The coaching bug bit Eddy Wagner in college.
Wagner started out after graduating from high school at North Central with his own dreams of playing basketball. But after transferring from Hanover College to Indiana State after his freshman year, he saw the other side as a manager and practice player for the women’s basketball team.
“I fell in love with the planning and scouting and all of those different things,” he said. “I had kind of a unique experience.”
It is a coaching journey that landed the 31-year-old Wagner his first head coaching job at Park Tudor. Wagner, an assistant at Park Tudor for seven years, will replace Tim Adams, who stepped down as the Panthers’ coach and was hired at Bishop Chatard last week.
“It’s definitely something I’ve been eyeing,” Wagner said of becoming a head coach. “My thought was always to try to be a star in my role at Park Tudor and prepare myself as much as possible.”
After college, Wagner started out as an assistant at Park Tudor in 2017, then left to join Jason Gardner’s staff at North Central in 2020-21. He returned to Park Tudor for the next two years, spent one year at Lawrence Central, then returned to Park Tudor again two years ago.
Wagner is a health and wellness teacher at Park Tudor.
“Park Tudor provides a great opportunity for academics and athletics,” Wagner said. “With me teaching and coaching there the last few years, I feel like I’ve built great relationships within the community. I’ve definitely had some people backing me as I worked my way up.”
Wagner, who also coaches the Indy Heat 17U EYBL team, counts Adams among his mentors.
“Tim has been phenomenal,” Wagner said. “I left (Park Tudor) twice and came back mostly because of him. He’s one of my best friends and mentors and he gave me a lot of different things to do within the program. We kind of clicked instantly with our philosophies when he got the job. It was fun to collaborate with him.”
Park Tudor was 14-9 last season and has a strong junior-to-be class returning led by Carlos Lopez and Brody Bluiett.
“I think we’ll get up and pressure and change defenses a ton,” Wagner said of his coaching style. “Offensively we want to push the pace and let guys make their own reads.”
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: After several years as assistant, Eddy Wagner set to slide over a seat at Park Tudor
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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