Edgewood hires Connor Basye, aiming to reset Mustangs this summer

Connor Basye was handed Edgewood's job at the exact point when a high school program can still be reshaped. June is when summer workouts, player meetings, open gyms and AAU crossover start to sort out who is committed, who fits and what a roster will look like by November, and athletic director Jerry Bland introduced Basye on Wednesday, June 3, in the school library with that kind of urgency in mind.

Basye brings Bloomington-area credibility with him. A former Bloomington High School North player, he began with Indiana Elite in second grade, later graduated from Indiana University and spent time on the Bloomington North coaching staff. He is now a teacher and varsity assistant coach at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, while also serving as president of basketball operations and head coach of Indiana Elite's 17U 3SSB team. Edgewood will also have Basye's brother and two former Bloomington South standouts around the program, another sign this is meant to be a local reset, not a clean break from the region's basketball network.

That matters at Edgewood because the Mustangs have a long runway before games count. The IHSAA boys basketball calendar does not open first practice until Nov. 9, 2026, with the first contest set for Nov. 23 and sectionals not arriving until March 2-3 and 5-6, 2027. Getting Basye in place now gives Edgewood months to establish standards, sort out roles and build stability before the schedule turns live. Edgewood, a Class 3A program in the Western Indiana Conference, plays out of 601 South Edgewood Drive in Ellettsville, and the next few months will tell whether the Mustangs can turn that new voice into a new identity.

The program's ceiling is not hard to find in its own history. From 2004-08, Edgewood won 74 games, three sectional titles and four conference titles, and it finished an undefeated regular season while reaching No. 1 in 2007 and 2008. Garrett Butcher was the face of that run, finishing with 1,820 career points and standing as the school's lone Indiana All-Star. His resume, which also includes 830 rebounds and a place among the county's all-time leaders, remains the standard for what Edgewood can become when the right pieces are in place.

For Basye, the first test is not a January road game. It is whether he can use June to make Edgewood feel organized, connected and ready before the Mustangs ever step into their first official practice.