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Windlan, Cubs both thrilled with hiring
Ex-Carmel boss finds great fit
A poorly-kept secret finally became reality on Monday night, as Greencastle named former Carmel girls’ basketball coach Tod Windlan to replace the departed Bradley Key.
Key left Greencastle for Greenfield-Central after nine seasons in which he never had a losing record, won a sectional title and also won seven Putnam County championships.
To replace Key, Greencastle turned to a man who has won 221 games over a 14-year career in Windlan — who won Class 4A sectional titles the past three years at Carmel. Windlan also coached the 2017-18 “Miss Basketball” in Amy Dilk, who will play collegiately at Michigan.
So how was such a prominent and successful coach available for the Tiger Cubs?
Windlan, 52, was fired following last winter’s 24-3 season, for reasons of which he still isn’t completely sure.
“It was a very surprising and shocking development that happened,” Windlan said Monday. “The only explanation that I got, face to face, was they wanted to have a ‘change of direction’. I wasn’t given a reason.”
While no official reason was given, the change was motivated by a parental uprising that eventually lead to Windlan’s ouster.
“There were two or three parents who were not happy with their child’s playing time,” he said. “Twenty-one of the 24 players and their families were totally on board with what we were doing.
“There were some who thought I was too hard on them and too demanding on them,” Windlan added. “
Despite the ending of his tenure at Carmel, Windlan has no plans to change what he does.
“I loved all my players at Carmel,” he said. “Just because they didn’t play doesn’t mean I don’t like them — it just means they weren’t good enough.”
Why Greencastle?
Windlan examined the open positions available this spring, and e-mailed Greencastle athletic director Doug Greenlee to express his interest in the position.
Greenlee was in the process of “talking to a few people,” but put a halt to that process when Windlan’s interest became known.
“[Greenlee] got ahold of me on the phone, and we sat down and talked about it,” Windlan said. “It’s a place that has won for nine straight years, and has one of the best facilities I’ve been to in the state of Indiana. It was a place that wanted me, and is a place that will appreciate winning and hard work.”
Greenlee looks at the situation as Carmel’s loss and Greencastle’s gain.
“He fits the mold for what we needed,” Greenlee said. “We are so happy he was available, and our girls are too.”
Cupboard not bare
Like most summertime coaching hires, Windlan actually started directing the Tiger Cubs earlier this month while awaiting the final stamp of approval from the Greencastle school board.
The Cubs went to a two-day shootout at Purdue University last week, and on Tuesday — about 12 hours after his hiring was official — they left town to play several games at Miami (Ohio). Another shootout in Lafayette is coming up later this week, before official team workouts must end at the end of June.
“We’re going to try to go somewhere in July,” he said. “We haven’t had all the players together at once, because of vacations and things like that, so we’d like to have one event where all the pieces of the puzzle are there.”
Greencastle went 16-9 last year, finishing second in the Western Indiana Conference and Crawfordsville Sectional.
Rose White, the team’s co-scoring leader and leading rebounder, graduated but the other four starters (guards Jalyn Duff, Seelye Stoffregen and Bailey Shuee and forward Allison Stevens) all return.
Senior center Claire Gillen, who led the team in scoring and rebounding two years ago but did not play last season, has also returned to fill the hole in the middle.
“We are going to be very competitive in Class 3A,” he said. “Our goals are always going to be that we want to win the county, the conference and the sectional and make a deep run in the state tournament. The pieces of the puzzle are there to do that.”
Rough logistics
Windlan knows his first year at Greencastle is going to be filled with logistical obstacles.
He and his family live in Anderson, and his son Karsten will remain at Carmel to finish his senior year. Karsten played last winter for the Greyhounds, who lost to Warren Central in the state championship game.
Windlan will make the 90-minute commute from Anderson to Greencastle this year, and after that he and his wife Stacey — a hair stylist — will move closer to Putnam County.
The commute is not as bad as it sounds, he says.’
“It was an hour drive to Carmel every day,” he said. “It’s a smooth ride.”
So on those long, weeknight road games to Edgewood, Western Boone or West Vigo, will he be sleeping on Greenlee’s couch?
“We’re still working on some of those things,” Windlan said with a laugh.
The last stop?
Windlan has coached at six different schools since taking his first varsity job at his alma mater of Frankton in the 2003-04 season.
He stayed four years there before departing for Anderson Highland. Windlan had two losing seasons there before taking a year off in 2009-10.
Windlan got back into coaching in 2010-11 at Delta, staying there for one year with a 9-11 record.
He then went to Hamilton Heights for two years, where he says he “had his greatest success.”
Windlan led the Heights to a 21-5 record and a sectional title in his first year, and then a 23-3 mark in his second year and a berth in the Class 3A state championship game.
The Huskies lost 61-47 to Mount Vernon (Fortville) in the title game, and Windlan moved on to Warren Central.
He coached the Warriors to a 7-14 record in one year before moving on to Carmel — where he went 87-20 in four years.
Now, he hopes Greencastle can be his final coaching stop.
“When I went to Carmel, I thought I would end my career there,” Windlan said. “That’s what I’d like to do here. My greatest times of coaching high school basketball came at Hamilton Heights, a 3A school in a community much like this one. One that loves and gets behind girls’ basketball.
“That’s what I’m looking for, a place where when you win the sectional you have the fire trucks and the police escorting you through town,” he added. “That’s what it’s all about for the kids.”