A COACH WHOSE NAME IS INSEPARABLE FROM MCCUTCHEON BASKETBALL—A LEADER WHOSE CONSISTENCY, LONGEVITY, AND COMMITMENT HELPED SHAPE THE IDENTITY OF THE MAVERICKS FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES. IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO RECOGNIZE COACH RICK PECKINPAUGH.

COACH PECKINPAUGH DEDICATED 32 SEASONS AS THE HEAD BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL COACH AT MCCUTCHEON HIGH SCHOOL, FROM 1985 TO 2017, BUILDING ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED PROGRAMS IN INDIANA. OVER THOSE YEARS, HIS TEAMS COMPILED AN OUTSTANDING 477–269 RECORD, CONTRIBUTING TO AN OVERALL 38-YEAR VARSITY COACHING RECORD OF 539–330—A TESTAMENT TO SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE AND LEADERSHIP.

BEFORE ARRIVING AT MCCUTCHEON, COACH PECKINPAUGH LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR HIS CAREER AT SEVERAL INDIANA SCHOOLS, SERVING AS A FRESHMAN AND JUNIOR VARSITY COACH AT TURKEY RUN AND MUNCIE CENTRAL, BEFORE BECOMING HEAD COACH AT AVON HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE HE LED THE PROGRAM FOR SIX SEASONS. THOSE EARLY YEARS SHAPED THE COACH WHO WOULD LATER DEFINE AN ERA OF MCCUTCHEON BASKETBALL.

UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP, MCCUTCHEON ENJOYED TREMENDOUS POSTSEASON SUCCESS, CAPTURING 12 SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, FIVE REGIONAL TITLES, AND ADVANCING TO THE SEMI-STATE LEVEL. HIS TEAMS ALSO CLAIMED NINE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS, FOUR J & C HOOPS CLASSIC TITLES, AND A HENDRICKS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP, CONSISTENTLY COMPETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL.

COACH PECKINPAUGH’S EXCELLENCE WAS RECOGNIZED BY HIS PEERS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. HE WAS NAMED CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR SIX TIMES AND EARNED THE PRESTIGIOUS IBCA DISTRICT COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR IN 2015, REFLECTING THE RESPECT HE COMMANDED WITHIN THE COACHING COMMUNITY.

BEYOND THE WINS AND BANNERS, COACH PECKINPAUGH BUILT A PROGRAM ROOTED IN DISCIPLINE, PREPARATION, AND RESPECT FOR THE GAME. GENERATIONS OF PLAYERS LEFT HIS PROGRAM BETTER PREPARED—NOT ONLY AS BASKETBALL PLAYERS, BUT AS YOUNG MEN.

COACH RICK PECKINPAUGH’S LEGACY LIVES ON IN THE COUNTLESS STUDENT-ATHLETES HE COACHED AND IN THE PROUD TRADITION OF MCCUTCHEON BASKETBALL HE HELPED BUILD.