Cummings takes USF job

For the second straight season, Jay County High School will have a new leader for its girls basketball program.
Luke Cummings, who led the Patriots to a 16-7 record in his only year at the helm, is leaving JCHS to become a men’s assistant basketball coach at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne. He will also coach men’s and women’s golf for the Cougars.
“Since I started coaching … it’s always been a goal of mine to get into the college game,” said Cummings this morning. “It’s hard to crack into the college coaching profession. … I kind of see this as an opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do.
“It was a tough decision … because Jay County was a great place to be. … (former athletics director) Ted (Habegger) and (principal Phil) Ford have treated me so well. … It’s hard because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but (here) I’ve been treated as well as I ever have in my career. It was a great year.”
Cummings was hired for the JCHS job in May of 2009 after Kirk Comer departed to coach his alma mater, Winchester.
The Patriots put together their ninth straight winning season despite losing two key players to season-ending injuries. Their year came to an end with a 58-53, double-overtime loss to Marion in the sectional tournament.
JCHS superintendent Tim Long said he was impressed with the way Cummings handled the adversity of the injuries.
“I thought he did an excellent job,” said Long. “You’ve really got to adjust. … I felt that he conducted himself as a man of character, and I think that’s important.”
At St. Francis, Cummings joins a program that finished 28-9 and won the NAIA Division II national championship in 2010. The returning squad includes three players — Matt Edmonds, Kevin Bloom and Robbie Franklin — who Cummings coached while they were at East Noble High School.
Cummings said he got to know the St. Francis coaching staff when those players were being recruited and while working at camps.
The assistant coaching job opened in May when former assistant Chad LaCross was chosen for the head coaching job after former head coach Jeff Rekeweg moved on the Northwood University, a NCAA Division II school in Michigan.
Interviews for the assistant job were earlier this month.
“I felt like either way, I was in a great position,” said Cummings. “I told Mr. Ford, from a high school standpoint, there’s not another job in the state I was interested in.”
The USF golf teams finished 59-34 (men’s) and 52-29 (women’s) last season under LaCross.
Cummings, a 1998 graduate of Kokomo High School, coached boys basketball for three seasons at East Noble before coming to Jay County. He had also previously coached at Adams Central.
The Jay School Corporation has already begun advertising for a new coach, and Long and JCHS athletics director Bob Lutton said they hope to have a new coach in place by the time school starts in mid-August.
“We want to get the best candidate we can get,” said Long, noting that there are some teaching positions open.. “We’ve had several inquiries (already), which is typical.”[[In-content Ad]]