East Noble has hired alumnus Shawn Kimmel as the new coach of the the girls basketball program.
Kimmel's hiring was approved by the East Noble School Corporation board during its April 22 meeting.
"The ultimate goal my entire coaching career is to coach at my alma mater," Kimmel, a 1993 East Noble graduate, tells ParkviewSportsMedicine.com.
"I'm what you could call a company guy," he jokes.
Kimmel takes over the Lady Knights' program with more than 20 years of coaching and teaching experience. He was girls head coach at Pioneer High School in Royal Center, Indiana, from 2004 to 2008. He was an assistant at Central Noble for 4 years, including with the 2018 girls state championship team. This past season, he was a varsity boys assistant at East Noble.
Those experiences taught him a lot about the game, he adds: from tenacious defenses and recognizing the strength of an entire coaching staff under Josh Treesh at Central Noble, to motion offense schemes from Ryan Eakins this past season in Kendallville.
The East Noble girls return their entire varsity roster, and their 40.0 points per game is a good launching pad for Kimmel to start from. While he is familiar with several of his players, virtual meetings will play a big part assuming control of the team.
"I am going to fight for East Noble’s girls basketball team and honor my alma mater,” he says. "I will serve the East Noble’s girls’ program, K-12, to my fullest."
Kimmel has taught physics, engineering and robotics at East Noble for the last 12 years, and has also previously helped coach football, softball and track and field. He launched East Noble's robotics team this past fall.
While a student-athlete at East Noble, he competed in football, wrestling and track & field. He played college football and ran track at Anderson University.
East Noble is one of 26 high schools that partner with Parkview Sports Medicine for athletic training, nutrition, sports performance, athletic rehab and other sports medicine services for Knight student-athletes. Learn more at www.parkviewsportsmedicine.com.