(Mishawaka) — On January 6, 2024, Mishawaka’s boys basketball team visited North Side Gym to play Elkhart.  Bodie Bender coached the Cavemen. Will Coatie coached Elkhart.

Should the two teams play next season, Bodie Bender will be coaching Elkhart…and Will Coatie will be at Mishawaka.

Coatie is expected to be named to his new position as Mishawaka boys basketball coach at Wednesday night’s school board meeting.  The hiring completes a wild two-and-a-half months for the two basketball programs that saw Coatie “resign” at Elkhart, Bender leave Mishawaka to take the Elkhart job and now Coatie coming to the historic “Cave”.

To the knowledge of Sports Michiana staff, this is the first time two area coaches have basically swapped programs

Coatie coached the boys program at Elkhart for two seasons, posting an 8-38 record.  Prior to that, Coatie had built the girls basketball program, first at Elkhart Central and then at Elkhart after the school consolidation in 2020. He took over a moribund Central girls program in 2012, gradually building the Blue Blazers into a sectional champ in 2018, the school’s first girls basketball sectional title in 37 years.

Between Central and Elkhart High, six of Coatie’s last seven girls basketball squads finished .500 or above.

He inherits a Mishawaka boys program that went 5-18 last year (losing its last 10), just one year after making a historic run to the Class 4A semistate.

Mishawaka will also fill two other coaching vacancies at tonight’s meeting, as Benji Dolly will be named head wrestling coach and Michael Bultinck will take over as girls soccer coach. Dolly is a former Caveman wrestler, who finished third at 152 pounds in 2006.  Bultinck has been the JV coach for the Cavemen girls soccer program.