Hamilton Heights’ Chad Ballenger named Indiana All-Stars assistant coach

The REPORTER

Hamilton Heights boys basketball coach Chad Ballenger has been named one of the assistant coaches for the 2026 IndyStar boys’ Indiana All-Stars, games director Mike Broughton announced Tuesday.

Todd Woelfle of Terre Haute North has been named head coach for the team. Joe Bradburn of Class 4A state champion Mt. Vernon will serve as the other assistant coach.

The 2026 boys’ All-Stars will play three games in June – one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

Ballenger guided Hamilton Heights to a 14-10 mark this past season and is 259-182 in 19 seasons with the Huskies. He is 335-265 overall as a head coach, including two seasons at Eastern and five seasons at Knightstown. His teams have captured nine conference championships, five sectional trophies, one regional title and six holiday tournament crowns.

He was a 2014 Junior All-Star assistant coach and also coached in the 2011 North-South Indiana All-Star Classic and in four Hoosier Gym All-Star Games (2006, 2007, 2021 and 2024). He was named 2004 White River Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and 2004 New Castle Courier-Times Coach of the Year. He served as an IBCA district representative from 2007-10.

A 1988 graduate of Hagerstown, Ballenger competed in basketball, cross country and track for the Tigers and was among the state’s Top 100 players in free throw accuracy (.862) as a senior. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Ball State in 1994.

Ballenger started his career in coaching in 1990-93 at Cowan as a junior high coach and high school assistant for Pat Mapes. He was a student-teacher and high school assistant at Knightstown in 1993-94, then assisted Basil Mawbey at Kokomo from 1994-2000 before becoming the head coach at Eastern from 2000-02. Ballenger followed as head coach at Knightstown from 2002-07, then moved to Hamilton Heights starting in 2007-08.

He is in his 19th year as a teacher and fifth year as a department head at Hamilton Heights, currently teaching advanced physical education, health & wellness and freshman seminar.

Ballenger and his wife, Stacie, have one child, Cooper, 14.

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 3 at Mt. Vernon. The first game against Kentucky will be June 5 at Lexington Catholic High School. The final game against Kentucky will be June 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar girls’ Indiana All-Stars.

The roster for the 2026 Indiana boys’ All-Stars and 2026 boys’ Junior All-Stars will be announced later. The roster for the 2026 Indiana girls’ All-Stars was announced March 18. The roster for the 2026 girls’ Junior All-Stars was announced March 9.

The Indiana Junior All-Stars will play two girl-boy doubleheaders this year – May 31 against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars at Charlestown and June 3 against the Indiana seniors at Mt. Vernon.

The 2026 IndyStar Indiana All-Star “Futures Games” doubleheader will be on June 1 at a site to be announced. This event, for girls and boys who are current sophomores or freshmen, will feature two Indiana teams in a North-South format. The girls’ Futures Game rosters were announced March 26. The boys’ Futures Game rosters will be announced later.