A few coaches worth crowning
Smith, Heidkamp among contenders for honor this year
Although state tournament runs should factor in, there are already a number of boys basketball Coach of the Year candidates throughout the area — both familiar names and past winners, along with some underappreciated coaches who are now getting their due:
Robert Smith, Simeon
Huge expectations surrounded a handful of teams when the season began. However, one lived up to the hype more than any other. But that’s what having a seasoned pro on the bench will do for you.
Smith, the retiring Wolverines coach, surpassed 500 career wins as his team spent most of the season ranked No. 1 and recently capped off the regular season with a city championship. Naysayers will always point to the talent Smith has at Simeon. But there are teams with more talent than Simeon has on paper, and Smith has consistently been able to navigate and right a ship.
Gene Heidkamp, Benet
Heidkamp is simply one of the elite coaches in Illinois, and he’s in the picture again this season with a Redwings team that was ranked in the preseason and had visions of playing in Champaign. But Benet fared even better than expected, going 28-1 and beating Joliet West, Kenwood and other powerful teams along the way. And Benet and Heidkamp did it with small college basketball prospects and Niko Abusara, who’s headed to Dartmouth as Benet’s first Ivy Leaguer.
Nick Latorre, Hinsdale Central
The Red Devils are one victory from tying the school record for most wins in a season, won the West Suburban Silver Conference championship and earned a No. 2 sectional seed. Latorre has led this senior-dominated group to the program’s best season in 25 years. Now 28-3, Hinsdale Central hasn’t lost since mid-December — a 20-game winning streak — after beginning the season unranked and climbing into the top 10.
And this was all accomplished after 6-9 forward Matas Buzelis, currently one of the top five senior prospects in the country, left the program following his sophomore year.
Don Houston, Hillcrest
The perennial south suburban power lost two Division I prospects who transferred out of the program. The lost talent and the timing would cripple most teams.
But Houston didn’t miss a beat. The Hawks, playing as a cohesive group, are 25-3, having emerged as the best team in the south suburbs and a legitimate threat in Class 3A. They’re the top seed in their own sectional.
Brian Hynes, Marist
The least-known name on this list deserves a whole lot of recognition after a breakout season. Hynes, a Marist graduate who was an assistant under former coach Gene Nolan from 2007 to 2018, has revitalized the program in his second season in charge, turning a mix of seniors and promising younger players into one of the biggest surprises of the season.
With several freshmen and sophomores playing key roles, Marist is 23-7, ranked in the top 20 and just behind Benet in second place in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
The RedHawks nearly upset highly ranked rival Brother Rice, losing 49-48, and have earned a top-four seed in the tough St. Rita Sectional.