By Casey Roehl

Bloomington, IN.—The Indiana University Men’s Ice Hockey program has hired assistant coach Andrew Newman to serve as head coach for the 2018-19 season.

Newman, 24, was a member of the IU Hockey program as a player in 2013-16 and served as an interim assistant coach last season after former head coach Clint Hagmaier was released in November.

“He has a good vision for the organization,” said IU Team President Cameron McNamara. “As a former player, there’s a sense of familiarity with the program… we believe that he’ll help lead the program back to where it was.”

IU finished 7-23-1 last season, including a 1-11-1 record against Great Midwest Hockey League opponents.

The Hoosiers were 5-12 with Newman as a member of the interim coaching staff.

“We got a lot of guys coming back and we’re looking like we’re going to build off our improvement from last season,” Newman said. “With the team, we have right now, playoffs are a reachable goal.”

Newman becomes the program’s fourth coach since IU returned to Division II play in the Great Midwest Hockey League in 2015.

IU opens up the 2018-19 season against Maryville University on September 14th in St. Louis.