Reporter's notebook from Braidwood is still overflowing

Well, summer shootout basketball season has come to a close in the area. Congratulations to Moline, North Lawndale and O'Fallon for winning the Morris Ladies, Braidwood Boys and Morris Boys Shootouts, respectively. Also, while I am dishing it to those who are deserving, a special thanks to the guys at Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye for helping me sort through the who's who of these local tournaments even before they started. Their site can be located at www.ilprepbullseye.com if you are interested in the high school basketball scene.

There were so many story lines to follow at the Braidwood Shootout this year, especially with a local slant. Russell Witte taking over at Seneca for Doug Evans, Dwight getting set to name coach Chris Gibson its new coach, Matt Hines leaving Coal City for Wilmington, the growth of the Mitch Hamann coaching tree ... and on and on.

Below is a gaggle of information that I gleaned out of the Braidwood Shootout and condensed by topic for you to enjoy.


Yorkville coach Jerry Farber on the formation of the new Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference.

"That's one of those things that has been talked about for years," Farber said. "All of the schools are going to be close as far as enrollment goes and I think you'll see more balance, which will close the gap for everyone. I think it's good for all the sports."


Seneca junior Eric Adkins on the similarities between Evans and Witte and what Witte expects

"Both are intense people but both ask you to play hard all the time," Adkins said. "(Witte) expects everyone listen and pay attention. He wants to you do what you are told like any other coach would."

Coal City coach Chris Spencer on how it feels to be one of the most experienced coaches in the Interstate Eight Conference after the league replaced 5 of the coaches.

"I've been here watching the Interstate Eight action for the last 12 years. I laugh because it seems strange. When you look at the coaches we've lost, they are very good coaches," Spencer said. "You really learn from guys like Evans and (Mark) Porter and (Ron) Oloffson. It has been nice to be around those guys and to pick their brains. Yeah, we've lost some very good coaches this year."


Witte on what made Evans successful.

"I grew up in southern Illinois and I can remember the days when the Aubry brothers (Mark and Jason) played on that state team. I also coached against him at Hall. I've been around enough to know that he is probably one of the top five prep coaches ever," Witte said. "It's his attention to details that made Seneca so great. That and the consistency in the coaching staff. Until recently, when Brad Tomhave left for Pittsfield and Shane Trager left for (Plainfield) East, his staff was together for a long time.

"One of the other things I admired about Doug is that he always had everyone they played scouted," he added. "You always knew he had the teams they were going to play in the state playoffs scouted."

Witte on the future of the Seneca program

"I think we have a great freshman class and the eighth graders at Seneca, Mazon and Milton Pope are a good group, too. But it's all up to this year's team. They are going to be the ones who set the example for the program if we want to be successful," Witte said. "They are the ones that will have to let the younger guys know that basketball can be intense, but at the end of the day they will also be telling them that they were glad to be here."


New Herscher coach Todd Schwarzkopf on the turnover of coaches in the I-8 and the high expectations that go with replacing Oloffson.

"There have been a lot of guys who have put in a lot of years and time who won't be back. When you have five of 12 new coaches, that's quite a turnover."

"There are a lot of expectations ... We have a lot of kids coming back. I feel thankful that I have a good group coming in but with that comes great expectations. Hopefully we'll live up to those.


Matt Hines on taking the head coaching position in Wilmington

 "It would have been my seventh year coaching at Coal City. I coached everything but varsity there," Hines said. "The first year I coached freshman and the next two the sophomores. When I saw the opening, I took a chance."

A 1999 Coal City graduate, Hines now teaches PE and drivers ed at Wilmington. He went to Illinois State University and Olivet Nazarene and he also played minor league baseball for both the Twins and Cubs organizations.

Hines also enjoyed talking about the years he worked for coach Hamann and Spencer.

"Chris still runs his stuff and I do a little," Hines said of the influence of Hamann. "I learned a lot from Mitch in the four years I was with him. He's a great guy to work for."