The gym is a second home for the Lang family.

Whether it was coaching his oldest daughter, Emilee, on the Trinity Lutheran girls basketball team or having his youngest daughter, Tori, be a manager for the Cougars the last four years, head coach Mike Lang has always been a part of his kids’ athletic journeys.

That’s why when the boys basketball coaching position came open at Trinity Lutheran High School the same time that Lang’s youngest kid, his son, Hudson, is coming in as a freshman, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

After 12 years of heading the girls basketball program, Lang will now be the head coach of the boys team.

“This is something that I never looked for,” Lang said. “I was perfectly content having a blast coaching the girls the last 12 years. While doing that, I was juggling going out and watching my son’s games and trying to multi-task. With this position coming open and he’s coming in as a freshman, the timing was right.”

Lang said in the back of every coach’s mind is the desire to be able to coach their kids. It has been gratifying for Lang to now look back and know he will have had each kid be a part of his teams at Trinity.

“How special is it? It’s very special. The gym is like a second home to us. This is a special place,” Lang said. “Unfortunately for Emilee, she missed her junior year with injuries and she really worked hard to come back and play her senior year. It’s special. It’s fun. I think being able to separate what happens in the gym and what happens at home is two different things. You have to wear that label of coach and dad, and obviously, dad is most important.”

Lang leaves the girls program in good hands as his former assistant coach, Darrin Keith, will be taking over as head coach.

In 12 years coaching the Cougars, Lang had a record of 205-94 with seven sectional championships and the program’s first regional championship this past season.

“We’ve been fortunate to have an Indiana All-Star, two Division I basketball players, we’ve had a lot of success, but that just means I’ve had a lot of good players,” he said. “Saying goodbye to those girls in the last meeting was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Those girls mean the absolute world to me. I’m going to continue to watch all their games. It’ll just be on the other side of the gym now.”

In addition to coaching his son, Lang is excited for the challenge in general of taking on the boys program that hasn’t won a sectional title in three years.

“I know all these boys in this program, and I’m excited for a new challenge,” Lang said. “We’re going to have a great coaching staff surrounding them. I don’t consider this a rebuild. I consider this the changing of the guard with some fresh attitude.”

Lang’s coaching staff will feature Shannon Arthur as junior varsity coach, Matt Trimnell as varsity assistant, Brian Shewmaker as varsity assistant and Chaz Painter as C team coach and varsity assistant.

Shortly after taking the job, Lang met with the senior class for 2023-24. The juniors on this past season’s roster were Josh Conrad, Levi Pottschmidt, Kowan Gross, Peyton Pollert, Evan Christopher and Charlie Hackman.

“They’re the foundation of what we’re getting ready to build,” Lang said. “One thing you have to build is belief in the program. Once we do that like we did on the girls side, I think the sky is the limit.”

Trinity had some key contributions from freshmen Jack Stuckwisch and Kole Shewmaker on varsity last season, and Lang also is very excited about the entire incoming freshman class at TLHS.

“We had some freshmen that contributed well to the varsity level (this past year). We have a big freshman class coming in that have had a lot of success winning,” he said. “Basketball is basketball. It’s them buying into my philosophies defensively. Once we establish that trust, I think good things are on the horizon here.”

Coaching at a Class A school, one thing Lang did on the girls side is build a strong schedule with a lot of 3A and 4A schools to help prepare his teams for the postseason.

He said he plans to have the same mindset for the boys. He already has added a holiday tournament for next year that has some competitive teams in it, but he also wants his team to take some time to build that confidence.

“We’re going to work on that schedule,” he said. “We have to build confidence before we build the competitiveness within the schedule. In the meantime, let’s get some wins so that we can get other teams that want to add us on their schedule.”

Lang and his coaching staff have already been in gym this spring working with the team for the allotted hours given by the IHSAA this time of year.

If his 12 years coaching the girls reveals anything, it’s that Lang is driven to have similar success with the boys program, and he’s more than excited to get year one rolling.

“This a new challenge, and I’m really excited to dive into it head first,” he said. “The enthusiasm of the guys that will be around me, they’re excited, and I am pumped. I am excited to get in here, and let’s get going.”