SOUTH WHITLEY — Things are coming fast for Scott Wessel. Having just graduated from Purdue University in the spring, he’s already lined up a job – head coach of the Whitko boys basketball team. “I think I was what they were looking for,” the 24-year-old Wessel said about his hiring. “I was young and I’d be able to work with the youth, which may be able to build the program back up and to it’s winning ways.” Whitko is coming off a 13-10 season that ended with a sectional championship loss to eventual Class 3A state runner-up Norwell in Ossian. That loss was the last game Rob Irwin coached at Whitko, compiling a record of 72-81 in seven seasons, which included a sectional title in 2009. During his final four seasons at the helm of the Whitko program, Irwin went 58-33 thanks in large part to his son Logan Irwin, who accumulated 2,230 points in his career, the 12th most in state history. With Logan now at Stetson University, and Rob also moving on to coach Huntington North, the Whitko program may look a little different this winter. “For us, it will start with defense,” Wessel said. “We may play at a little bit slower pace than people are used to, when Logan was there. We don’t have that type of player anymore. We’ll have to be more deliberate and get the best shot we can every time.” Along with Logan being gone, Whitko also lost Jordan Sims, Colin Nicodemus and Kolten Krull to graduation, but does return starters Alex Stoddard, Trey Weber and Gabe Powell. “We have a little bit of varsity experience coming back — not a lot,” Wessel said. “I know coach Irwin did a great job with them. He was great at Whitko and he’ll be great at Huntington North. I’m just trying to build on that.” Along with being Whitko’s head boys basketball coach , Rob Irwin was also the school’s athletic director and actually chose Wessel as his replacement before leaving for Huntington North. Prior to selecting Wessel, it was announced that current Triton assistant and former John Glenn head coach Gordon Mosson had been selected to the position, pending school board approval. However, the selection fell through and Wessel was then selected, but he says he had no knowledge of the previous choice. “When I got called, I interviewed and a couple days later I was offered (the job),” he said. A 2006 graduate of DeKalb High School, Wessel served as an assistant at Frontier High School before serving in the same capacity at Lafayette Jefferson High School last season. With three years of assistant coaching already under his belt, Wessel’s used the á la carte method to form his style. “It’s evolved over time with all the coaches I’ve worked with,” he said. “I took a little bit from everybody and tried to make it my own.” And that style doesn’t look to run and gun. “My philosophy is to be very disciplined,” he said. “What we need to do is be disciplined, take care of the ball, play great defense. We’ll run a motion offense. My goal is to teach the guys to play the game. We don’t want to be robots out there. I want them to be able to read (defenses) and react.” Until the school year begins, when he’ll teach physical education at the high school, Wessel is currently looking for a home in the area which will be close enough to Whitko as well as Fort Wayne, where his wife, Brittany, is looking for work as a nurse. “We’re very excited to be back up north,” he said. “I’ve heard — and already been around some of the people — that it’s going to be a great place to work.”
