Noah Stuckey and Paul Konrath appreciate what they are stepping into at Edgewood.
The pair were recently tabbed to take over a pair of well-established programs for the Mustangs as Stuckey was named head girls basketball coach and Konrath is the new boys wrestling coach. A meet and greet for both coaches was set for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
From DeKalb to Edgewood
Stuckey graduated from DeKalb in 2003 after playing for Cliff Hawkins’ 4A state finalists.
He comes to the Mustangs after spending the past five years running the girls program at his alma mater. He will also be a math teacher at Edgewood.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Stuckey said. “Everyone I talked to down there was real positive about everything. Coach (Gary) Sims did a great job with the program, so it’s not like I’m starting from scratch.”
Stuckey is familiar with the area. He was an assistant at Perry Meridian before taking over at Southwestern (Shelbyville) from 2015-2020 where he went 65-51 but also had to deal with 1A power Jac-Cen-Del in the same sectional.
Like Sims, he has an emphasis on strong defense and is a big believer in the 2-3 zone. Offensively, the numbers tell him to push in transition and seek out 3s, layups and free throws.
“One of the big things for me is putting a lot of pressure defensively on the ball,” Stuckey said. “Make people uncomfortable and not let them get into their sets and their offense.”
He inherits a squad that had no seniors and leaned on 10 juniors, including starters Macey Crider, Ally and Madi Bland, Ava LaRoche, Addison Yearby and Kyleigh Murphy, along with sophomore Kelsey Davis. It’s a group of multi-sport athletes who compete well and win in other sports.
The new fieldhouse Edgewood is building is also another draw. So unlike his previous position, he doesn’t need to drum up interest. It’s already there.
DeKalb was 5-39 in the two seasons before he arrived and after a rough start, his teams gave up just 43.2 ppg. He delivered the first winning season since 2013 and with back-to-back 14-win seasons, the Barons highest total since 2011. But the school district decided to let both of its basketball coaches go after last season and start over.
“It was tough,” Stuckey said of leaving. “But when an opportunity presents itself to go out and be successful, you’ve got to take it. It was great to be home, but it’s time to move on.”
Konrath familiar with Edgewood
Konrath’s wrestling career started in his home town of Mount Vernon in Posey County just outside Evansville and led him to Monroe County.
He hit the mats at age 5, following in the footsteps of his many brothers and sisters as the youngest of 12. From the beginning, the sport has meant so much to him.
“I always looked up to my coaches and the people who helped out,” Konrath said, his dad one of them. “When I was young, I already thought I wanted to be a coach, though I had no idea what that meant.”
But he did grasp the idea that wrestling could help impact a child’s growth in more ways than just competing or working to win. And as the youngest of 12, wrestling was also a way to help pay for college at Indiana University where he graduated in 2022 after several years on the Hoosiers’ wrestling team competing at the 133 and 141-pound weight classes.
“Going to college was a chore,” Konrath said. “I had to earn it and wrestling provided that for me.”
He wanted to jump into coaching after leaving IU, but took a detour to Texas where his wife was continuing her studies. There wasn’t much of a “wrestling scene” down there, he said, and was happy to come back to Indiana.
He started coaching at the Indiana Regional Training Center, working with the youth program and it was through there he had a chance to connect with Edgewood while using their facilities for practice.
He was also a high school assistant in the Indianapolis area but the chance to be a head coach and a bit closer to home were strong draws. He was also familiar with many of the wrestlers and their families, so it was an easy fit to bring him on board. The plan is to bring him on board as a teacher as well, which is always a help in being able to recruit more athletes to the sport.
That base, he said, is what made many of the Evansville area schools, like Mater Dei or Castle, so tough year after year and that’s the culture he wants to keep building on at Edgewood.
“The thing those schools do very well is their feeder programs,” Konrath said. “Even though the head coach may take two days off, there’s always somebody at the school who is going to do something. It’s a system where it’s hard not to get better.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Edgewood’s new girls basketball, boys wrestling coaches inherit strong programs
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
