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LAWRENCEBURG – Lawrenceburg boys basketball opens the 2012-13 season Friday under only its third head coach in the last 30 years.

LHS and Notre Dame graduate John Blackwell, former director of basketball operations at Indiana State University, follows Jim Pugh (1981-1992) and his former coach Mike Pratt (1992-2012) as the head of a program known for its hardcourt continuity.

“It’s not about me, it’s about Tiger basketball,” said Blackwell, whose wide-ranging coaching experience included two years (2008-10) as head man at Class 3A Crawfordsville (22-18), including back-to-back sectional losses to eventual state runner-up Danville.

A four-year basketball manager for coach Mike Brey at Notre Dame, Blackwell brings a unique perspective back home to Lawrenceburg. “I was as assistant coach at (Indianapolis) Pike, where all we had to do to win was show up,” he noted. “I was an assistant (then first-year program) Fishers, where we were not going to win, no matter what we did.”

All that should have Blackwell well-prepared for whatever transpires when the varsity Tigers open their delayed (due to the LHS football sectional title run) season Friday - against No. 1-ranked (3A) defending Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference champ Greensburg (2-0).