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A press conference was held at Warsaw Community High School’s Tiger Den to welcome Kyle Hartman as the seventh head coach in the illustrious history of Lady Tiger Basketball. He was approved for the position at a school board meeting on Monday night.
Hartman comes to the Lake City from Fairfield, where he coached the Lady Falcons for the last three seasons. He compiled a record of 60-18 over those three years, including a 20-7 mark in the 2025-26 season, a campaign that ended in the 3A Semi-State.
Hartman takes over the program from Lenny Krebs, who went 162-58 in nine seasons at Warsaw before retiring from coaching in April.
When asked why he chose to come to Warsaw, Hartman cited the community as a major reason as to why he wanted to lead the Lady Tigers.
“I think the tradition and the passion that this community has was really eye-opening to me,” he said. “I know the girls that are sitting here as well as the ones that couldn’t be here tonight are incredibly hard workers, and that’s the type of person I am as well,” he said. “The numbers of Warsaw attracted me, being able to develop a great youth program, I found those things very attractive as well.”
Tiger athletic director Matt Binkerd began the press conference by stating that Hartman was one of the “darkhorse candidates,” stating that it wasn’t until the coach’s answer to the final answer that he was asked that he set himself apart from the rest.
“We’re looking for a great coach, but also a great fit. Kyle is a great communicator, and he has so much passion,” Binkerd said. “He started answering his final question by admitting there were more experienced coaches that wanted the job, which I would not recommend doing again, but he went on to explain why he was the right man for the job. By the time he was done talking, I think everyone in the room wanted to play for him.”
The press conference also served as a way for Lady Tiger athletes to get to know their new head coach, as well as learn a bit about him and his expectations.
“It starts with the culture. Family is a very big thing for me and that’s going to be our motto going forward. We’re going to be one big happy family. There are going to be days that we argue, but at the end of the day, we will still love each other,” Hartman said. “You’ll see that on the court and in the community as well. You’re also going to see a lot of hard work and grit. We don’t have to practice for five hours if we can come in and go hard for one.”
The coach also took the time to list his goals as he takes over the Lady Tiger program, which included hanging up a couple more banners in the Tiger Den. The press conference concluded with Hartman coaching the program’s seventh and eighth graders, a way for him to get around not being allowed by the IHSAA to coach his high schoolers at this time as well as show the community a glimpse into what he is all about.
He fielded just one question from the community, being asked on why he chooses to coach girls rather than boys.
“I’ve coached boys my whole life, but when I was at Fairfield, Coach Garber asked me if I wanted to coach the girls. He said that my personality would fit well,” he said. “I’m an easy going, soft spoken person. I think a lot of young girls need confidence and that is something I can do.”
Hartman is a graduate of Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger and Bethel University (Bachelor’s Degree in Heath/PA). Prior to becoming the head coach at Fairfield, he was an assistant coach for the boys team, and before that, coached the JV boys team at South Bend Riley as well as the freshman team at St. Joe.
