Whiteland boys basketball coach Nate Cangany, center, discusses strategy with assistants (left to right) Terry Grant, Erik Schneider, Alex Harrell, Will Bohling and Matt Anderson.
Daily Journal file photo
Nate Cangany’s family and coaching trees include similar branches, which isn’t a coincidence.
Now in his third season as Whiteland’s boys basketball coach, Cangany took a somewhat unusual path when selecting who he wanted to assist him during practices and games.
Family, in short, is everything.
Varsity assistant coach Terry Grant is Cangany’s father-in-law. Alex Harrell and Erik Schneider, two of the coach’s closest friends dating back to childhood, are part of the Warriors’ coaching staff along with Brad Grant, a volunteer coach and Cangany’s brother-in-law.
Together they’ve exchanged ideas, strategized, scouted and attempted to motivate.
Whiteland, crowned the Johnson County tournament champion in January, sports a 13-7 record and is capable of winning the program’s first sectional championship in 20 years.
The Warriors’ veteran cast of players receives the credit, and rightfully so. Yet behind the scenes, there is something to be said for coaches who genuinely like and respect one another.
Terry Grant is 64; the others are 30-somethings. Add freshman coaches Matt Anderson and Will Bohling, both 25, and the Whiteland coaching staff possesses a wide range of experiences and opinions.
“Actually, Terry and Alex have been on my staff since my first year as a head coach,” said Cangany, 33, a Triton Central graduate who took over at Waldron prior to the 2015-16 season. “We were together at Waldron, we were together at Hauser and now at Whiteland.
“I had asked during my interview process (at Whiteland) if it was okay if I brought on my own staff, and Ken Sears was the athletic director at the time, he said yeah, definitely. Erik was actually here on the staff at Whiteland as the freshman coach, and he was the one who started talking to me as soon as the job opened.”
Cangany succeeded Matt Wadsworth, who resigned after seven seasons as Whiteland’s coach and now holds the same position at Edgewood. Cangany’s first two jobs were at Class A schools, so taking over at one of the state’s 4A schools is a significant jump.
Dependable assistants were an imperative.
Cangany has known Terry Grant most of his life. Somewhere in the Cangany residence is the photo taken of his kindergarten class back in the day. The girl next to him is Emily Grant, whom he began dating when the two were sophomores at Triton Central.
They married July 20, 2013, and now have three young children — sons Conner, 6, and Tucker, 4, and eight-month-old daughter Reese.
“I know my wife Lisa and I were elated that (Cangany) was going to become part of our family because he always carried himself respectfully,” Terry Grant said. “We knew that our daughter had made a good choice in life.
“Once I got started coaching with Nate, he’s got the young eyes. I’ve got the old eyes. Basketball has changed so much since the 1980s when I started coaching. Kids are different, and really, I’ve learned a lot of from him and the way he goes about his communicating. Nate is a great communicator.”
Like any head coach, Cangany delegates authority.
Terry Grant, Harrell and Schneider observe what the Warriors are doing offensively and defensively, and offer suggestions regarding matchups, lineup changes, etc. Harrell also tracks offensive possessions and efficiency, with Terry Grant asked to suggest any changes he feels the team needs to incorporate at the defensive end.
Schneider coaches the junior varsity squad. When the varsity takes the court, he tracks possessions and which players are in the game during scoring runs either by Whiteland or the opponent. Meanwhile, Brad Grant keeps the scorebook when the team plays a road game and monitors the team efficiency when on the bench in order for Cangany to make adjustments or lineup changes, if needed.
“We’re all pretty close, so we can throw ideas at each other,” Terry Grant said. “We may make changes. We may not make them. But I think it just brings us together closer.”
And not just the coaches.
During Whiteland home games, anywhere from 15-25 people sit in the southeast corner of Glenn Ray Gymnasium, home of Warrior hoops since 1958.
It’s a group comprised of spouses, young children, friends and sometimes parents and/or siblings of the various Whiteland boys basketball coaches. That includes Anderson and Bohling — the assistant coaches Cangany has known the shortest amount of time, but has welcomed with open arms.
“We had always talked about when he got a head coaching job and me helping out,” Harrell said. “The coolest part for me, it’s the family dynamic. Nate and I have known each other a long time. He was in my wedding, and I was in his. We got married the same year, and have kids around the same age, so our families are invested. It really is kind of cool.”
