April 11, 2023 at 4:57 p.m.
Teagle going to New Albany
The coach who led the Patriots to the state finals is ready to take on a new challenge.
New Albany-Floyd County School Board on Monday approved Craig Teagle as its new boys basketball coach. He spent 17 seasons at Jay County, including a trip to the Class 3A state championship game in 2006.
Teagle left the Patriots following the 2014-15 season for Huntington North. Similar to his departure from JCHS, he said he was not looking for something new but was contacted about the New Albany job and decided to at least consider it.
“I came down and really liked what was here and what they talked about,” said Teagle of the southern Indiana city just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. “They have a passion for the game. The game of basketball is really important to the community.”
He accepted the job offer a few weeks ago, with the school board making it official Monday.
Teagle spent 17 seasons at Jay County, including 14 winning campaigns in a row before departing for Huntington North. He had a 250-137 record with the Patriots, coaching five sectional champions. His 2005-06 team went 14-6 in the regular season before running off six tournament wins en route to the Class 3A title game, which it lost 51-43 to New Castle.
He had one year remaining on his contract with Huntington North — he went 117-77 with the Vikings including a Class 4A sectional title in 2019 — but said the opportunity seemed like the right one at the right time.
“It just felt like it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Teagle, a 1986 Blackford graduate who has spent his whole career in the northern half of the state.
“These people here are excited about basketball,” he added, referencing the program’s 1,500 season ticket holders. “It’s a big move, but it’s such a good basketball job.”
He was in New Albany for the school board meeting Monday and planned to meet with high school and middle school players today.
Teagle, who is finishing up a five-year run as president of Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, currently ranks 12th among active Indiana coaches in all-time wins with 443 over 31 seasons. (JCHS coach Jerry Bomholt is fourth on the list at 586 in 42 years.) He takes over the job from New Albany legend Jim Shannon, who racked up 616 wins in his 39-year career.
Shannon coached the Bulldogs from 1998 through the 2022-23 season, winning a dozen sectional championships, three regional titles and the Class 4A state title with a Romeo Langford-led squad in 2016.
New Albany had back-to-back losing seasons over the last two years — 11-12 and 11-14 — for the first time in decades. But Teagle expressed optimism, saying this year’s squad started three sophomores and had another in a key role coming off the bench.
“They’ve been really good,” he said of the team’s long run of success under Shannon, which included a run of 22 consecutive winning seasons. “He’s been doing it the right way.”
New Albany-Floyd County School Board on Monday approved Craig Teagle as its new boys basketball coach. He spent 17 seasons at Jay County, including a trip to the Class 3A state championship game in 2006.
Teagle left the Patriots following the 2014-15 season for Huntington North. Similar to his departure from JCHS, he said he was not looking for something new but was contacted about the New Albany job and decided to at least consider it.
“I came down and really liked what was here and what they talked about,” said Teagle of the southern Indiana city just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. “They have a passion for the game. The game of basketball is really important to the community.”
He accepted the job offer a few weeks ago, with the school board making it official Monday.
Teagle spent 17 seasons at Jay County, including 14 winning campaigns in a row before departing for Huntington North. He had a 250-137 record with the Patriots, coaching five sectional champions. His 2005-06 team went 14-6 in the regular season before running off six tournament wins en route to the Class 3A title game, which it lost 51-43 to New Castle.
He had one year remaining on his contract with Huntington North — he went 117-77 with the Vikings including a Class 4A sectional title in 2019 — but said the opportunity seemed like the right one at the right time.
“It just felt like it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Teagle, a 1986 Blackford graduate who has spent his whole career in the northern half of the state.
“These people here are excited about basketball,” he added, referencing the program’s 1,500 season ticket holders. “It’s a big move, but it’s such a good basketball job.”
He was in New Albany for the school board meeting Monday and planned to meet with high school and middle school players today.
Teagle, who is finishing up a five-year run as president of Indiana Basketball Coaches Association, currently ranks 12th among active Indiana coaches in all-time wins with 443 over 31 seasons. (JCHS coach Jerry Bomholt is fourth on the list at 586 in 42 years.) He takes over the job from New Albany legend Jim Shannon, who racked up 616 wins in his 39-year career.
Shannon coached the Bulldogs from 1998 through the 2022-23 season, winning a dozen sectional championships, three regional titles and the Class 4A state title with a Romeo Langford-led squad in 2016.
New Albany had back-to-back losing seasons over the last two years — 11-12 and 11-14 — for the first time in decades. But Teagle expressed optimism, saying this year’s squad started three sophomores and had another in a key role coming off the bench.
“They’ve been really good,” he said of the team’s long run of success under Shannon, which included a run of 22 consecutive winning seasons. “He’s been doing it the right way.”
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