After a historic run leading the Fishers boys basketball program, Garrett Winegar is moving on.
Winegar told his team Monday that he was leaving Fishers to join the coaching staff at Iowa United Prep, a relatively new program based out of Des Moines, Iowa, which plays in the Nike EYBL Scholastic circuit during the school year and on the Nike circuit in the summer.
Winegar led Fishers to a 132-25 record in six seasons, including an 83-3 record with a Class 4A state championship two years ago and a state runner-up last season over the last three seasons. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 this season and carried a 24-0 record into the sectional championship before losing 50-49 to Carmel.
Winegar, 34, said the opportunity to coach on a national stage was appealing. He will coach the freshmen and sophomore team at Iowa Prep – the “Orange” team – and former IU guard Keith Smart will coach the junior and senior team, which is the “Black” team. Winegar said he will also help with the Black team depending on the travel schedule.
“It was a difficult decision, but I take pride in leaving the program in a better place than I found it,” said Winegar, a native of Rochester who started out coaching under J.R. Holmes at Bloomington South and Criss Beyers at Warren Central. “I love the people in the building, and we had some great players and parents. I love Indiana high school basketball. I really feel like we’re leaving it in a good place with the juniors and seniors we have coming back. They should be one of the best teams in the state again next year.”
As it stands now, Fishers would return senior guards Jason Gardner Jr. and Cooper Zachary, along with Levi Walker, among other contributors next season.
Iowa United was founded in 2023-24 by Mark and Jenna Scharnberg. The players have access to a 73,000-square-foot training facility on the south side of Des Moines.
“The ordinary high school isn’t really designed to develop their basketball players for the next level, like what they’re doing in these academies in Europe,” Mark Scharnberg said in a Yahoo story in 2025. “We’re just taking that one step further and saying, you know what? We’re not only a prep school, but we’re an AAU program. We’re a yearlong development program.”
Winegar, who came to Fishers after coaching one season at Warren Central, said he hopes to coach in a Final Four one day as a college coach. Fishers currently has a 54-game regular season winning streak.
“I felt like we’ve built a great program at Fishers – one of the best high school programs in the country,” he said. “But outside of Indiana, I don’t know if people know how we do things. This is a chance to play a national schedule and build some connections professionally. It does make sense for my family, too, from a financial standpoint. I want my wife to be able to stay home with my kids (they have sons ages 5, 3 and 2). The hardest part of me taking this job is leaving our current group because I felt like we had a top three team in the state.”
Winegar said Scharnberg’s vision of “building the best developmental prep school in the world” aligned with his view on player development.
“When I first considered it, I didn’t want to do it because you have this view that prep school is not about development,” said Winegar, who was one of the finalists for the Naismith Award for national high school coach of the year. “But when I saw we had the same vision, it did make sense. It doesn’t change how special I think coaching high school basketball in Indiana is, though. I never saw myself leaving Fishers for another high school job. Coaching in our sectional, in that environment, it was awesome.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fishers boys basketball coach Garrett Winegar on why he’s leaving for prep school job
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
