The past two days have brought big news to the Chitty household.
Tuesday, Brent Chitty, the boys basketball coach at Columbus East, was named head coach of this year’s Indiana All-Star team. Then Wednesday, his son Parker was selected to the Indiana Junior All-Stars.
“It’s a true blessing, especially with who we’re going to be playing with,” Parker Chitty said. “I’m excited for it. The fact that my dad is the coach of the senior team, it’s even better. We want to beat them.”
The Indiana All-Stars will play the Junior All-Stars on June 8 and 10 at sites to be determined. Parker Chitty made the South Six for the Junior All-Stars and will play in one of the two games.
The Indiana All-Stars will play the Kentucky All-Stars June 12 at Transylvania University in Lexington and June 13 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“To be part of it is a true honor,” Brent Chitty said. “To be selected to coach those young men, I don’t know if words describe it. You’re going to work your tail off to do the best job you can.”
Brent Chitty was coach of the Junior All-Stars two years ago and led the squad to a runner-up finish in a six-state tournament of rising seniors.
“He did an outstanding job with the juniors,” Indiana All-Star Game Director Charlie Hall said of the coach. “He puts the kids first. His enthusiasm is off the charts. There aren’t a lot of easy decisions when it comes to selecting players and coaches, but this one was very easy.”
Now, Brent Chitty is faced with the task of helping Hall select 12 players for this year’s senior All-Stars. Columbus North’s Josh Speidel, who remains in a coma after suffering serious injuries in a Feb. 1 car accident, has been named to the squad.
“It’s an honor to work with the group of young men that I’m going to have a chance to work with,” Brent Chitty said. “It’s a pretty strong clientele. There are so many good players in this state.
“We’re going to try to put the best team together,” he said. “You can’t have 12 guards, and you can’t have 12 post players. You’re trying to find 12 guys in the state of Indiana that can represent a team. There are so many deserving that not everybody is going to make the team. That’s a task in itself. It will be an undertaking.”
Brent Chitty is 254-203 in 21 seasons at Owen Valley, Evansville Central and East. He is 68-45 in five years with the Olympians, including 14-9 this season.
“He was an IBCA coach of year in 2013, and we try to use that as a starting point for our Junior All-Star coaches,” Hall said. “He did such a good job there, and we had him on our radar, and we thought ‘Why wait?’ so we went ahead and got him in there (as coach of the senior All-Stars).”
Brian Satterfield of Hamilton Southeastern and Jason Groves of Triton will assist the elder Chitty.
“You never know how it’s going to work,” Brent Chitty said. “We have so many great coaches in the state of Indiana. Anytime you’re associated with the Junior All-Stars or the senior All-Stars in the state of Indiana, it’s a blessing.”
Parker Chitty, a 6-foot-2 point guard, averaged 13.0 points and led the Olympians with 5.6 assists a game as a junior.
“It’s a heck of an honor,” Brent Chitty said. “I know he’s worked very, very hard to be a good basketball player.”
“Growing up in Indiana playing basketball, (becoming an All-Star is) always a goal,” Parker Chitty said. “When my dad coached the team when I was a freshman, I was like, ‘I want to make that team.’ Now it’s a surreal feeling. I’m absolutely stunned.”
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Brent Chitty is 254-203 as a head coach in 21 years at three schools:
1994-95;Owen Valley;17-4
1995-96;Owen Valley;11-10
1996-97;Owen Valley;15-6
1997-98;Evansville Central;8-13
1998-99;Evansville Central;5-16
1999-2000;Evansville Central;14-8
2000-01;Evansville Central;9-12
2001-02;Evansville Central;4-17
2002-03;Evansville Central;13-8
2003-04;Evansville Central;20-5
2004-05;Evansville Central;15-7
2005-06;Evansville Central;16-6
2006-07;Evansville Central;10-11
2007-08;Evansville Central;14-8
2008-09;Evansville Central;9-12
2009-10;Evansville Central;5-16
2010-11;Columbus East;9-15
2011-12;Columbus East;14-9
2012-13;Columbus East;14-7
2013-14;Columbus East;17-5
2014-15;Columbus East;14-9
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