2024 John Wooden Legacy Awards

Holmes, Cheatham receive Wooden Legacy Award for 2023-24

Bloomington South coach, former Scottsburg and Southwestern (Hanover) coach cited for long tenures of excellence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Contact: Pat McKee, 317-403-1665

March 14, 2024                                                                       IBCA Director of Special Projects

            One current and one former Indiana high school basketball coach have been recognized as the Indiana honorees of the John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award presented by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Thursday (March 14).

            J.R. Holmes, the current boys’ coach at Bloomington South, and Donna Cheatham, a former girls’ coach at Scottsburg and Southwestern (Hanover), are the 2023-24 honorees from the Hoosier state as nominated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The two coaches are among those recognized from across the nation in an NHSBCA program coordinated with the Wooden Family.

            The award honors scholastic basketball coaches from around the country who are educators and have achieved excellence on the floor, in the classroom and in the community that further embody the characteristics and legacy of the late John Wooden. Honorees may be current or retired coaches. The criteria for the award are rooted in the ideals of education, longevity, character, service and excellence.

            Holmes, who recently completed his 54th season as a varsity coach, is the state’s all-time leader in boys’ basketball victories with a 911-372 record. Cheatham, who retired from coaching in 2020 as the state’s all-time leader in girls’ basketball victories, posted a career mark of 730-274 in a combined 45 seasons at Scottsburg and Southwestern (Hanover).

            Holmes guided the Bloomington South boys to a 15-11 record in 2023-24. He became the state’s first coach to reach 900 victories on Dec. 15, 2023, and his overall mark includes a 768-254 ledger in 42 seasons with the Panthers.

            That record includes 18 conference championships, 22 sectional trophies, eight regional crowns, two semi-state titles and Class 4A state championships in 2009 and 2011. Bloomington South has been a “final four” team six times and an “elite eight” squad 10 times during Holmes’ 42 seasons at the school.

            Holmes’ overall numbers include a 30-14 mark in two seasons at Tunnelton (1970-72), a 113-104 slate in 10 seasons at Mitchell (1972-82) and the aforementioned 768-254 record in his time at Bloomington South (1982-present). Remarkably, his Panthers have amassed 20 or more victories in a season on 17 occasions, including seven consecutive seasons from 2014-15 through 2020-21. His teams have captured 10 Conference Indiana championships over the past 27 seasons, including five in a row from 2016-20.

            Holmes, 77, is a 1965 graduate of Needmore High School, where he earned 16 varsity letters in four sports. He averaged 15 points as a junior on Needmore’s only sectional champion in basketball and the Hilltoppers went 43-6 in his final two seasons as a player. He went to Indiana State, lettered one season in basketball for the Sycamores and graduated in 1969. He spent one season as an ISU graduate assistant coach before becoming a high school coach at Tunnelton.

            Holmes has coached 10 players – including his son Jonathan in 1999, 2009 Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls and 2020 Mr. Basketball Anthony Leal – who were chosen to the Indiana All-Star team, and he was the Indiana All-Star team coach in 2001. His other All-Star players were Chris Lawson in 1989, Kyle Hankins in 2001, Cole Holmstrom in 2006, Erik Fromm in 2010, Dee Davis in 2011, Tucker Blackwell in 2016 and Chance Coyle in 2018.

            He also had Spencer Turner as an IHSAA Trester Award winner in 2011 as well as three players selected to Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Teams, an honor 25 years after their graduation – Chris Lawson (2014), Chris Miskel (2017) and Jonathan Holmes (2024). Holmes’ teams also have appeared five times in the Hall of Fame Classic tournament (1986, 1998, 2005, 2010 and 2017), the most by any boys’ coach.

            In addition, Holmes was named IBCA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1999 and an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2019. He has earned numerous local and conference Coach of the Year honors, was named USA Today’s National Coach of the Year in 2009 and was recognized with the national Wilson/Outstanding High School Coach Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 2021.

