HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — Driving past Blackford High School, Luke Brown remembers seeing Jerry Hoover's truck in the parking lot.
It was a Saturday and Brown was driving up to Montpelier with a friend to play some basketball. At the time, there was no indication that Blackford would start the season without Hoover, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame coach who led the Bruins to their first sectional title in 29 years the season before.
By Sunday, the night before official practices for boys basketball were set to begin, Brown learned why Hoover was at Blackford the day before.