A couple years ago, Brad Dickey was curious about the educational and religious opportunities at Trinity Lutheran High School.
Now, Dickey will be able to experience those opportunities after being named the next head coach for the Trinity boys basketball team late last week.
“I appreciate the level they’re at in terms of competition, and it just became the right time to do it,” Dickey said.
Dickey will come to Trinity with plenty of head coaching experience. He has been at the helm at Edgewood, Tipton and Franklin Community, accumulating 235 wins as a varsity head coach in Indiana.
“After an extensive search that yielded many quality candidates, Coach Dickey rose to the top of our list with his impressive resume,” Trinity athletic director Ryan Cremeans said. “During our interview process, Coach Dickey checked the boxes of qualities we were looking for in the leader of our men’s basketball program.”
Dickey grew up in Tipton before coming to southern Indiana for 15 years. Then, when he and his wife had their second pair of kids, they moved back to Tipton for a decade.
Dickey played basketball in the 1980’s and hasn’t gone away from the game ever since.
He gained some coaching experience at the University of Indianapolis in 1992, then took a freshman job at Perry Meridian in 1993.
“I love the nuances of the game,” Dickey said. “The discipline and flexibility that players have to have. I just enjoy that.”
Dickey has attended some basketball events at Trinity over the weekend, but so far, he has only met the upperclassmen for the Cougars. But Dickey has coached against Trinity the past couple of years, so the team isn’t completely unfamiliar to him.
When asked about what style he intends to bring to Trinity, his short answer was, “Well, we want to play to win.” But when expanding, pace and points came to the forefront.
“Want to play as fast as we’re able to play,” he said. “I enjoy scoring points. I want guys to embrace all the different pieces of basketball strategy and scouting and preparing.”
In addition to becoming the head coach of Trinity boys basketball, Dickey also will serve as the athletic director for the school.
Cremeans, the current AD, isn’t going away from the school completely, but just “giving up one of my hats at Trinity.”
“I will be focusing full time on my role as development director at Trinity Lutheran,” Cremeans said. “Over the next several months Coach Dickey and I will work together in athletics to ensure a smooth transition.”
Although Dickey has never served as an AD before, he’s fully confident in his ability to take on this role since he’s been a part of athletic departments for 15 years.
He coached high school baseball as an 18-year-old and even ran the Babe Ruth baseball program as a high school student. He’s also been a tournament director for soccer, baseball and softball events in the past.
“Now I actually get the title for the work that I’ve done. There will be work to be done, but I’m not thinking of that as a challenge,” Dickey said. “I’m thinking of it as a strong motivation. That piece of it is too interesting and too exciting to call a challenge.”
It’s an exciting time for Dickey and his family, and he will officially join the ministry on June 1. Dickey said he plans to continue to meet a bunch more people each and every day as he continues to get embedded into the community.
In terms of what it’s like to continue coaching basketball in a state that cherishes the sport, Dickey can’t wait.
“I think it’s taken a lot of hits and it seems to be rebounding nicely,” he said. “Class basketball was a struggle to start, but now we’re really starting to see some life and energy brought back into the communities, like the Trinity community. We’re excited for the opportunity to compete at this level.”