Teagle leaving Jay

Jay County High School basketball coach Craig Teagle is headed to Huntington North.
The Huntington County Community School Board on Wednesday approved Teagle as the next coach of the Vikings.
He replaces Joe Irwin, who left in early June to become the athletics director at Greenwood.
“The reality is that it is a good basketball job that I want to make a great basketball job,” Teagle, who spent the last 17 years at Jay County, said this morning. “There is a challenge there that I have not approached in several years.
“The other thing is, I really feel like Jay County is still a very good basketball job that is going to continue to have success. If I was ever going to leave, that is what I wanted to do is leave when it was still strong.”
Michael Gasaway, Huntington North athletics director, said Teagle brings instant credibility to the program.
“He has accomplished a lot of things in his 17 years at Jay County,” he said. “I’m just excited about him coming over and being a Viking.”
The Patriots were 250-137 during Teagle’s nearly two decades in Jay County, and they finished with a winning record in each of the last 14 seasons.
During his tenure, Jay County was a staple as one of the best defensive teams in the state, solidifying itself near the top of the class — and state — in defensive average. Last season the Patriots set a new program record, allowing just 33.1 points per game.
“It’s funny because I felt like every season there was something that happened, when a team clicked or they became one and they all started pulling together, you knew you were going to start having success because of the buy in (to the program),” Teagle said. “Just that ‘ah ha’ moment.
“Every season was special. Every team was special. They all meant a lot.”
So what did it take to lure Teagle away from the Patriots?
He compared it to the movie “The Godfather.”
“They talk about giving you an offer you can’t refuse,” he said. “They gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
And it all happened rather quickly.
Teagle said he started getting calls regarding the job about a week ago, and initially he told them he wasn’t interested — he figured he was going to retire in Portland. He was enticed to head north from his home in Blackford County to meet with Gasaway and other Huntington North officials.
“It definitely intrigued me,” Teagle said.
“Coach Teagle, he loves to win,” Gasaway said. “I think he feels like Huntington North is a place he can do that a lot over the next few years.
“There are not too many jobs that would interest him in leaving Jay County. He had a nice setup (there) and he will be sorely missed. It was nice that Huntington North sparked his interest.”

Jay Schools superintendent Tim Long said it is bittersweet that Teagle is leaving the Patriots.
“(It’s) sad to see him go,” he said. “He has been one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever been around. I really like what he has been able to do with the program, but with the kids as well.
“He has ran a top notch, top flight program.”
Before coming to Portland, Teagle coached for four years at Caston and one season at Knox.
In 22 years, Teagle has compiled a 326-190 record (.632 winning percentage), won five sectional championships — all with Jay County — and reached the Class 3A state championship game in 2006 with the Patriots.
He coached the 2012 Indiana All-Star team that included current NBA players Gary Harris (Park Tudor, Michigan State) and Glenn Robinson III (Lake Central, Michigan) as well as collegiate standouts Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell (Indiana) and Kellen Dunham (Butler).
But the well-respected coach will have his work cut out for him when he takes the reigns of the Patriots’ sectional foe.
Huntington North has not had much in the way of consistency in its boys program since 2008. Eric Foister, a close friend of Teagle’s, left the team that year after 10 seasons.
Following Foister’s departure, Joe Bradburn led the Vikings for three seasons, and Aaron Cripe succeeded him for one. Huntington North was 32-37 in the last three years under Irwin.
The Vikings were 10-13 last season with a 1-8 record in the North Central Conference. They are set to begin in the newly formed Northeast Eight Conference this season along with Bellmont, Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, Leo, New Haven and Norwell.
“I think they have solid kids,” Teagle said of the Vikings, who haven’t won a sectional title since 2001. “If I was going to look for a job, that is what I want. We just have to get them to believe in themselves and believe that they can play at the highest level.”
Jay County, meanwhile, is coming off an 18-7 record in 2014-15, during which it had a four-game winning streak on three separate occasions.
The Patriots lost to Leo in the championship game of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament — their first year in the conference — and were also runner-up to the Lions for the regular season title.
Purdue University commit Caleb Swanigan and the eventual Class 4A state champion Homestead Spartans knocked off Jay County 51-35 in the sectional championship game.
Jay County will return its top two scorers from a year ago in big men Adam Dirksen (11.5 points per game) and Jay Houck (11.1 PPG). They were also one-two in terms of rebounding, with Dirksen averaging 5 per game and Houck 4.4.
As of press time, neither JCHS athletics director Steve Boozier or Long have received a formal resignation from Teagle. A search for a new coach cannot begin until then.
Jay County is slated to begin its 2015-16 campaign Nov. 24 at home against Winchester. The Patriots and Vikings are not scheduled to play in the regular season.