WEST LAFAYETTE — Harrison girls basketball coach Rush McColley confirmed to The Journal & Courier he is resigning after eight seasons. He sent in his letter to the school on Wednesday, April 8.
McColley finished with a record of 114-76, including an IHSAA Class 4A sectional title with the Raiders in 2023. Harrison saw a dip in its program with an 13-13 record in 2023-24, 7-17 in 2024-25 and 9-15 this season while reaching the IHSAA sectional 4A final.
McColley believed there was need for a change.
“At some point, you know it’s time,” McColley said. “We had two subpar years. Maybe it was time for a different voice to hear something different and have something different to take the program onto a different level.”
McColley took the program over from Amie Anthrop and brought stability after Harrison went through six different coaches in 11 seasons.
“We put the program on stable ground,” McColley said. “I look back and feel good about that. We won a lot and had some good players who had good careers. Those kids stayed in touch. Knowing there was a good rapport and the success the players had and the success the players have had academically, I know there’s a good foundation for the program moving forward.”
Harrison captured its lone IHSAA sectional title under McColley in 2023 when the program was led by guard Riley Flinn, who now plays at Transylvania. The Raiders hadn’t won a sectional title since 1986 before its breakthrough.
McColley’s last season allowed him to coach his daughters, senior Allison who will play college basketball at Manchester University, and freshman Mallori who built herself into a 3-point shooting threat.
“It was a great experience and got to see Allison all the way through,” McColley said. “I’m disappointed to not see Mallori all the way through. I got to see the work they put in and I got to see them work hard every day and work hard for the good of the team, and that’s not always the case with today’s athletes. You’re seeing people a lot more worried about their stats rather than helping their team win. I couldn’t be more proud of my girls being good teammates and helping our team be successful.”
Coaching wasn’t always in the plans of McColley, who originally entered college at DePauw University to become an athletic trainer or physical therapist. Injuries during his college basketball career forced him to switch into education and earned his first head coaching job at Crawfordsville at the age of 22.
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Rush McColley resigns from West Lafayette Harrison girls basketball
Reporting by Ethan Hanson, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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