By Mark Ambrogi
If Kris Nolan wasn’t busy enough with her job and being a mother of two, she moonlights as a Zionsville Community High School assistant basketball coach.
But it’s worth it to Nolan.
“I just love the game of basketball,” Nolan said. “I want to see our program get better. Basketball has given me so much with education and friends. I just want to kind of give back so girls can realize there are a lot of possibilities out there.”
Nolan, whose maiden name is Veatch, is one of Zionsville’s all-time great players. Nolan, 48, will be inducted into the Indiana Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame at a banquet on April 25.
“I was absolutely floored,” Nolan said. “I didn’t expect to be inducted as an individual. I was selected to the Silver Anniversary Team in 2009. I was quite humbled to be recognized with (former Brebeuf Jesuit standout) Vicki Hall and those types of players.” Hall also is being inducted in April.
Nolan, a 1984 Zionsville graduate, led the Eagles to a 49-13 record over her final three seasons (including a sectional title in ’83). She was the first Zionsville girls player to top 1,000 points (1,047). She led New Mexico State to its only two NCAA Tournaments (1987-88) in its history. The 5-foot-11 Nolan, who is in the New Mexico State Athletics Hall of Fame, finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer and is still third with 1,768 points and fourth in rebounds with 966.
Nolan played professionally for two years in Sweden and Australia.
“That was quite an opportunity to see parts of the world I never would have seen,” Nolan said.
After two years as a New Mexico State assistant coach, Nolan returned to Indiana to work for Dow Chemical Co. She became a Zionsville assistant coach shortly afterwards.
“I think I like practice more than the games because practice is more about teaching,” Nolan said. “I enjoy the girls I get to spend time with every day and the coaching staff. All are pretty amazing people.
Nolan is in her second stint as an Eagles assistant under Andy Maguire, joining the staff when Maguire returned as coach in 2010.
“Kris is an outstanding role model for our girls basketball program,” Maguire said. “She has dedicated a large part of her life to helping young ladies improve their basketball skills and learn some valuable life lessons.”
McGuire said Nolan has helped coach girls at the youth, middle school and high school level.
“She is an outstanding assistant coach and works very well with our post players,” Maguire said. “Kris is a dedicated employee at Dow and she juggles her busy work schedule and comes to all of our practices and games as well as her own kids’ games.
“She often shares her experience in high school, college and professional level with our players. She cares deeply about each player and the team.”
Nolan, who has also been a high school assistant coach at Hamilton Southeastern and Lawrence Central, works in marketing and communications at Dow AgroSciences
Nolan and her husband Henry, a Zionsville High School teacher, have two children Maddie, 14, and Luke, 12. Maddie is an eighth-grader and Luke a sixth-grader at Zionsville Middle School. Maddie plays basketball and volleyball. Luke plays basketball, baseball and football. Henry formerly coached but now is a basketball referee.
“We have a family calendar we have to update to manage everyone’s schedules,” Nolan said. “It’s what we enjoy doing, so we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
