CHARLOTTESVILLE — It was the end of the month of May and the first day of team basketball camp. And, for the first time in the 2000s, there was a new leader for the Eastern Hancock boys basketball program.
Aaron Spaulding, also the school’s athletic director, had retired from coaching. He’d spent 24 years as the head coach, won 300 games, three sectional titles, a pair of regional crowns, and consistently put competitive teams on the floor.
His right-hand man for the majority of those years, Brett Bechtel, was the new man in charge.
Bechtel, an EH assistant coach for 23 years, 22 as the program’s junior varsity head coach, was addressing his team prior to his club’s first team workout.
“I brought all the kids together and I said, ‘I don’t want to get all emotional, but I hope that one day all of you guys can have a day like I’m having today,’” Bechtel said. “‘This is a dream come true and I hope you all can have that feeling at some time in your life.’ That’s what it was. It’s a pretty cool feeling.”
Bechtel did get emotional telling that story, but who wouldn’t when a longtime dream comes true.
Bechtel is from a basketball family. Players, coaches, referees, for the Bechtels there’s a basketball in one hand and a whistle in the other.
His father, Rick Bechtel, is a retired former high school head coach at Edinburgh. An uncle refereed both a girls and boys high school state championship games this past winter. It goes as far back as a great-uncle that coached the Plainville Midgets, before the school consolidated to what is now the North Daviess Cougars. The uncle coached there, too.
Brett Bechtel calls it the “family business.”
There’s no other place he’d rather set up shop than at Eastern Hancock.
Then-principal Dave Pfaff hired Bechtel right out of college in 2000. Spaulding wanted another coach in the building and Bechtel was a natural fit.
Bechtel recalls coming home and his dad telling him he had a phone message from Pfaff.
“(Pfaff) said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a Royal.’ That’s how it all started.”
Just as basketball has always been a good fit for the Bechtels, Eastern Hancock has always been a good fit for its new head coach.
Bechtel has won over 300 games as a junior varsity coach and his team went 16-3 this past season.
With that success, he’s had opportunities to coach elsewhere, but Eastern Hancock is home and the only place he wants to be.
“I liked working with Aaron,” Bechtel said. “He trusted me, gave me a lot of responsibility. I did apply and interview at other places, but it always came back to, I just couldn’t leave.
“You develop relationships with the younger kids, middle school kids, the younger kids you’re working with during the season and summer basketball camps. You’re putting in the time with freshmen and JV guys and passing them on to Aaron. I just couldn’t leave. It’s become home. As the years passed you develop relationships with families, you see the players and see the families at alumni games. The roots have become very deep. It’s just home.”
Bechtel said that first day in May was really special.
“The reality sets in. This is really happening. This is what I always wanted. I’ve always stayed here for this,” he said. “Here it is. It was pretty cool. Your dream is coming true and this is it. Here we are.”
As expected, the transition has been smooth. Bechtel has already coached his team, just at a different level.
The coaching staff is mostly the same, too, and has been for years. Joe Paxton, another veteran assistant, who had been the C-team head coach will now lead the JV. Cole Allen, a former player in the system, is the new C-team coach.
The biggest changes are in the roster. Eastern Hancock lost a strong senior class. Bechtel noted that over 80 percent of the team’s scoring has graduated, so there will likely be a change in style of play due to personnel.
“We’re figuring out a lot of things. It’s a learning experience,” Bechtel said. “I’m glad we have a summer to get used to this stuff and not just have to show up in November (when the season begins) and figure it out from there.”
They’re off to a good start in the summer. The three teams combined to go 20-9 at last week’s Super Hoops team camp. The varsity team reached the tournament finals, losing a close game to Carroll (Flora). The C-team lost in its championship game at the buzzer.
“They’re really good kids. They work really hard and they’re really coachable,” Bechtel said of the Eastern Hancock players. “You hear horror stories (from some coaches), but we have really awesome kids, and awesome families.”
