GOSHEN, Ind. –A coaching change before the final season of a collegiate career is far from an ideal situation, but that is exactly the situation senior Brice Hartman was facing this past summer after the resignation of Goshen College Head Coach Stan Daugherty.
Growing up just twenty minutes down the road in Elkhart, Hartman knew little about Goshen College or Mennonites in general before coming to campus. What he did know was basketball. The 6’6” forward averaged 16 points and 4.3 rebounds a game while leading basketball crazed Elkhart Central High School to a 31-16 record over his junior and senior seasons.
Wanting to stay close to home and have an opportunity to contribute right away, Hartman decided to continue his academic and athletic career in a Maple Leaf uniform. Having visited other college campuses throughout the final years of high school it took little time to notice the difference in Goshen College.
“With the college being Mennonite, I had no real basis of what that meant,” explains Hartman. “The atmosphere is completely different.” While admitting that it took some time to get used to, Hartman now appreciates the change and positive environment. Hartman recognizes “How people act and are is different than those I was used to being around.”
Hartman wasted little time making an impact on the court, playing in 59 of Goshen’s 62 games in his freshman and sophomore years. In just his second career game, the forward hit 7-of-11 from the field, scoring fifteen points and grabbing seven rebounds in a win over Indiana University-East.
Two years later as a junior, Hartman was a vital part of the Maple Leaf offense. In November of 2006, he rattled off four straight games of 20-plus points leading Goshen to three wins. Set to once again be a major factor for Goshen as a senior, Hartman heard the news of Daugherty’s departure.
“I was disappointed at first,” Hartman said, especially with the timing being before his senior year. “I did go through a period of time where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play, but being the competitor that I am, I had to finish it out.”
Hartman, along with his teammates, were part of the interview process for a new head coach. They were immediately impressed by the confidence and win-now attitude of Gary Chupp, who was eventually hired in May. “We felt we were good enough,” Hartman said of his teammates. “We thought this could be a good year for us and we wanted a coach that was on the same page as us.”
After a full season under Chupp’s direction, which at first seemed so different, Hartman now sees a lot of similarities between his two coaches at Goshen. Both coaches pride themselves on the defensive side of the floor first, something Hartman has worked hard on throughout his career and Chupp immediately pushed Hartman to improve.
"I can't say enough about what Hartman has meant to this team this year,” said Chupp. “I knew from day one when I got the job last summer that he was going to be the key for what kind of year we would have. Brice was put into a tough position, being the only senior, and having a coaching change going into his final season. He had every excuse not to buy into what we were trying to accomplish, but he chose instead to work his tail off and go out with an outstanding senior season."
Under the direction of the first-year coach, the Maple Leafs got off to 10-1 start. With one regular-season game to play, they are just one win short of the 20-win plateau, which has been reached just twice in the 54-year history of the program. About the teams rapid improvement on a 12-18 season a year ago, Hartman explains, “I think continuity had a lot to do with it. A lot of players were freshman last year. After a year in the league and playing together we understand how to play together.”
Hartman’s career, while the complete story has yet to be told, will be a historic one. He currently ranks in the top ten in Goshen history in six offensive categories, including seventh in career points with 1,383. “I hope people remember me as a good all-around basketball player who always had a good attitude and kept his composure on the court,” added Hartman.
"He will certainly be difficult to replace because he can score in so many different ways. There were several times this year where he put the team on his back, and refused to let us lose." One such case was a January 23rd home contest against Marian, which saw the Maple Leafs down 20 points with just seven minutes to play. Hartman would score sixteen points down the stretch, including a tough jumper to tie the game with four seconds to play. Goshen would eventually go on to win in overtime.
Moving into the future, Hartman, a physical education major, hopes to stay in the local community to teach and eventual begin a coaching career. His four years at Goshen have taught him what it takes to study rigorously while balancing athletics and studies, much of which he attributes to physical education professors Jewel Lehman and Val Herschberger.
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