When Candy Wilson was playing high school basketball for Chesterton in the early 1990s, she would never have imagined that some 20 years later she would be the head coach at Valparaiso High School, one of the Trojans’ chief rivals.
Wilson was officially named head coach of the VHS’ girls basketball team on Friday during a press conference held at the high school cafeteria.
“I’m very excited to build on what coach (Joe) Otis started and get this turned around quickly,” said Wilson, who was joined by her team and family on Friday.
After serving as junior varsity coach at VHS last year, Wilson is back among the ranks of head coaches in the Northwest Indiana prep scene, a position she held for 16 years at Boone Grove High School.
“It’s pretty surreal to be at this place after being (at Boone Grove) for so long,” she said. “We have a great support staff, and Joe (Otis) was a great mentor this year."
Otis recently announced his retirement after several years of coaching boys and girls basketball in Northwest Indiana, which included stints as both boys and girls head varsity coach at VHS. Wilson said he is expected to remain on in some capacity, possibly assisting with scouting during the off-season.
Wilson, who has also served as a junior varsity or middle school coach at Wheeler and Chesterton, said her 16 years on the job at Boone Grove gave her “a great opportunity to grow as a head coach,” but don’t expect to see a VHS-Boone Grove game on the schedule in the near future.
“We may have to wait a couple of years for that,” she said.
Serving as junior varsity coach last season helped “immensely,” she said.
“I know these kids and what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Wilson added. “The biggest job is going to get everything ready to go, which we will through a rigorous summer program.”
VHS Athletic Director Herb Hofer introduced Wilson Friday, expressing his excitement on continuing “the long tradition of great basketball coaches.”
“We had quite a few internal candidates, but Coach Wilson rose to the top of the list,” he said. “This move is the start of long-term success at VHS.”
Hofer later referred to Wilson as “a top notch coach.”
“We were fortunate enough to already have her on staff,” he said.