Former men’s basketball player Ronald Nored is one senior who knows what he will be doing after graduation next month.

Nored was named the next head basketball coach of Brownsburg High School’s boys’ basketball team last week.

Nored is replacing Josh Kendrick, who coached the team for eight seasons.

He was approved by Brownsburg’s school board last Wednesday and met with his new team shortly afterward.

“[Brownsburg] is a great community and a great place,” Nored said. “I’m excited to get the opportunity to build a program and be a head coach.”

Nored said Brownsburg Superintendent of Schools Jim Snapp approached him about the position and that he realized it was something he wanted to do after being interviewed.

Brownsburg athletic director Greg Hill said that Nored was chosen from a pool of approximately 50 candidates.

“You can’t live in Central Indiana without knowing about his success,” Hill said. “We knew we had an opening, and we discovered he was the right guy.”

Hill said that Nored was given a one-year contract, which is typical for high school coaches.

Other details of the contract were not disclosed.

Hill said one of the key reasons behind Nored’s hiring was his time spent at Butler.

“The culture that seems to be prevalent in the Butler Way would work here,” Hill said. “We’re hoping he picked up a little of the temperament of [Butler] coach [Brad] Stevens.”

Bringing a different culture to Brownsburg is something that Nored said he will be focusing on.

“We want to establish a culture of excellence like we have at Butler,” Nored said. “Being the best we can be is really important to me.”

Nored will be filling the shoes of a man who led the team to a Class 4A state championship title in 2008.

The player who hit the winning shot for Brownsburg in the final game that season was Gordon Hayward, who played alongside Nored at Butler for two seasons.

Nored said the Utah Jazz forward’s opinion factored into his decision.

“I talked with Gordon about it, and he would’ve told me if it was a good place or not,” Nored said.

Each of the three seasons following the state championship run has resulted in a losing record for the school though.

This is something that Nored said he hopes to turn around, although it is not his only priority.

“I also want to focus on academics and push the kids with that,” Nored said. “I want guys to have a fun experience at Brownsburg.”

In a press release, Stevens said that Nored was “an absolute joy to coach,” adding that he is “very intelligent and has a high level of passion for the game.”

Likewise, Nored had only positive things to say about Stevens.

“What I’ve learned from coach Stevens is something I can use in my coaching,” Nored said. “I want our program to be run on the same principles.”

Junior center Andrew Smith played with Nored for three seasons and said that Nored has what it takes to coach a team.

“I’m just really happy for Ron,” Smith said. “He’s a leader and a really hard worker, and he’s proven that his whole life.”

Nored’s hiring has been met with excitement by those in and around Brownsburg.

“There is a lot of positive buzz in the community,” Hill said. “It has had a nice effect on the entire school community, and we’re anxious to see him in action.”

While the Brownsburg job may be the first of many for Nored, he said he is not thinking about possible future positions right now.

“My goal is to be at Brownsburg,” Nored said.