What do Mike Davis, Gene Bartow, Ryne Lightfoot and Kyle Hartman all have in common? They all have their place in history as being tasked to replace household legends.
For the first three in Davis, Bartow and Lightfoot, they replaced college basketball coaching legends, Davis the successor to Bob Knight at Indiana, Bartow the historical footnote in replacing John Wooden at UCLA, and Lightfoot taking over for his dad, Mike, at Bethel. And in each case, they had spurts of success, but had to constantly be in the shadow of a legendary legacy.
Enter Hartman, who himself played basketball at Bethel, but his footnote will be forever attached to, “Who replaced Brodie Garber as girls basketball coach at Fairfield?” It’s a fair question, but at the same time, when the outgoing coach just won the first state title in the school’s history and likely rests on the Fairfield athletic Mount Rushmore, Hartman knows it can go one of two ways.
“Brodie and I actually had weekly talks, and he’s the one who put the bug in my ear about maybe being a girls basketball coach one day,” Hartman said. “It was two years ago after they lost to Frankton, and he asked if I would ever consider it. At that time, no, I was wanting to coach boys basketball. But I kept thinking about it.
“I like to think about the future, and when I was at that state game, I was in my hotel room thinking, man, one day, that could be me. I want to be there.”
Hartman now has the unenviable task of meeting likely unrealistic expectations, but he isn’t staying up all night worrying about it. Knowing the girls program is rooted in culture, and returns a very solid core, the structure isn’t a rebuild to Hartman, but more of a reload.
“The coaching staff before me built that culture, and you can feel it just being around the team,” said Hartman, who coached with the Fairfield boys basketball program last season. “I’m not here to try to reinvent something that doesn’t need to be made. I’m here to keep the momentum going.”
Hartman, who was a high school basketball star at Fort Wayne Dwenger, made couple collegiate hoops appearances at Huntington, IPFW and Bethel before starting his coaching career.
His first week with the Lady Falcons this summer had Hartman running camp, a full compliment of current players in the morning and the next generation afterwards. The electricity in the program, still riding high from February’s state title, Hartman ran camp like an old veteran. He’s looking to retain Troy Sands on staff, and Sands was helping with camp. Assistant coaches Jess Dunlap and Stacey Garrett are also on board, and Hartman is ready to roll.
“I can’t be Brodie, and I don’t think anybody can replace that level of a coach,” Hartman said. “I can be me, and be thankful for the opportunity.”