Wawasee athletic director Steve Wiktorowski (left) stands with new girls head basketball coach Matt Carpenter. (Photo provided by Wawasee Athletics)

SYRACUSE — Wawasee High School made a big announcement Tuesday evening. The Wawasee Board of Education approved the hiring of Matt Carpenter as the new girls head basketball coach.

“I have closely followed Matt Carpenter’s career since he became involved with the Goshen girls’ basketball program,” offered Wawasee AD Steve Wiktorowski in a statement. “He has prepared himself well for his first head coaching opportunity. Matt is passionate, he understands the game, is a good teacher who emphasizes fundamentals, and emphasizes positive interactions with his players.

“He presented a well thought out vision of his program during several interviews and we feel we also hired a very good classroom teacher. We look forward to a long tenure with Matt and welcome him to Wawasee.”

Carpenter is a graduate of Goshen High School and has spent the past 12 years teaching in the mathematics department of the Elkhart County school. For the past 10 years he has been coaching in the Goshen girls basketball program, the first two as the freshman coach and the last eight as a the varsity assistant.

“I’ve contemplated making the jump to being a head coach of a program before but never felt like the timing was right until now,” Carpenter stated. “I feel like the timing is right now because I’ve had an ample amount of time and experience in what it takes to run a successful program. (Goshen head coach) Lenny Krebs has mentored me and let me run, or help to run, different parts of a large program. These experiences have helped me grow and allowed me to develop the skills necessary to organize and lead a program.”

In addition to having the experience under his belt, Carpenter also felt the time was right because Wawasee felt like the right place to be.

“Wawasee has a great tradition in girls basketball and the community has produced some outstanding young men and women both on the court and in the classroom,” Carpenter remarked. “When I saw this opportunity present itself, I was convinced that this was a great fit for me and feel like I am a great fit for Wawasee as well.”

During his time as the varsity assistant, Carpenter has seen Goshen’s win total improve from three wins to 18. The RedHawks had 18 wins last season and have reached double digit win totals in each of the past five seasons. Having spent such a long time on Goshen’s sideline, Carpenter is more than familiar with what the Northern Lakes Conference has to offer.

“There’s nothing easy about being a head coach, but it’s possible that my experience in the conference could give me a little leg up,” the coach stated. “I have been fortunate enough to start developing a positive relationship with some of the head coaches in the area and look forward to continuing to grow those relationships in the coming years.”

Carpenter also emphasized that surrounding himself with a good staff is a top priority for him.

“I will be spending a large amount of time on this in the coming days,” Carpenter said of assembling a coaching staff. “I look forward to meeting with and candidate who is interested in helping out the program. I feel it is imperative that I assemble a great staff around me that carries the same vision that I do in how we continue the great tradition here.”

“It’s difficult to put into words the excitement that I have,” stated Carpenter. “I’m extremely thankful for the administration at Wawasee for believing in me and offering me this opportunity. I’m also grateful to all of the people that have influenced my life and coaching career.

“I’ve been very fortunate to surround myself with fantastic coworkers both in the classroom and on the court. I’ve learned a lot from those people and look forward to the new relationships that I will develop with the members of the Wawasee corporation.”

In addition to serving on Goshen’s basketball staff, Carpenter was also involved with the both the boys and girls golf programs including three years as the girls head coach. Carpenter is the son of Randy and Peggy Carpenter of Goshen.

Carpenter takes over a Wawasee program that went 243-166 in 18 seasons under Kem Zolman. The Lady Warriors were 8-15 in 2015-16 and last won a conference title in 2009 and sectional championship in 2011.