Joe Pigg resigns as Eastern Greene girls basketball coach, heads to rival SWIAC squad

Eastern Greene suddenly finds itself in need of a new girls' basketball coach as Joe Pigg handed in his resignation late last week.

"It was for personal reasons," Eastern athletic director Aaron Buskirk said. "But it's really late."

Pigg would not elaborate, saying it was time to move on.

According to a report by Travis David, who runs PressBox812 Sports, Pigg has been hired as an assistant coach at SWIAC rival North Central, which is coming off a Class 1A sectional championship. Pigg had previously coached at White River Valley. The offer came after word got around he was leaving Eastern.

"After I resigned resigned a good buddy I coached contacted me to see if I was interested in helping him," Pigg said. "So why not be an assistant coach. He's got a nice team. Joey (Davidson) does a good job, I'll just be there for advice."

Pigg is retired from his full-time job but not from coaching.

"I really enjoyed it at Eastern," he said. "I really liked Eastern, I just had some personal reasons. I needed to get away and do something else. I hope to get a head coaching job again some time. I've done it for a long time."

The first day of practice is Oct. 21, but coaches are allowed limited contact days starting after Labor Day (Sept. 2). The school district has its next board meeting set for Sept. 9, so Buskirk would like to get a name picked by then. In the interim, assistant coach Jeremy Clark is overseeing the program.

A Notice of Vacancy was posted on the school's Facebook page as Buskirk will be looking inside and outside the building to fill the position.

EG is also looking for a new boys' golf coach with Jacob Carmichael stepping down to devote more time to coaching basketball as he has been named an assistant to the boys' team and will help with the youth programs as well.

Time for a reunion with Igel

In related news, former Eastern boys coach Andy Igel is back on the sidelines after a long absence, taking over at Pike Central. He was the T-Birds head coach from 1997-2012, going 243-125, posting 13 seasons of 12 wins or more with only three losing campaigns, five sectional and one regional title.

Igel has been at the school, close his Washington area when his family is from, since 2017 when he was hired as an assistant principal.

Interestingly enough, the Chargers are slated to play at Eastern Greene on Dec. 20 and Buskirk is hoping to make it a special night for Igel and his former T-Bird basketball players.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Joe Pigg resigns as Eastern Greene girls basketball coach, heads to rival SWIAC squad