Joe Buck Returns to Pendleton Heights Basketball At their last meeting the South Madison Community School Board of Trustees approved Joe Buck as the next boys’ varsity basketball head coach. Buck previously spent 13 seasons on the Pendleton Heights bench as the head coach from 1993-2006. He then moved away from coaching to serve as South Madison Community Schools as the Chief Financial Officer (2007-2011) and Superintendent until his retirement in 2020. In his first stint at PHHS, Buck won a program best 189 games and six of the school’s first nine sectional championships (‘94, ‘95, ‘96, ‘00, ‘03, and ‘04). The 2000 team went on to win the only regional championship in school history making them a final four participant. During his tenure, he coached two Indiana All-Stars and was the Indiana All-Star Head Coach in 2005. Following a stint in July as the interim coach running workouts, the offer to return full-time was extended. “Originally, I agreed to help the team by running July workouts. I was happy to be available, and I really enjoyed working with the team,” said Buck. “It was great to be able to help the basketball program, and it was great to get back in the gym. Now that things have turned out the way they have, I am looking forward to the opportunity to give back and to try to help the school corporation and the basketball program that were so good to my family and I.” As the head coach, Buck emphasized discipline on and off the court, an idea that teamwork was the only option, and he built a winning culture that went beyond the basketball court. Statement from Chad Smith, Athletic Director at Pendleton Heights: “To say that we are thrilled to have Coach Buck back in charge of our basketball program would be an understatement. There are no words to describe the impact that Coach Buck has had in the past and will have on our future. Our entire athletic department got better with his return. He will be a mentor to our student-athletes as well as our coaches in all sports. It was an honor to play for Coach Buck and an even bigger honor for me to be able to provide a platform for Coach Buck to do what he knows best. As a former player of his, I know that our vision for the basketball program is the same because I learned it from him. We want our basketball players to mature into leaders in their community, be good husbands and fathers, and make a positive impact on others”