            Among his former assistant coaches who have become head coaches are Dave Alexander (Evansville Central girls), Criss Beyers (Bloomington South girls, Martinsville boys, Warren Central boys, Franklin Central boys), Donovan Garletts (Marquette Catholic boys), Joe Granecki (Jennings County girls), Heath Howington (North Posey boys, Evansville Memorial boys), Matt Seifers (Mitchell boys, Southport girls, Bedford North Lawrence boys), Kyle Simpson (Southport boys), Garrett Winegar (Fishers boys) and Larry Winters (Bloomington South girls).

            Holmes was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

            He and his wife, Martha, have two children – Jonathan and Meredith. Jonathan played basketball at North Carolina and now is an assistant coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Meredith played tennis at Virginia Tech and now is an aerospace engineer in Albuquerque, N.M.

            Cheatham, 78, directed Scottsburg to a 14-10 finish in 2019-20 to complete her 45-year career as a girls’ varsity coach with a 730-274 slate. That included a 379-80 mark in 22 seasons at Scottsburg from 1972-94, a 198-92 record at Southwestern (Hanover) from 1997-2009 and a 153-102 mark from 2009-2020 in a second tenure at Scottsburg.

            As a varsity coach, Cheatham’s teams won 21 sectionals, 11 regionals, five semi-states and two state championships – 1989 with Scottsburg and 2002 in Class 2A with Southwestern. The 2003 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee was Indiana’s first girls basketball coach two guide teams to state championships at two schools, and her 1988 and 1989 Scottsburg squads both were ranked 13th nationally by USA Today. In addition, her teams twice were state runners-up – 1986 with Scottsburg and 2003 in Class 2A with Southwestern. Scottsburg also qualified for the four-team IHSAA State Finals in 1988.

            Cheatham’s teams posted 40 winning seasons during her career, and she has been recognized with various “Coach of the Year” accolades on 39 occasions. Among those are the 1988 Scholastic Coach Franklin Select Circle National High School Coaching Award, the 1989 Wilson National Region 4 Coach of the Year, the 1989 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Region 4 Coach of the Year, the 2002 National Federation of High School Coaches Central Sectional Coach of the Year and the 2003 National Federation of High School Coaches Central Sectional Coach of the Year. Other state-level honors include IBCA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1988, IBCA District 4 Coach of the Year in 2002 and ICGSA Class 2A State Coach of the Year in 2002.

            Such success meant that Cheatham guided numerous outstanding players. Among the standouts were:

            >> Eight players who were chosen to the Indiana All-Stars headlined by 1989 Indiana Miss Basketball Renee Westmoreland. Cheatham’s other All-Star players were Pam Jones (1976), Cindy Piet (1977), Roxanne Cox (1983), Sheryl Bonsett (1985), Leslie Ferrell (1986), Cara Gullion (1988) and Brianna Howard (2002).

            >> Two IHSAA Mental Attitude Award winners – Tadgi DeBerg (1986) and Brianna Howard (2002).

            >> Five players who have joined Cheatham as Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductees – Cindy Piet-Cruz (2004), Melinda Sparkman (2010), Renee Westmoreland (2017), Cara Gullion Alfele (2018) and Sheryl Bonsett (2019).

            >> Twelve players who were selected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s Silver Anniversary Team, an honor group chosen 25 years following high school graduation – Pam Jones Suter (2001), Cindy Piet-Cruz (2002), Melinda Sparkman (2004), Roxanne Cox Norton (2008), Sheryl Bonsett (2010), Leslie Ferrell Flechler (2011), Cara Gullion Alfele (2013), Renee Westmoreland (2014), Carla Westmoreland Zellers (2015), Christy Robison Carter (2016), Carrie Thompson Daniels (2016) and Patty Hutchinson Clancy (2019).

            >> Seventy-plus players who went on to play basketball in college, including 30 who went on to play at the NCAA Division I level.

            Cheatham also twice served as head coach of the Indiana All-Stars in the annual home-and-home series with Kentucky (1986 and 2002), one of only two people to lead the girls’ All-Stars twice. In addition, Cheatham coached in the 1989 HBCA All-Star Classic, the 1990 East/West Indiana All-Star Classic and the 2002 North/South Indiana All-Star Classic.

