Three weeks after taking job, Indiana HS boys basketball coach leaving for college level

For the second time in a month, the Warren Central boys basketball coaching position is open.

Kristof Kendrick, who was hired three weeks ago at Warren Central, is leaving to take a position at a college program. Warren Central athletic director Marques Clayton said he expects to have a replacement named “within a couple of days.”

“We have been aware of the possibility (of Kendrick leaving) and have been able to plan accordingly,” Clayton said. “I am confident we will be prepared in the next couple of days to name a replacement.”

RELATED: Kendrick hired to coach Warren Central

Kendrick, 35, was hired to replace Criss Beyers, who led Warren Central to a state championship in 2017-18 as the highlight of a successful four-year run. Kendrick as an assistant on Beyers’ staff for two years before he was hired at Howe, where he was 35-15 in two seasons. Beyers was hired at Franklin Central.

Clayton said Warren Central’s administration was not aware of the possibility of Kendrick taking a college job at the time he was hired, but said the new coach was upfront about his situation when it became an option.

“It definitely wasn’t something we knew when we hired him at all,” Clayton said. “But what you do know when you hire a coach who is 34 or 35 years old and has those aspirations that it could be a possibility. You are confident you aren’t going to lose him to another high school but program, but if you are young and single and have that itch to coach at the college level, it could happen.

“The timing is not in our favor, but we told him he would be foolish not to look into it.”

It is expected that Kendrick will be announced as part of the Bradley coaching staff. He did not immediately return a phone call from IndyStar on Tuesday morning.

Clayton said it is important to get a coach in place, but does not anticipate the timing doing the program any long-term damage. He did not want to name any specific names as the potential next hire.

“We have talked to the returning players and the parents,” Clayton said. “I think with basketball in this town, you are most vulnerable at the middle-school level. There are local schools — and they know who they are — picking and prodding at your middle-school kids. But I’m very confident that we will be able to provide some clarity very soon to our incoming kids. We are appreciative of Kristof that we had a little time to prepare for what was coming.”