Jim Higdon never associated coaching basketball with awards unless the recipients were the young men he was instructing.
But soon, Higdon — who has spent nearly four decades as the calm voice of reason for various Johnson County teams — will have no choice but to step out of his comfort zone.
Higdon, 70, has been named Assistant Coach of the Year by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. A part of the Edinburgh coaching staff the past two seasons after previous stints at Franklin (28 seasons) and Whiteland (seven), Higdon will be honored at the IBCA meeting Oct. 2 at Lawrence North.
“It’s very special,” said Higdon, a 1968 Greenwood graduate who played basketball and baseball for the Woodmen and even squeezed in a season of cross country. “You coach for 37 years and never really expect to receive any awards.
“This is very unexpected. It’s just always been about being around young people and hopefully helping them become a little better.”
Off the court, Higdon worked as a juvenile probation locally for 14 years, and for nearly a quarter-century he was superintendent of the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center.
He retired in 2014.
Those experiences shaped the temperament Higdon uses coaching young basketball players. He’s always offered a different perspective to what a person might be going through, be it on or away from the hardwood.
“Probably the thing I value most is Jim offers a little different opinion about a situation,” said Edinburgh coach Keith Witty, who led the Lancers to an 18-6 mark this past season. “Just the experiences he’s had. I knew Jim would benefit our program.
“He works a lot with our post players, but he’s also that voice on the sideline, and our kids are comfortable going up to him in any situation.”
Higdon, who as a high school senior was the starting center for coach Jack Nay’s Woodmen, has never tired of the sport, the gymnasiums he’s walked into hundreds of times and the countless friendships he’s cultivated because of it.
Don’t expect it to end anytime soon.
“As long as I’m mentally and physically able, I’m going to keep doing it,” Higdon said. “I’m where I need to be. I’m so glad Keith asked me to be a coach at Edinburgh, and my whole family has been really good about it. It’s been a great ride.”
