Mark Rinehart is leaving the Cape Coral High boys’ basketball program, according to an email sent Wednesday by athletic director Ashley Thompson.

Rinehart has taken the head coaching position at William Henry Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Ind.

“My family and I were very happy here, it is a great situation,” said Rinehart. “I was always extremely well supported by the administration. It was a very emotional decision to have to leave.”

Rinehart replaces a coach with a very successful 19 years at Harrison.

“When the job came open their AD knew someone who knew me,” said Rinehart. “It is a good situation for our family, but it’s a whole other world in a high-level league. It’s exciting professionally because of the importance those people put on it, but I’ve been around enough to go into it with eyes open. There are D-1 players at almost every school in the league.”

Rinehart starts his new position in June when he travels to West Lafayette to run a camp at the school.

He leaves the Seahawks after five seasons in which he compiled a 58-72 record and was nemed Coach of the Year in 2008-09 by the Southwest Florida Coaches Association after the Seahawks compiled a 17-11 record.

“Commitment, hard work and unselfishness were the ideals that (Rinehart) instilled in his players and within his program at CCHS,” Thompson wrote in her e-mail. “Coach Rinehart will be sincerely missed. The Seahawk family wishes Mark and his family the best in their new jobs and new home in West Lafayette, Ind.”

The Seahawks will have five players with varsity experience returning next season, including two of the team’s three leading scorers.

“I think it is on a strong foundation,” said Rinehart. “With the freshmen coming back to be sophomores, they are going to be successful. It is a great situation with the support of the administration and I think they will attract a coach that will keep them competitive.”

Rinehart began his coaching career at Ashland University (1996-00), Cochise College (2000-03) and Southern Utah University before becoming head coach of the Seahawks in 2006.