Former Tiger Mentor Royce Waltman Can't Shake the Coaching Itch

February 20, 2010

February 20, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — Royce Waltman, head men's basketball coach at DePauw University from 1987 to 1992, can't seem to get the game out of his system, reports today's Indianapolis Star. Waltman, who went from DePauw to the top job at Division I Indiana State University, is serving as an assistant coach at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.

Now in his second year as an assistant under Michael Wantz, Waltman is "far removed from the bright lights ofthe Big Ten as an assistant under Bob Knight in the 1980s and even the Missouri Valley Conference, where he coached Indiana State from 1997-2007," writes Kyle Neddenriep. "There's nothing keeping Waltman in basketball other than the game itself. After he was fired at Indiana State, he returned to the University of Indianapolis -- where he had coached from 1993-97 -- to serve as interim coach when his former player and assistant at DePauw, Todd Sturgeon, resigned before the 2007-08 season. That lasted just one season, though, and Waltman wasn't ready to quit coaching cold turkey."

"I didn't want to work for just anybody," the 68-year-old Waltman tells the newspaper. "I just knew I wanted to keep my hand in basketball and that coach Wantz was a good guy who treated the kids right. I've enjoyed it much, much more than I ever would have thought."

Wantz chuckles, "When a Division I coach who's been to the NCAA Tournament twice wants to be on your staff, you don't tell him no."

You'll find the full story at IndyStar.com.

Royce Waltman was named DePauw's coach at a May 5, 1987 Indianapolis news conference. Learn more about him in this previous story.

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