Excited for opportunity

“It’s a dream come true. I grew up here. I played basketball here. I teach here. … This is a great opportunity.”
Needless to say, Chris Krieg is looking forward to his chance to lead the Jay County High School girls basketball program.
Krieg, whose hiring was approved by the Jay School Board Monday, moves back to the girls program after having spent the last nine as the boys junior varsity coach under Craig Teagle. He was the junior varsity girls coach under Lea Selvey from 1997 through 2000.
“He has some very good experience working at both boys and girls programs,” said JCHS athletics director Bob Lutton in an interview Friday. “We believe he brings stability and knowledge to that program.
“We had some good candidates, but we felt like he stood out.”
Krieg takes over for Luke Cummings, who went 16-7 in his only season with the team. He resigned about two weeks ago after being hired as an assistant coach for the University of St. Francis men’s basketball team as well as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s golf teams.
In the Patriot boys program, Krieg was part of a staff that has churned out nine straight winnings seasons. The stretch included the team’s trip to the Class 3A state championship game in 2006.
“I don’t think there’s any question that his experience with Craig Teagle, that kind of program, and the success that that program has had, was a real factor,” said JCHS principal Phil Ford. “He’s been a part of it for a long time.”
Krieg was the Jay County varsity boys golf coach for two years, and has also been the junior varsity baseball coach at his alma mater. His career started at Daleville, where he was the junior varsity girls basketball coach under former Jay County and current Winchester coach Kirk Comer for two seasons.
He was chosen from a pool of about 20 applicants, of which only in-house candidates were interviewed.
“We opened the application process up to everybody,” said Ford, “and as they came in and the deadline reached us we … felt that the best applicants were inside people.”
Krieg, who teaches graphic arts at JCHS, said he plans to use much of what he’s learned in the boys program over the last decade as he now leads the girls program. He’ll stress the team concept, plans on switching to man-to-man defense after the team ran almost entirely zone last year and said he would like to use a lot of full- and half-court pressure.
“You’re going to see a lot of similarities between the boys and the girls, just because it’s a system that works,” said Krieg. “I know it works. I’ve seen it work.”
Christie Sommers will join Krieg’s staff after coaching under Cummings last season, but Krieg is still building the rest of his staff.
He noted that the team will have some hurdles to overcome, with him being the third coach in three seasons and having an abbreviated amount of time in which to incorporate his new system. But he also said he is planning for the long term and hopes to bring stability to the program.
“I’m excited,” Krieg added. “I met with the girls (Thursday) evening and their parents and told them what my expectations were. They seemed to be pretty excited. … The meeting went really well.
“I’m here to stay. This is not a stepping-stone for me. I’m not going to go somewhere else.”[[In-content Ad]]