Trojans coach stepping aside

When you’re a coach, your team can often feel like an extended family.

Shawn Sanders decided it was time to put his actual family first.

Recently married with one young daughter and a son on the way this spring, Sanders has resigned after eight seasons as the girls basketball coach at Center Grove.

“I absolutely love the girls; I loved coaching girls basketball here at Center Grove,” Sanders said, “but thinking about being away from this new little guy that’s going to be around, and my daughter — being away from my daughter this whole season was really tough.

“You just start thinking about what your priorities are and what your priorities should be, and my priorities have kind of shifted in the last couple of years.”

Sanders will continue in his role as a math teacher at Center Grove. He guided the Trojans to a 110-74 overall record, five Johnson County championships and three sectional titles.

A search for a new coach will begin immediately, according to a news release sent out Thursday by Center Grove.

Whoever takes over inherits a returning group led by senior-to-be Cassidy Hardin, a Purdue commit, and rising junior guards Ella Thompson and Emma Utterback.

Sanders won’t have time to be in the gym every day anymore, but he’ll still be taking in plenty of games and offering his support.

“I’m definitely going to be a fan,” he said.