Wayer, 28, graduated from Mt. Vernon, not Fishers. But Wayer spent three years as an assistant boys’ basketball coach for the Tigers, an experience that helped lead him to become the next coach for the program.
Wayer was officially introduced as Fishers’ new coach at Wednesday night’s school board meeting. Wayer was an assistant for Garrett Winegar at Fishers for three years before taking the head coaching position at Greenfield-Central last year and leading the inexperienced Cougars to a 12-12 record.
While there are “mixed emotions” about leaving Greenfield-Central after one season, the opportunity to coach at Fishers again was worth exploring after former coach Garrett Winegar departed Fishers to take a position at Iowa United Prep.
“Fishers is home for me and my family,” Wayer said. “We built those relationships with the Greenfield kids. A lot of the Fishers’ kids I’ve known since they were coming to our youth camps. Cooper (Zachary) is a kid I’ve bene around since he was in the fifth or sixth grade. But what motivated me was the opportunity to go back after being under Garrett and knowing I’d try to come in and do my best to keep that culture going.”
Fishers is 83-3 the past three seasons, including a Class 4A state championship with Wayer on staff in 2023-24. The following season, the Tigers were 30-0 before losing by one point to Jeffersonville in the state championship game.
Wayer said he is “honored” to be put in charge of a program that has been at the top of 4A for much of the past three years.
“Coach Winegar did a really good job of preparing me for this job and really preparing me for the Greenfield job last year,” Wayer said. “It’s a blessing to me at this age to have the opportunity to coach at a program like Fishers.”
The Tigers will lose some key pieces to graduation going into next year, including the frontcourt of Indiana All-Star Kai McGrew (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rebounds) and Ethan Hillsman (11.2 ppg, 3.8 rebounds). But if the returning group, led by juniors Jason Gardner Jr. (20.3 ppg, 5.4 rebounds in seven games), Zachary (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists) and Levi Walker (9.4 ppg, 3.4 rebounds), all come back, the Tigers should again be among the best teams in the state.
Wayer thanked the Greenfield-Central staff, including athletic director Jared Manning, Elizabeth Mercer, Dan Walbaum and Harold Olin for taking a chance on him as a first-time head coach. “I learned a lot,” he said, “and it is all thanks to them for giving me an opportunity. Along with the Greenfield community for welcoming us.”
Greenfield-Central, which has already hired previous coach Luke Meredith as Wayer’s replacement, was almost completely lacking varsity experience going into last season after the graduation of a senior class that included 2025 Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins and a senior class that led the Cougars to a 23-4 season.
Under Wayer, Greenfield-Central finished with four consecutive wins before a loss to eventual state champion Mt. Vernon in the sectional championship. Mullins’ brothers, seniors Clay and Cole, had breakout senior seasons.
“I think it helps a lot,” Wayer said of having a year of experience as a head coach. “You can never be fully prepared. When I talked to Travis Daugherty (Wayer’s coach at Mt. Vernon), he told me, ‘You’ll never turn it off (when you are the head coach). I was able to feel that this year. Fishers will be loaded with talent but being at Greenfield really taught me that if you develop and put together a team, you can be successful. It was a complete rebuild and some people in the building thought we might win six or seven games. Overall, it was a great experience that helped prepare me for this job. It’s given me for confidence to prepare for this job.”
There are high expectations at Fishers. Wayer knows that as well as anyone. But he is not ducking the pressure.
“Pressure is a privilege,” he said. “It’s an exciting thing to have that pressure, but you also have to go out and earn it. Every night for the three years I was there, we knew we had the target on our back, and we’d have to come out ready to work. It feels like Fishers has become a basketball school, which makes it exciting. The culture is outstanding and the expectations are high. That is exciting for me to be a part of that.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Former assistant Miles Wayer tabbed to lead Fishers