Scot Bunnell will no longer be seated on the Ball State University bench this season. After spending the past seven seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach for the Cardinals, Bunnell accepted a head coaching position at Lafayette Jefferson High School this week.
Bunnell will also serve as Assistant Athletics Director at Lafayette Jefferson, which is an 4A school.
Throughout his tenure at Ball State, Bunnell was introduced to many players and coaches who influenced him.
"I coached a lot of players, and even more so, I coached a lot of good guys," Bunnell said. "I've got to coach against the very best, and when you coach against the best, you can't help but learn things from them.
"I got the chance to coach at the highest level of college basketball. It will always be really special for [my family]."
Ball State head coach Tim Buckley thinks Lafayette Jefferson is getting an outstanding coach.
"He is someone who is going to make the most of the situation there," Buckley said. "He will help them with a successful basketball program all the way around and not just out on the court.
"We're really proud of him and feel like he had a lot to do with our success," Buckley said.
Bunnell is stepping into the head coaching position after Gene Miller left the Bronchos for a Washington High School coaching job. Lafayette Jefferson has won the sectional championship three times in the past five seasons, but the team went 10-12 during its 2004-05 campaign. The Bronchos have won three state championships -- most recently in 1964.
Current Ball State guard Peyton Stovall is an alumnus of Lafayette Jefferson, where he earned four letters under Miller. Stovall feels Bunnell is up to the challenge of coaching high school basketball.
"It's going to be tough, but it's definitely something he can do," Stovall said. "He was one of the most important guys in our program. He kept the student-athletes in line with their grades, and he's more of a friend than just a coach."
Bunnell began coaching when he was a student at Ball State. He coached at Wapahani High School from 1991 through 1994, and he became an assistant coach at Anderson University in 1994, all before he graduated from Ball State in 1996.
He spent the next two seasons as an assistant coach at Central Florida Community College. In 1998, former Ball State coach Ray McCallum hired Bunnell as an assistant. He had a brief stint in 2000 with the University of Houston, where McCallum went to coach, but Bunnell came back to Ball State when Buckley was given the head coaching job.
Buckley feels that Bunnell has a great passion and enthusiasm for the game, which he will bring with him from Ball State to Lafayette Jefferson.
"We've been together for quite some time, and I felt like he was instrumental in a lot of different ways -- not only in recruiting but also in teaching, coaching and preparing us for games," Buckley said.
The process to find a new assistant coach has already begun, according to Buckley.
"It's a situation where I have to take a step back and kind of reflect on what I feel like we need and what's the best fit for our program," Buckley said. "When that time comes and we feel good about it, then we'll make that decision."
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