Doug Laker hired as new Waldron girls basketball coach

Waldron High School has a new girls basketball coach.

Doug Laker was approved as the girls varsity basketball coach at Wednesday’s Shelby Eastern Schools board meeting. He will have his first open gym session with the Mohawks today.

“That’s always exciting,” said Laker Thursday morning. “I’ve been coaching against them so they know me, but they don’t really know me.”

Laker spent the last three seasons as the girls basketball head coach at North Decatur where he went 52-22 and won the 2024 sectional title.

Laker also has been the boys basketball head coach at Rushville (2019-2021) and girls basketball head coach at Greenfield-Central (2009-2017) where he won 129 games and led the Cougars to the 2016 regional championship game.

Waldron won 24 games, sectional and regional championships in 2022. Head coach Anthony Thomas stepped down at the end of the season and assistant coach Ilea Shipp was elevated to head coach.

The Mohawks won 23 games in three seasons with Shipp as the head coach before she resigned.

Waldron won eight games in 2024 while freshman Grace Fischer averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. A serious offseason knee injury sidelined her for her entire sophomore season.

Now Laker envisions a Waldron program, that finished 8-16 this past season, built around Fischer and rising senior Emerson Lindsey (9.7 ppg, 4.3 apg).

“(Fischer) might be one of the best shooters I’ve ever coached,” said Laker. “I’ve had a lot of scorers and a lot of great shooters, but Grace may be the best.”

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