Peter Goff said he never could have predicted the events of the past 2½ weeks.

A process that began with a text message from University of Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber has culminated in the 41-year-old Goff leaving his hometown of Sterling/Rock Falls to become the next boys basketball coach at Bloomington High School.

Goff, who has been boys basketball coach at Sterling High School the past nine seasons including six as head coach, said Thursday he has accepted the job to lead the Purple Raiders program. He replaces Jamie Codron, who resigned after three seasons.

BHS athletic director John Szabo said the hire would not become official until approved by the school board during the May 27 meeting.

Peter Goff

Goff compiled a 103-74 record in six seasons as Sterling's head coach. The Golden Warriors won the NCIC's Reagan Division the past two seasons.

"If you would have told me 2½ weeks ago that this would happen, I would have called you a liar," Goff said. "But I've had 100,000 people in the last 48 hours tell me what a great area Bloomington-Normal is. I can't say enough about the people that I've met there already."

Goff, who initially became fond of Bloomington-Normal when he brought his teams here to play in the State Farm Holiday Classic, said he was unaware BHS had an opening until being alerted via text message from Weber. Goff and Weber met through one of Weber's assistants who worked under Weber while he was head coach at SIU.

"Coach Weber sends me a text one day out of the blue," Goff said. "He said, 'It's a great job, look into it.' "

Goff is a 1992 graduate of SIU and holds master's degrees from Northern Illinois and National-Louis universities.

His first head coaching job was at tiny Ashton-Franklin Center co-op, where he went 40-37 in three seasons.

He graduated from Rock Falls High School in 1986 and played for two seasons under Cal Hubbard, a former longtime coach at University High.

"Coach Hubbard is one of the main reasons I am who I am today," Goff said.

Sterling athletic director Nathan DeLany said Goff is an energetic, tireless worker.

"The kids at Bloomington High School are going to like him," DeLany said. "He really is passionate about what he does, and he cares about the kids."

Goff said his coaching style is flexible based on the skills and talent of his players.

"You put in a basic offense, and then you play to your players' strengths," Goff said. "Our kids will play hard and act as gentlemen. I hold my kids to a high standard. I've had some great athletes here, but they couldn't make it with us because they made some mistakes off the court."

Goff's family will continue to live and go to school in Sterling through the Christmas and New Years holidays.

He and his wife, Molly, are parents to three daughters. Sophie will be a senior at Sterling and is captain of the girls swim team. She is scheduled to graduate after the fall semester. Chloe will be in sixth grade, and Emma is a student at the University of Iowa.