John Peckinpaugh was not blessed on the basketball court with much more than an insatiable drive and work ethic that ultimately carried him further than anyone – outside of him and his family – thought possible.
He is now in the position to see if that level of determination can carry him in his chosen profession where only few could dream.
The former IPFW forward was named as assistant men’s basketball coach at Indiana Tech on Monday.
“I’m extremely excited about it,” Peckinpaugh said. “(Indiana Tech coach Al Grushkin) is a great coach and I’m going to learn a lot about defense that’s for sure.”
Peckinpaugh has made a career out of doing all of the dirty jobs on the floor that others didn’t have the stomach for.
Slide over to take a charge from a bigger player? Peckinpaugh thrived on that.
Sprint back on defense on every possession, not just more often than not? Peckinpaugh ran as hard as anyone could.
Come down with a rebound when surrounded by longer, more athletic players? Put your money on Peckinpaugh to come away with it.
“John’s biggest attribute on the court was his toughness and competiveness,” Mastodon coach Tony Jasick said. “If he can carry that competitive spirit over to recruiting and scouting, then he’ll do fine.”
Peckinpaugh’s effort often had the same result: his teams were successful more often than not. After graduating from the storied Muncie Central High School program, he was a vital part of helping IPFW to 48 victories over his first three seasons. Peckinpaugh started 56 games for IPFW during the past two seasons.
“John is known for his strong work ethic, so we know we are getting a hard working guy,” Grushkin said in a release. “He is also well known throughout Indiana and we think he’s going to be instrumental in helping us with in-state recruiting.”
Jasick began his career at the high school level and believes that Peckinpaugh being at a small-school level can be very beneficial in his ultimate development professionally.
“I started at the lowest level and worked for multiple guys as I climbed the ladder,” Jasick said. “That was very beneficial for me and I hope the same holds true for John. He’ll get his feet wet with Indiana Tech and make a ton of mistakes as we all did, but he’ll learn from them.”
