Springboro basketball coach quits position
Coach resigns for ‘personal reasons’ after 13-12 season.
Mike Holweger resigns after four seasons with the Panthers, citing “personal reasons.”
Mike Holweger’s four-season run as Springboro High School boys varsity basketball coach has
ended. Athletic Director Austin Rhoads announced Holweger’s resignation Wednesday, citing “personal reasons.”
Springboro was 13-12 overall and 4-7 in the reconfigured debut of the Greater Western Ohio Con- ference National West. Holweger was 56-39 at Springboro.
He previously was the boys coach at Lebanon in 2005-06 and at Hamilton Township near Columbus for two more seasons. He also was a Springboro girls
assistant for current coach Tom Benjamin and an Alter boys assistant with former Knights coach Joe Petrocelli in a coaching career that spanned 24 seasons.
Holweger, 45, renewed stability in the Panthers program after being named the team’s third coach in 20 months in 2013.
That turnover began when Troy Holtrey wasn’t retained by the school board after 21 seasons following accusations of the mishandling of athletic funds. Former Springboro booster president Thomas Harves was indicted and charged with stealing nearly $500,000 over a 20-year period. Holtrey was cleared of any wrongdoing but lost his coaching position anyway.
Jay Byrne stepped up as the interim coach, vowing only to be in place for the 2012-13 season. Led by 6-foot11 senior Maverick Morgan, the Panthers were 22-5 that season, their fifth straight of winning or sharing the GWOC South title.
Holweger was promoted to head coach the following season and kept Byrne on the staff as an assistant. Both are Fenwick graduates.
“It was time,” Holweger said after landing the Panthers position. “The call to be a head coach has never been greater in me. This is one of the premier jobs in the area. I love the high expectations that go along with this job.”
Holweger’s best season at Springboro was in 201516 when the Panthers were 18-6, which was good for a three-way tie for the GWOC South title. Senior Drew Holweger, Mike’s son, led that team in scoring (18.8 points). Drew is playing baseball at Furman University.
Holweger’s resignation is believed to be the first among GWOC boys coaches following this past season. New GWOC boys coaches were in place at Greenville (Kyle Joseph) and Sidney ( John Willoughby) in 2016.
Holweger did not respond to requests for comment. The deadline to apply for the Springboro coaching position is April 26.