Here's what makes Circleville's Brian Bigam Dispatch girls basketball Coach of the Year
Almost two decades of coaching in two sports could not prepare Brian Bigam for the challenge he faced Jan. 27.
Word spread that Saturday that Addison Edgington, arguably the Circleville girls basketball team’s top player even as a freshman, had been seriously injured in a rollover car crash the night before. She faced months of recovery and physical therapy, a process that is ongoing.
As Bigam found out, there was no manual for navigating the process with a team that at the time was 15-0, ranked fifth statewide in Division II and entertaining thoughts of its first state tournament appearance.
“My heart and brain told me to be there for the girls … and just do what I thought was best,” said Bigam, who gathered his players at his home that day. They enjoyed pizza, made get-well cards for Edgington and took solace in each other’s company.
“What I did find out, what we found out, was we were stronger as a group when we were together,” Bigam said.
Circleville won its next nine games and reached a Division II Southeast District final, where it lost to Thornville Sheridan 50-30 to finish 24-1.
For his and his team’s achievements, Bigam is The Dispatch’s All-Metro Coach of the Year.
“He did everything he could to just be there for the team,” senior guard Faith Yancey said. “Everyone grieves differently and he tried to help us do that in a different way. That’s a big part of why we kept winning.
“He’s my favorite coach of all time. The relationships he builds and how intense he is in pushing us to be the best we can be, that played a huge role in (our) success.”
The Dispatch’s Athlete of the Year in girls basketball will be among the honors announced at the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards on June 20 at Mershon Auditorium.
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Circleville’s success was not a total shock. The Tigers returned three starters – senior guard Gabby McConnell, Yancey and sophomore guard Maddie Blakeman – from the 2022-23 team that went 19-5, finished a game out of first place in the MSL-Buckeye and reached a district semifinal.
Edgington averaged 16 points and seven rebounds before her injury.
“As the season went on, they could see we had something special,” Bigam said. “To run the table, though, I’m sure I’d have said no (before the season), but to do that … after losing Addison is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been a part of.”
A 1998 graduate of Circleville, Bigam played baseball, basketball and football for the Tigers before signing at the University of Indianapolis for baseball.
Coaching has been in his blood ever since, given two stints with both Circleville’s girls basketball (2012-16, 2022-present) and baseball (2006-09, 2018-present) teams.
Bigam also led Ohio Christian’s baseball team to three consecutive National Christian College Athletic Association World Series from 2011-13, earning NCCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year each season.
If that wasn’t enough, Bigam joined the Chillicothe Paints’ coaching staff in 2007, spending nine years as an assistant before four seasons as manager (2016-19) of the collegiate summer baseball squad, which previously was an independent professional team.
Bigam entered the week 84-51-1 in his return to Circleville baseball, including the Tigers’ first state tournament trip in 2018.
“I’m sure he’s not home a lot,” Blakeman said. “Every night, he was scouting, working, doing something to prepare us.”
As if his resume does not indicate Bigam’s love for baseball, his family does. He and wife Nicole named their three children – Maddux, 17; Glavine, 15; and Kimbrel, 11 – after Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and 2010s closer Craig Kimbrel.
Even so, Bigam thinks he makes more of an impact in basketball.
“You can put on signs and call pitches (in baseball), but the pace of basketball, the up and down, the intensity is different,” he said. “I love coaching. I think it’s my calling. But the pace of basketball, the scheming, the game planning, the scouting, that’s a lot of fun.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Circleville's Bigam is Dispatch girls basketball Coach of the Year
