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Like a lot of high school basketball coaches, John Handel spent a good chunk of his summer wrestling with the question of whether this is the right time to step away from coaching.

On an almost daily basis, the highly successful and respected coach at Elkhorn asked himself whether today was the day to make a decision, one way or another.

Earlier this week, the 1983 graduate of Badger High School made the call.

After 20 years of serving as a head varsity basketball coach -- three at Tomahawk and the past 17 at Elkhorn -- Handel told his players today that he is resigning as the Elks' coach.

"I wanted to see how the summer went and as I went through the summer -- and I think a lot of coaches go through this -- I woke up a bunch of times and said it was the right time," Handel said. "The other day, I decided to make it official.

"I'm looking forward to taking a year off and watching what some other coaches are doing. We also have some very good coaches in our system at Elkhorn who are ready to be a head coach."

Handel led Elkhorn to six Southern Lakes Conference championships during his 17 years as head coach, including a string of four in a row from 2002-06. His teams also finished second in the league three times.

Handel, who leared the game from former Badger coach Jerry Stelse and played on the Badgers' 1982 state-qualifying squad, preached team basketball and strong defense.

Though Elkhorn may have been outmatched physically in recent years, the Elks always made things tough on their opponents with their disciplined style of play.

Handel's best team at Elkhorn may have been in 2008-09 when Eric Bryson and Skyler O'Loughlin led the Elks to a 20-3 record.

Elkhorn came within an eyelash of advancing to the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament that season, but dropped a heart-breaking 66-62 double-overtime decision to Beloit Memorial in a sectional final.

During Handel's 17 seasons as head coach at Elkhorn, the Elks won 231 games against 154 defeats. Handel's overall coaching record, including his three years at Tomahawk, is 250-199.

"One of the reasons I decided now was a good time to step down had to do with my son (Connor)," Handel said. "He'll be a freshman at Elkhorn in the fall and now I can be just another dad watching his son play the game.

"I just wanted to turn the page and give my son some room."

Handel said he plans to remain heavily involved in basketball and remain one of the leaders of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.

"I will stay involved," he said. "This is just the right time to step down from coaching."

Elkhorn junior varsity coach Josh Skatrud, a former standout at Brodhead and UW-Parkside, figures to be among the leading candidates to replace Handel.