Dieterich Hires Boys Basketball, Baseball Coach

The Dieterich Board of Education has hired its next boys basketball and baseball coach.

The new coach is Josh Krumwiede (PRONOUNCED krum-weedy). He's the son of Carrollton's Hall of Fame boys basketball coach Jeff Krumwiede and coached at Staunton this past season.

"From the people I've met and everybody I've talked to, specifically administrators like (superintendent) Cary Jackson and (high school principal) Kevin Haarman, I immediately felt like this was the right place for me," said Krumwiede. "It's a small community with a rich tradition of success, which I think is a perfect fit for me coming from a small community myself."

Staunton struggled through a 3-25 season in Krumwiede's first and only season at the helm, but he says he picked up a number of invaluable lessons at his first coaching stop.

"(The experience) was really beneficial," says the 24-year-old Krumwiede, who finished college last May and was hired later that month. "I don't think I'm a know-it-all, but I felt like I came into the job knowing a lot. It humbled me quite a bit. I learned so much more than I originally thought I would."

Krumwiede was a three-sport athlete at Carrollton, playing basketball for his father as well as baseball and golf. He went to Hannibal-LaGrange University to play baseball for a year, transferred to Parkland College as a member of the school's golf team, and then returned to baseball at Illinois College for the final three years of his college career. He's a self-described "sports junkie" and says he's excited about the chance to coach two sports he loves instead of just one.

"The opportunity to coach both is unbelievable," said Krumwiede. "Just sitting in an interview was great, but actually getting the job is a dream come true. And when we don't have a game, I'm looking forward to watching other teams in an area I know to be rich in sports tradition."

In addition to his coaching duties, Krumwiede will teach PE and Health at Dieterich; his position at Staunton was just as a coach, so this will be his first foray into the classroom as a teacher. He succeeds Jeff Staser on the boys basketball sideline and Jamie VanScyoc in the baseball dugout. Staser resigned to devote more time to his dental practice management business, while VanScyoc is returning to his alma mater, South Central, where he will succeed the retiring Rick Simmons as athletic director and boys basketball coach.

Those are big shoes to fill -- given Dieterich's recent string of success in both sports -- but with his father's name recognition, Krumwiede is used to high expectations and doesn't shy away from them.

"I've had a tremendous opportunity to have a great mentor my whole life," said Krumwiede of his father. "I don't know where I'd be without him. Growing up in a gym always made me determined to be as successful as he is, and it's been a great help to have him around. On one hand, he's always someone I can reach out to, but the other side is that I have to be myself while still respecting everything he's taught me."