Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊWawasee officially made Phil Mishler the varsity boys basketball coach Tuesday night at the Wawasee school board meeting.
Mishler met with more than 30 basketball players this morning at 7:30 to stress his No. 1 goal.
"Our No. 1 goal is to develop trust and respect between the coaches and players and between the players themselves," said Mishler. "If the players believe in the program and the coaches, we can expect success.
"We met this morning and had a good talk. I think everyone is on the same page. We talked about our goal and how it is going to take time to develop it."
Mishler was given a two-year contract. According to Wawasee athletic director Mary Hurley a two-year contract is standard for all Warrior head basketball and footbal coaches.
A graduate of Goshen College with a degree in physical education and health, Mishler earned his masters in physical education from Ball State in 1999.
Mishler also played basketball at Goshen College after playing on a final four team in Ohio in high school.
Along with being Wawasee's head boys and girls tennis coach, Mishler has worked with several head basketball coaches. He worked as a freshman boys basketball coach for Tom Crews at Northridge from 1992-94. Mishler was a volunteer assistant boys basketball coach for Jerry Davis and Gary Goshert at Wawasee from 1995-98. Then from 1998-2000, he coached the junior varsity girls basketball team under Kem Zolman at Wawasee.
From 1994-96, Mishler was the eighth grade girls coach at Wawasee Middle School. Also during that time, he was a volunteer women's basketball coach for Jamie Stutzman at Goshen College.
Mishler's immediate concerns will be the selection of his coaching staff and meeting with prospective basketball players. He is currently coaching the boys tennis team at Wawasee.
Mishler resides at Barbee Lake with his wife Susan.
