During an amazing season for the IU South Bend women’s basketball team, coach Steve Bruce drew some attention in the spotlight – earning his 300th career win.
“Coaches get more credit than they deserve when it comes to winning,” Bruce said. “The players win games. My job is to put them in a position to be successful and create the right environment for them to be who they can be. As a consequence of that, you can do the addition and get to 300 games.”
He has been at the helm of the Titan team since 2006. While he is humbled in the shadow of his achievement, the road to that achievement has not taken all the turns you may expect.
From a young age, Bruce thought he wanted to be a football coach. In fact, he started his career in that sport as a graduate assistant at Ohio Wesleyan University. That led to a job at Morehead State University in Kentucky and eventually to a high school in Bowling Green. He was an assistant football coach for 14 years, but something new entered the picture at the same time.
“They needed a freshman boys basketball coach and that moved me into the basketball loop,” Bruce said, adding over the next few years, the girls basketball coach sought out his help.
“I was semi-losing interest in football, so it was an unplanned change to boys basketball and then an unplanned change to girls basketball,” he joked.
After several years at the high school, Bruce was approached to become the assistant coach at Valparaiso University.
“Our team had a lot of success there, but I started to explore head coaching opportunities. This was one of the places (IU South Bend) I applied to and ended up getting the job here,” he said.
Eighteen years later, he has no intention of making another change.
“The people here that I’ve crossed paths with have been so welcoming. It has always felt like this was the right spot for me,” Bruce said.
And he’s hoping to continue to build on the successes of this past season.
“The more you win, the more pressure there is to win. That’s the albatross you carry around with you, but we wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said. “I’m grateful to have achieved (300 wins), but I’m hoping it’s more of a consequence of doing things the right way.