Coach Buck returns to Pendleton Heights sideline
Aug. 3—PENDLETON — Faced with the potentially disastrous timing of a boys basketball coaching vacancy late in the summer, Pendleton Heights had the good fortune of having a familiar legend ready to lend a helping hand.
After Joe Buck guided the Arabians through the last two weeks of summer workouts, the retired former PH coach was ready to jump back in with both feet and bring his familiar stomping foot back to the sideline.
On Thursday evening, the South Madison Community School Corp. unanimously approved Buck as the next head coach for the Arabians.
"The two weeks I was able to work with the team and the July workouts, it was great to be back on the court," Buck said. "I enjoyed getting to know the players and working with the team."
Also at Thursday's meeting, the board approved Rod Hagerman as the new boys and girls cross country coach, Bryant Beard as the girls tennis coach and Jonathon McClure as the new girls soccer coach. Hagerman succeeds his wife, Melissa, after 17 years leading the program, and Beard had already been named the boys tennis coach this fall.
Buck succeeds Adam Ballard, who left suddenly in July after three consecutive eight-win seasons and a record of 24-48.
The timing of the departure left SMCSC with little time to conduct a full search, but it did receive applications from multiple candidates, none of whom measured up to the record of Buck.
SMCSC superintendent Mark Hall said that probably would have been the case no matter how long the coaching search had lasted.
"Timing is some of it, but I'm not sure it would have mattered if we had had six months to look for a coach," Hall said.
During his previous tenure with Pendleton Heights, Buck achieved a record of 189-105 for a .642 winning percentage. Buck led the Arabians to 11 winning seasons and netted six sectional championships with his first occurring during his initial season in 1993-94.
Pendleton Heights won three consecutive sectional titles from 1994-96 under Buck's guidance. In 2000, Buck added a Class 3A regional championship and a semistate appearance before collecting back-to-back sectional titles in 2003 and 2004. During the summer of 2005, Buck served as the head coach for the Indiana All-Stars, which included the Arabians' all-time second leading scorer, Nick Rogers.
Rogers will enter his second season as the Arabians' girls basketball coach later this year and said, based on what he has already seen, his former mentor still has plenty of energy for the job.
"I didn't get to see the behind-the-scenes stuff when I was playing for Coach Buck, but I got here one morning at 7, and he was already here dust mopping the court," Rogers said. "It's the same old Coach Buck."
PH athletic director Chad Smith, who played for Buck with the Arabians, was emotional during his introduction speech, crediting his mentor for much of his own success before quipping a reminder the former SMCSC superintendent was now his subordinate.
"It was an honor to play for Coach Buck and an even bigger honor for me to be able to provide a platform for Coach Buck to do what he knows best," Smith said in a statement. "As a former player of his, I know that our vision for the basketball program is the same because I learned it from him."
Buck stressed his goals for the program are not short term.
"There is a lot of work to be done, but I welcome the challenge," he told the board. "I have a vision for the future and a long-range plan for the basketball program at Pendleton Heights.
"I never stopped being an Arabian."
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
