Pickett Resigns As Whitko Basketball Coach
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH WHITLEY - Claiming he will "never be a head coach again," Steve Pickett resigned this week as Whitko's varsity boys basketball coach.
Pickett resigned at Whitko after learning he was accepted as a teacher at Carroll (Allen) High School at the school's Monday board meeting.
"This was totally initiated by me," Pickett said. "It was about me not wanting to be a head coach anymore. I will never be a [varsity] head coach again, because of the time factor and stress involved. The amount of stress involved in being a head basketball coach caused me to think about the future."
Whitko was 16-29 (.356) under Pickett the last two years. The Wildcats went 4-17 (.190) during Pickett's first year then followed that with a 12-12 record last season. Pickett's resignation follows a season that saw Whitko, at the time 11-11, beat No. 3 Plymouth (19-3) to win the Plymouth Sectional title. The sectional title was Whitko's first since 1996.
The timing surprised Whitko athletic director John Mohr.
"We had no idea here at Whitko High School," he said. "We had a strong ending of the season. We won the Plymouth Sectional. We thought we had a program in place for the future.
"This side-winded us. He first let us know Thursday of last week when he told us he just doesn't have the desire to be a head boys basketball coach. There's an awesome responsibility to being a varsity head basketball coach."
Whitko's current sophomore class of basketball players went undefeated in the seventh and eighth grades and was considered one of the most talented classes in school history. While Pickett referred to the stress involved, asked if he thought expectations at Whitko were too high, Pickett said, "I have no comment on that. The pressure to win exists at every high school."
While Pickett has no plans to be varsity head coach, he wouldn't rule out being an assistant at Carroll or coaching at a lower level.
"I don't know what my coaching responsibilities will be at Carroll," he said, "if any at all."
Mohr has started a search for Pickett's replacement.
"A tentative time schedule that we have is to get it done and take a recommendation to the June board meeting," Mohr said. [[In-content Ad]]
SOUTH WHITLEY - Claiming he will "never be a head coach again," Steve Pickett resigned this week as Whitko's varsity boys basketball coach.
Pickett resigned at Whitko after learning he was accepted as a teacher at Carroll (Allen) High School at the school's Monday board meeting.
"This was totally initiated by me," Pickett said. "It was about me not wanting to be a head coach anymore. I will never be a [varsity] head coach again, because of the time factor and stress involved. The amount of stress involved in being a head basketball coach caused me to think about the future."
Whitko was 16-29 (.356) under Pickett the last two years. The Wildcats went 4-17 (.190) during Pickett's first year then followed that with a 12-12 record last season. Pickett's resignation follows a season that saw Whitko, at the time 11-11, beat No. 3 Plymouth (19-3) to win the Plymouth Sectional title. The sectional title was Whitko's first since 1996.
The timing surprised Whitko athletic director John Mohr.
"We had no idea here at Whitko High School," he said. "We had a strong ending of the season. We won the Plymouth Sectional. We thought we had a program in place for the future.
"This side-winded us. He first let us know Thursday of last week when he told us he just doesn't have the desire to be a head boys basketball coach. There's an awesome responsibility to being a varsity head basketball coach."
Whitko's current sophomore class of basketball players went undefeated in the seventh and eighth grades and was considered one of the most talented classes in school history. While Pickett referred to the stress involved, asked if he thought expectations at Whitko were too high, Pickett said, "I have no comment on that. The pressure to win exists at every high school."
While Pickett has no plans to be varsity head coach, he wouldn't rule out being an assistant at Carroll or coaching at a lower level.
"I don't know what my coaching responsibilities will be at Carroll," he said, "if any at all."
Mohr has started a search for Pickett's replacement.
"A tentative time schedule that we have is to get it done and take a recommendation to the June board meeting," Mohr said. [[In-content Ad]]