By RYAN WALKER
Bluffton High School went into the basketball offseason with two big question marks as both the boys’ and girls’ head coaches, Karl Grau and Eric Mounsey, decided to step down.
At Monday’s school board meeting, the head coaching vacancies were filled just over a month after the final boys’ game of the season.
Adam Gray was hired for the boys and Curtis Douglas for the girls.
Gray, who was an assistant coach for the Tigers girls’ team in the past, spent the last five years with Heritage as the head coach. In his tenure with the Patriots, he won a conference title and the conference tournament one time each, and last year compiled a record of 13-12.
Of many factors, Gray said that the position intrigued him because of the community aspect in all phases, including supporting the Tigers basketball team but also in education.
“I spent a year here my first year teaching, so I was familiar with the school system and know it is fantastic,” Gray said. “The administrative team and school board at BHMSD are outstanding at supporting not only athletics but the fine arts and, most importantly, all students who are educated in BHMSD. The community’s support of basketball is something that really drew me here. I remember being a high school and college student and coming to The Tiger Den to watch Bluffton and Winchester when they were both top 5 teams. The feeder program through Future Tigers is something that is already in place, and we are hoping to continue to have that be successful in having a full program K-12.”
Bluffton went 2-20 last year, and Gray understands there might be some growing pains right off the bat, but stops at Carroll, St. Francis, Huntington North, and Whikto gives him the experience he needs to succeed at a basketball-hungry program in Bluffton.
Gray’s style, according to him, is one that helps players understand the coaching staff wants them to succeed and that they care about them. He said his expectations for those players would be high, and he plans on letting them understand the ceiling is high for them.
His style of coaching stems from mentors like Marty Beasley (DeKalb), Craig Teagle (New Albany), Rob Irwin, Luke Cummings, and his father. At Bluffton, there has been a rich tradition of coaches as well, and Gray wants to be a part of that.
“(I’m) very excited to get started. The history of this program is something that is exciting but also can be a bit daunting. Just in my lifetime, coaches like Wayne Barker, Kevin Leising, and Chris Benedict have led this program to outstanding heights. We can either be scared of those expectations or embrace them. There is something special about being a Bluffton basketball player that you do not have at every basketball program in Indiana,” he said.
Douglas also will bring experience to the Tigers on the girls’ side, as he has been a head coach for 26 years. He has 352 career coaching wins for both boys’ and girls’ basketball in his career and made an Elite Eight appearance at Angola.
His most recent stop was at Adams Central, where he was there for four season from 2018-2022. In three of the four seasons for the Jets, Douglas had a winning record.
While coaching there in the Allen County Athletic Conference, he learned more about the Bluffton program, also noting that he lived in town for a year back in the 2018-19 season.
Douglas said a draw for him echoed what Gray said about the community.
“Coaching at Adams Central for four years, I knew about Bluffton girls’ basketball, the community, and the school,” he said. “Once I decided to get back into coaching, I thought Bluffton was a perfect fit with their defensive-minded past teams and the strong school and community support I’ve witnessed.”
The Tigers gig was also attractive for the 11-11 campaign the Tigers just wrapped up with.
The group is young, graduating only one player with significant time from this past year. Only 2.8 points per game will be lost (out of 39.4), including the return of Haley Gibson, a double-figure scorer with all-conference honors attached to her name.
The rest of the top scorers were sophomores and freshmen, and Douglas is looking forward to building with it.
“The returning talent is strong enough to win right away and compete for ACAC and sectional championships,” he said. “Plus, there are good players at the younger levels, so there is a solid base to continue to win and compete for championships.
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