New Coach Familiar With Red Devils Basketball (From IndyStar.com) Phil Spoljaric knew exactly what the Pike High School boys basketball program was missing -- him. "They haven't won a state title since I left," the former Red Devils assistant said, jokingly. Spoljaric has been recommended to the school board, which meets Aug. 28, to replace Billy Wright, who resigned in early July to take an assistant coaching position at Western Illinois. "I know what the expectations are," Spoljaric, 34, said. "It's a great challenge. It's a great opportunity. It's a tremendous job and I'm excited to have the athletes we're going to have." Spoljaric was a volunteer with the program in 1996-97 when it went from 4-16 to 16-4 and was on staff when the Red Devils won state titles in 1998, 2001 and '03. He left the program to become coach at Anderson Highland. He was 38-48 in his five seasons with the Scots but took a program that hadn't had a winning season since 1993-94 and improved the team's record from 4-18 to 6-14 to 11-12 to 11-10 before going 10-12 last season, which included a 53-51 victory over Pike. "Once the committee got (the candidates) down to three, Phil stood out amongst the others because his heart never left Pike," district athletic director James Perkins said. "He wanted to be at Pike. He prepared himself to be at Pike. He showed us he's the kind of leader we want, from (kindergarten) through (12th grade), and he knows the game. He knows our parents, schools and community, and has been involved with us at a successful level."