FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Their paths had always been linked, from their high school playing careers at Muncie Central and then in college at Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW). John Peckinpaugh and Ben Botts were always close friends, and so were their families.
The last six years, though, Peckinpaugh and Botts have taken different paths as they entered the coaching world. Botts eventually made his way back to Fort Wayne as an assistant in 2014, just as Peckinaugh took the head coaching job at Indiana Tech four miles away. They’d eat together several times per week and try to help each other with coaching ideas and tips on recruits.