Trgovich, who coached the RedHawks for three seasons, announced last month that he would not return for a fourth. Chism was one of several highly qualified candidates who interviewed for the job, according to Student Life and Athletics Director Charles Gary, Ph.D.

"Coach Chism is the right fit at the right time for our program," Gary said. "He will bring a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to our team. His experience with recruiting and with coaching at smaller programs matches up with the needs of our program right now. I am looking forward to working with Shawn to get ready for an exciting 2010-11 season."

Chism, 40, is a graduate of Chicago State University and Cumberland State University, where he earned his M.S. in Human Relations Management. He was head coach at the College of Lake County, a junior college, in Grayslake, Ill., from 2001 until 2006. In his final season, he led the team to a third-place finish in the NJCAA Men's National Basketball Championships and was named NJCAA Region IV Coach of the Year.

Since March 2009, Chism has served as assistant men's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator for Trinity International University, an NAIA D-II institution, in Deerfield, Ill. From 1998 until 2000 he was an assistant men's coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA D-I University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Chism also has experience running a pro team; he was owner and head coach of the Lake County Lakers in the IBL for three years.

Chism said he chose IU Northwest because he saw an opportunity to build a program that will connect with and draw athletes from a Northwest Indiana area rich in basketball talent.

"The challenge I see is to get the program established in the community, so that they can see what we're doing here," Chism said. "We want this program to be a first choice for a lot of area athletes, and not just a backup plan. That comes from consistently winning and consistently putting out a good product. It also comes from getting your program out in the community."

Chism said community outreach was an important element of his program at College of Lake, and that he intends to make it so at IU Northwest, as well.

"We were taking our vision into the local churches and the grammar schools," he said. "These are the people in the community, and they have a great reach and a great hold on a lot of the young people out there. Instead of trying to get everybody to come to us, we take it to them."

As a seasoned coach and recruiter, Chism understands the challenge of selling local athletes on the rewards and advantages of local college sports. But he said IU Northwest has plenty to offer students who suit up for the RedHawks.

"An IU degree is a big selling point," he said. "Your degree from here says ‘Indiana University.' That's important.

"I always try to get young people to look at what's really best for them," Chism explained. "Not what will seem the best to their friends. Not whether it sounds good to say that you went away to college. Does it sound good to say that you went away to school, but you went there and sat on the bench? Did your academics suffer because you (only) went there to play basketball?

"Give our program a look," he said. "You might see that there is an opportunity for you not only to get on the floor more, but also to play in a community of people who know you and support you. And you're still playing big-time basketball at a big-time program, and you're getting a big-time diploma."

Chism takes over a team that should return a number of role players but that will miss graduating stars Pete Trgovich III and Jesse Howell. Trgovich III led the NAIA in scoring last season with 27.9 points per game and finished his career with more than 1,800 points. Howell scored more than 1,000 points in his IU Northwest career and set a new NAIA Division II record for free-throws made in a single game.

Guards who can score are important to have, Chism said, but topping his list of needs for next season is a legitimate post player. Not an easy find at the NAIA level, but he plans to start looking. Chism emphasized that he believes in team basketball and said that he will give as much care to recruiting his bench as his starting five.

"Most teams at this level will have two guys who can really score," he said. "But when those guys have to come out, who do you have on your bench who can come in and do the job? If you don't have a strong bench, you won't go very far."

As to his preferred style of play, Chism said he likes to run an up-tempo scheme at both ends that forces his players and his opponents to work and hustle on every possession.

"Ninety feet of heat, that's what I call it," he said. "It's just about disruption, about havoc, about pressing the whole game, about our guys being in better shape than our opponents, getting deflections, getting on the floor, getting loose balls. As a coach on the other side, you're going to need a couple of press-breakers. You're going to need a couple of different zone offenses. Whatever you worked on during the week, you're not going to get to run it the night we play you.

"It's an exciting brand of basketball that I think kids like, but I also think fans like it," the coach explained. "Walking the ball up the floor is fine, some people do that. But we try to push it up the floor and get the easiest basket we can get. But my teams are also able, if we don't get that, to run our half-court offense and execute."

While he expects his teams to execute on the court, Chism said he demands that same discipline in the classroom. Chad Good, director of athletics for College of Lake County, attested to Chism's commitment to his players' education.

"He's a guy that preaches academics first," Good said. "How you behave off the court is held in high regard by Coach Chism. He's kind of old school. He's a disciplinarian, but he's not mean about it. But he is all about making sure the players are doing the work in class, and that they're not getting into trouble off the court.

"He's going to make sure the players represent IU Northwest well."

Good also praised Chism's work turning around College of Lake's men's program during his six-season tenure there.

"He came to a pretty downtrodden program here, and when he left we were third in the nation," Good said. "He's a guy who does know how to build a program from the ground up."

Media Contact:

Christopher Sheid
OMC
219-980-6802
ccsheid@iun.edu