return three starters. But its recent postseason history has been threadbare, no sectional wins since 2013 and no titles since 2006.
“We definitely have the upperclassmen and that experience,” Jarrett said. “In my first year, it’s nice to have that. We’re not starting at ground zero. I’m also excited for our incoming freshmen. It’s a fun group. I think people will enjoy watching this team.”
That’s because she’s hoping they will play with the same elan and fire she did. She’ll be putting plenty of energy into the program itself as well as keeping strong connections with the youth players coming up.
“Change is never easy,” Jarrett said. “On the court, I always liked fast pace and transition and we’ll continue to make sure our players are in the best shape so we can play that type of game.”
Softball stays in house with coaching change
North also turned to an assistant for its softball coach in Edmonds, who was Geoff Aiken’s assistant for four years. She’s also a guidance counselor at North. Edmonds grew up near Chicago and was a standout catcher who played collegiately at Southern Illinois University’s highly successful program in the mid-2000s.
After that, she worked with the Chicago White Sox academy program in the summers coaching softball and also working with travel teams. She ended up going to Butler for her Master's before coming to Bloomington and couldn’t wait to start coaching again.
“I’m thrilled,” Edmonds said. “I value the relationships we’ve built as a program and I want those to continue, but also hopefully generate some new interest. Right now, we’re a young team and we lost some of our core seniors, but we have some juniors stepping up I can see us relying on.
“We’ll get to it as soon as we can in the off-season.”
More: Receivers Cole Grupenhoff, Tate Bless both catching on for Bloomington North
That work will also include bumping numbers up to make having a JV squad a viable option again. The Cougars have struggled record-wise since the COVID break and Edmonds will see if she can spark a change there.
“When we interviewed her, she talked about her vision and hitting the ground running and building the numbers back up and getting the excitement back. She was a natural choice from the applicants that we had. I think the girls will be in good hands with Kat.”
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North names new coaches for girls' basketball, softball