            A 1963 graduate of Dupont High School in Jefferson County, Cheatham went on to Georgetown College in Kentucky where she played basketball, volleyball and softball. She earned a degree in biology from Georgetown in 1967, then began her career in education as a middle school science teacher in Scottsburg in the fall of 1967.

            In the early 1970s, Cheatham and her friend, Jeanie Phillips, started girls’ sports programs at Scottsburg – Cheatham coaching basketball, Phillips coaching softball and each one assisting the other. Cheatham coached the Warriorettes until 1994 when she stepped down, in part to care for her elderly mother. Three years later, she came out of retirement to take over the Southwestern program, guiding the Rebels for 12 seasons before returning to Scottsburg in 2009.

            Cheatham was named Scott County Woman of the Year in 1986, served as a counselor or speaker at numerous camps and clinics, coached in the African nation of Cameroon in the summer of 1987, was inducted into the Georgetown College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002 and was inducted into the Southwestern High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018. Also, the basketball floor at Scottsburg’s Charles Meyer Gymnasium was named “Donna Cheatham Court” on Nov. 27, 2013.

            Cheatham collected win No. 500 on Jan. 31, 2005 (52-46 at Switzerland County), win No. 600 on Jan. 29, 2011 (75-56 vs. Silver Creek) and win No. 700 on Nov. 6, 2018 (64-60 in overtime at New Washington). She was feted at an Indiana Pacers’ “Hickory Night” game as one of the state’s all-time winningest coaches on Feb. 7, 2019. Cheatham’s final victory, No. 730, came Jan. 30, 2020 (45-41 vs. Lanesville).

            Greg Wooden, grandson of John Wooden, wrote a letter to each winner of the Wooden Legacy Coaching Award in that stated:

            “Our family cannot express how excited we are that you are receiving the NHSBCA Wooden Legacy Coaching Award. My grandfather, John R. Wooden, devoted his life to making an impact in the lives of others through the game of basketball. His passion was teaching, and there was no group that he was more passionate about that subject than coaches.

            “The fact that you are receiving this award is a testament to a long-standing commitment you have made as a teacher/coach within your community. You are receiving this award because you embody many traits that my grandfather felt were vital to success.

            “I know that if my grandfather were here today, he would feel that it was an honor to meet you and congratulate you on your success. In his memory, our family wants to do that for him. We appreciate you, and the commitment you have made to success. We could not be more thrilled that the NHSBCA has incorporated this award and could not be happier that you are its recipient in its inaugural year.”

            John Wooden, namesake of the award, was an Indiana native, Martinsville High School graduate and Purdue University graduate. He was a three-time basketball all-state selection in high school, leading the Artesians to a state title as a junior in 1927 and to state runner-up finishes as a sophomore and senior in 1926 and 1928. He became a three-time All-America player at Purdue, helping the Boilermakers be named the Helms Athletic Foundation national champion in 1932.

            Wooden later guided UCLA to a record 10 NCAA men’s national championships with a 620-147 mark after previously coaching at South Bend Central High School and Indiana State University. His 29-year college coaching record, including two seasons at Indiana State, was 664-162. His 11-year high school coaching record, including two seasons at Dayton (Ky.), was 218-42.

            The National High School Basketball Coaches Association is a network of coaches’ associations from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with a member from each state on its board of directors. The NHSBCA is the national voice for high school basketball coaches, working to foster high standards of professionalism and to support coaches.

NHSBCA JOHN WOODEN LEGACY COACHING AWARD

Winners from Indiana

            2021-22: Gene Miiller, Washington boys, and Donna Sullivan, Seymour girls.

            2022-23: Jack Butcher, Loogootee boys, and Cinda Rice Brown, Rushville girls.

            2023-34: J.R. Holmes, Bloomington South boys, and Donna Cheatham, Scottsburg and Southwestern (Hanover) girls.