A Titan fit: Ralston to Glenbrook S.
Geneva became an unlikely powerhouse during Phil Ralston’s nine- year tenure as coach. The Vikings posted five consecutive 20- win seasons and finished fourth in Class 4A in 2015.
But the wins don’t tell the entire story. Ralston, along with his fellow Upstate Eight River coaches, helped turn the Tri- Cities into a basketball hotbed thanks to a fanfriendly, uptempo style of play.
Ralston has left Geneva to take over Glenbrook South’s program. The Titans finished 9- 18 last season and haven’t been a notable team since Jack Cooley graduated in 2009.
Ralston coached at Grant for 11 years before arriving at Geneva in 2008. He isn’t the typical highschool basketball coach. There was a quote from Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson in the news release announcing his departure. Ralston also posted a letter on Twitter thanking the Geneva community and saying goodbye.
Geneva’s feeder program is strong, but it will be difficult for Ralston’s successor to match his achievements. He was 19377 in nine seasons and won the conference three times.
“I had always thought I would finish my teaching and coaching career at Geneva, but sometimes an opportunity comes along that you simply can’t refuse,” said Ralston, a Glenbrook North grad. “Glenbrook South is one of the few places that could have enticed me to leave Geneva. Glenview is a fantastic community, and GBS has a reputation as a great place to teach. The school’s athletic facilities are top- notch, and I’ve been very impressed with the school leadership. The team plays in the Titandome, which is one of the most unique and top venues in the state.”
The silly season
The spring transfer market was much slower than usual. The two biggest moves benefitted Curie. The Condors picked up sophomore guard Marquise Walker from St. Joseph and 6- 5 junior Jayden Gasby from Urban Prep- Englewood.
Walker had an up- and- down season but led the Chargers to Peoria as a freshman. Gasby’s transfer is a significant blow to UP- Englewood. The Lions were expected to take a major step forward next season behind Gasby and guard Fred Cleveland. They finished 16- 10 last season.
Devonire Glass, a 6- 6 junior, is back at Simeon. Glass transferred to Simeon from Gary as a freshman. He sat out the entire regular season and then played with the sophomore team in the city playoffs. He spent this season at Wasatch Academy in Utah.
Simeon coach Robert Smith had high hopes for Glass two years ago. He could provide the Wolverines with a nice boost of size. Simeon was already the runaway choice for preseason No. 1 honors, this just stacks the deck a little more in the Wolverines favor.
Underwood off and running
New Illinois coach Brad Underwood was busy during the April evaluation period. The Illini made offers to several local players, including Morgan Park’s Ayo Dosunmu and Simeon’s Talen Horton- Tucker. He also moved early to make offers to freshmen DJ Steward of Fenwick and Nimari Burnett of Morgan Park.
Underwood also made offers to a slew of out- of- state players last week. It’s a significant departure from John Groce’s strategy of making offers only to select talents.
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