“Never in a million years.”
That was Pete Iussig’s recent response about what he thought the likelihood was of him returning to high school coaching after resigning at Lowell in 2015.
But circumstances change.
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Crown Point announced Friday it was recommending the 2011 Indiana Softball Hall of Fame inductee as its coach. Iussig’s hire is pending school board approval at the Oct. 24 meeting.
Iussig, who won 440 games in 25 seasons with the Red Devils and led them to the state semifinals in 2007 and 2009, retired in 2016 after 38 years as a social studies teacher at Lowell Middle School.
When the Bulldogs’ position opened following the early September resignation of Ginger Britton, his former player, it caught his attention.
“There’s probably less than a handful of really enticing coaching jobs in Northwest Indiana that I would’ve come back to, and Crown Point was one of those,” Iussig said.
Iussig discussed the situation with his longtime assistant Jim Chancellor, who also retired from teaching in 2016.
“I said, ‘We have to find something to do, right?'” Iussig said. “So I applied, and I was lucky enough to be selected.”
The decision was straightforward for Crown Point athletic director Bill Dorulla, who quickly thought of Iussig, particularly with the opening occurring after the school year started. The Bulldogs had 15 applicants and many more expressed interest.
“Pete just checked all the boxes,” Dorulla said. “His reputation, his experience and success — he’s an icon in softball in the state. He can provide mentorship for the younger coaches we have on staff for the future.
“He has a lot of time to dedicate to the program. He’s going to have a lot to offer our girls not only with fundamentals but with a love for the game. He’ll be able to come in here and hit the ground running.”
Iussig, who started Lowell’s program, stepped down after the 2010 season, with Britton succeeding him. When Britton resigned after one season, Iussig returned to the Red Devils before retiring seemingly for good in 2015.
“The main reason I got out of it at Lowell the second time, I was union president and with my class duties, it became overwhelming,” Iussig said. “I had to let something go and it was softball, not knowing the following year I would retire from teaching.”
Britton, who as a senior at Lowell in 2000 helped Iussig win one of his four sectional titles, moved with her family to Indianapolis. After taking over as Crown Point’s interim coach in 2012 and getting the full-time job for 2013, she led the Bulldogs to a regional championship in 2014 and a sectional in 2015.
The Bulldogs last season reached the No. 1 spot in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, but were stunned by Munster in a sectional final.
They graduated Miss Softball Miranda Elish, the nation’s top recruit now a freshman at Oregon. But they return such players as pitcher Alexis Holloway, a Notre Dame commit, and shortstop MacKenzie Dunlap, a Northwestern recruit.
“That’s always a good thing when you have talent,” Iussig said. “There’s always high expectations that go along with that, so I suppose we’ll have a target on our back this spring.
“Everybody can look ahead and say they want to win this and they want to win that. But after all these years together with Jim, I’ve come to the conclusion that our goal is just to try to play the perfect game every time out. That seldom happens. But when you strive to play the perfect game, the other things take care of themselves.”
Peters, Valparaiso headline Horizon: Since Alec Peters decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft, then to return to Valparaiso, the senior forward has been accumulating accolades.
So it should come as no surprise that Peters was announced Thursday as the Horizon League’s preseason player of the year.
Almost equally unsurprising, Valparaiso was tabbed as the top team in the preseason poll, receiving 35 of 39 first-place votes. Matt Lottich’s first season as coach will begin with the Crusaders, who won four regular-season titles in Bryce Drew’s five seasons, in the familiar position as favorites.
Senior swingman Shane Hammink also claimed the final spot on the preseason all-league second team.
Peters is the Crusaders’ first preseason player of the year since Lubos Barton was the Mid-Continent Conference’s in 2001-02.
Lew Wallace graduate Charles Cooper, a Green Bay senior, grabbed the last spot on the preseason first team.
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