Chance meeting in hospital leads to two Indiana high school coaches teaming up in Iowa

It was April of 2020, the dark days of the pandemic, when Garrett Winegar and J.R. Howell’s lives really intertwined for the first time.

They were both high school basketball coaches then – Winegar at Warren Central and Howell an assistant at Carmel. They were both on the bench in 2018 (Winegar was an assistant) when Warren Central defeated Carmel in the Class 4A state finals.

Winegar and Howell crossed paths in the hallway of Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Carmel. Their wives, Sable Winegar and Kate Howell, were just two doors down from each other at the hospital, there to give birth to their first-born sons.

Garrett Winegar (left) and J.R. Howell with their sons, Guyton Winegar and Jack Howell, at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Carmel in April of 2020.

Winegar and Howell ran into each other in the hallway on the way to the cafeteria. A friendship, along with Jack Howell and Guyton Winegar, was born.

“We’ve been friends ever since,” Howell said.

Which leads to six years later. Winegar, a state championship coach at Fishers, left the program last month to take a position at Iowa United Prep in Des Moines, where he will coach the “Orange” Team made up of freshmen and sophomores. Former Indiana guard Keith Smart is the coach of the “Black” team of seniors and juniors that plays on Nike EYBL Scholastic circuit.

After solidifying his spot on the Iowa United Prep staff, Winegar reached out to Howell to gauge his interest in joining the staff as his assistant.

“I didn’t know if we would do it,” Winegar said. “It’s a big move.”

It took a little time, but Howell decided the time and place was right. He informed his team at Zionsville on Tuesday morning that he was stepping down after six seasons at the helm.

Next stop: Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’ve been friends with Garrett for a while now and we’ve had some other connections that have bonded us since then,” Howell said. “This opportunity presented itself and it was intriguing for me to grow as a coach and a person.”

Howell said his goal when he started coaching was to progress into college coaching. This move could put him into better position to make that jump eventually. Howell, who was 77-62 at Zionsville, has coached previously at Caston (2013-15) and Western Boone (2015-17) before a three-year tenure as an assistant for Ryan Osborn at Carmel that included a state title in 2018-19.