Players for the seven schools in this week’s Johnson County boys basketball tournament will wear the same T-shirts during pregame and halftime warmups.
The shirts are in honor of Matt English, the former Beech Grove coach and athletic director who died on Dec. 10 following a lengthy battle with brain cancer. Each of the schools purchased shirts, with one-third of the proceeds going to English’s family.
“We’re basically going to wear them as warm-ups for the duration of the county tourney,” said Indian Creek athletic director Derek Perry, who came up with the idea. “Matt was a well-known athletic director and a well-known coach.
“He might be mad at us, but it’s a good way to pay it forward. It shows how tight-knit Johnson County families and teams are.”
Beech Grove plays two local teams during the regular season (Greenwood and Whiteland) and is in the same Class 3A sectional as Indian Creek. Former Center Grove coach Cliff Hawkins was English’s coach when the latter played at Greenfield-Central in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
One of English’s earlier coaching stops was as an assistant at Center Grove.
The Johnson County schools combined to purchase a total of 150 shirts at a cost of $15 per shirt. Whiteland ordered 40, Indian Creek 24 and Center Grove and Greenwood 20 apiece. Overall, the athletic departments contributed $2,250 to pay tribute to a person who meant so much to his school and community.
The gray shirts include English’s own personal coaching mantra, “We before me.”
The shirts were printed at Sharp’s Graphics in Franklin, which will give a check English’s family a check for approximately $750.
Larry Williams, a 1988 Whiteland graduate, is co-owner of Sharp’s Graphics. Williams works at Beech Grove Middle School and serves as eighth-grade boys basketball coach, which is how he became friends with the English family.
“Matt was an unbelievable leader from day one. He was always there to build the program and never stopped,” Williams said. “Throughout the state there is so much respect for him.”
Greenwood purchased shirts in time for players wear them for a home game against Beech Grove on Dec. 18. Second-year Woodmen coach Joe Bradburn felt it was a fitting gesture to English, who led the Hornets to a 110-108 record in 10 seasons overall and a 50-23 mark over the last three.
“It makes a statement to what kind of person Matt English was,” Bradburn said. “He was really respected, and the number of people who bought shirts to honor him shows what kind of life he lived. Having our kids wearing the shirts is a small way of honoring him.”
Similar methods of honoring English and benefiting his family occurred before the coach’s passing. In November, English’s alma mater hosted a “We B4 Me: Matt English Night”, with the Greenfield-Central boys basketball team raising money to assist with medical bills.
Last week, Edinburgh coach Keith Witty set aside time during practice to talk to his players about the meaning of being a competitor. He used the fight demonstrated by English and former Purdue student Tyler Trent, who passed away Jan. 1 from bone cancer at age 20, as reference points.
“I didn’t really know Matt well,” Witty said. “I just know he was a really good coach and a genuine guy who put his heart and soul into that school and the kids he coached. (He and Trent) chose to live their lives the best they could and battled until the end.”
