Wayne parts ways with boys basketball coach Anthony Brewer after three seasons

Wayne’s boys basketball program is back on the market after parting ways with Anthony Brewer, a move that lands just as the Indiana coaching carousel is starting to spin harder across the state. Brewer was relieved of his duties after three seasons, and Wayne was officially searching for its next head coach for a program that still expects to compete right away.

Brewer left with a 53-23 record and a résumé that changed the standard at Wayne High School in Fort Wayne. His best season came in 2023-24, when the Generals won sectional and regional titles, captured one of two Summit Athletic Conference championships under his watch and reached only the third regional title in program history. He was also named the 2023-24 Outside the Huddle Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

This past season was more uneven. Wayne finished 13-12, won one postseason game and then was eliminated by Homestead. Even with the step back in the win-loss column, the roster suggests the next coach is walking into a situation with more immediate upside than a typical opening. Wayne is expected to return several all-conference players, including Tyree Eldridge, Everen Akison, Javontae Eldridge and Uriah Williams.

The stakes go beyond one job. Wayne had just restored the kind of profile that makes sectional nights in northeast Indiana matter, and the next hire will be judged against that recent success. Brewer’s run followed his time as an assistant under Byron Pickens, whose four seasons as head coach produced Wayne’s first regional championship in four decades, along with the program’s first outright SAC title in two decades and its first sectional title since 1994. Brewer’s promotion extended that momentum, but it also raised expectations that now attach to the vacancy itself.

Wayne’s opening is part of a wider spring reset in Indiana boys basketball. There are already eight high school coaching vacancies in southwest Indiana after the 2025-26 season, Criss Beyers has resigned after his second stint at Warren Central, and Zach Hahn has stepped down after a career that made him the winningest coach ever at an Indiana high school boys basketball program. In a landscape where proven programs can turn quickly, Wayne’s next hire will matter immediately, both in the Summit Athletic Conference race and in the sectional bracket that has become a much tougher climb for everyone around Fort Wayne.