AS THE CAROUSEL TURNS

SMITH LEAVING SIMEON AFTER NEXT SEASON MIGHT BE BIGGEST COACHING NEWS, BUT THERE’S PLENTY MORE

2022-05-28 - BY JOE HENRICKSEN | @joehoopsreport

Robert Smith’s recent announcement that he’s leaving Simeon after next season hasn’t been the only high school coaching news in the Chicago area. Here’s a look at some other major changes:

HYDE PARK HIRES JERREL OLIVER

A familiar and respected name in high school basketball circles in the last decade, Jerrel Oliver is taking over for Jamere Dismukes as the head coach at Hyde Park.

Oliver was a longtime assistant at Curie and was instrumental in running and coaching Team Rose in grassroots basketball play in 2013-21.

Now he gets his shot at running his own program on the South Side, where neighborhood rival Kenwood has rekindled its program.

‘‘There is a rich tradition at the school, and it’s a school that has so much to offer,’’ Oliver said. ‘‘It’s in one of the best conferences in the state, academics are still taken seriously and the area has really been built up.’’

While Hyde Park is considered one of the plum jobs in the Public League, the head-coaching position has been a bit of a revolving door in the last decade. Oliver hopes to build continuity there, just as his uncle, Mike Oliver, did at Curie.

‘‘Like we had at Curie, the opportunity is there to take the program to another level, to take it to the top,’’ Oliver said. ‘‘It’s exciting to be at a place where, hopefully, you can be the first to accomplish some things there.’’

JASON TUCKER HEADS TO THE MID-SUBURBAN LEAGUE

Schaumburg landed a head coach with head-coaching experience.

Jason Tucker, who spent seven seasons as the head coach at Luther North, then four as the head coach at Taft in the Chicago Public League, takes over the Saxons’ program.

Tucker also recently worked as an assistant under coaching great Pat Ambrose at Stevenson.

Tucker replaces Wade Heisler, who stepped down in March after seven seasons as head coach.

CAN WARREN GET IT GOING AGAIN UNDER ZACK RYAN?

During Chuck Ramsey’s nearly two decades as their head coach, the Blue Devils averaged 21 victories. That included two state runner-up finishes to go with seven sectional titles and 14 regional championships.

Ramsey retired after the 2012 season, in which he won regional and sectional titles, and Warren hasn’t won a regional or put together a 20-victory season since.

Now it’s former Carmel head coach Zack Ryan’s turn to try to end that drought.

Ryan spent a couple of years as an assistant at Mundelein early in his career. While there, he went up against Warren in North Suburban Conference play and was intrigued by the history and success of the program under Ramsey.

‘‘For me, I loved my time at Carmel and felt like we were going in the good direction, but Warren was always one of those jobs you have an eye on,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘It’s just a great basketball job, not just in Lake County but in the state of Illinois.’’

Ryan will be the third head coach at Warren

since Ramsey built a powerhouse there. He heads to the Gurnee school as Carmel’s all-time winningest coach with 127 victories in eight seasons.

Ryan also led the Corsairs to three regional championships.

OTHER COACHING CHANGES IN THE AREA BUFFALO GROVE

Staying in the Mid-Suburban League, Buffalo Grove has hired Rolling Meadows assistant Kevin Geldon to replace Keith Peterson. Geldon spent the last eight seasons on Kevin Katovich’s staff and helped guide the Mustangs to a 53-15 record in the last three seasons.

MAINE WEST

The Maine West job has proved to be one of the tougher ones in the Chicago area in the last 25 years.

Tom Prokopij, who won 16 games in his first season and went 19-8 in his second, did a solid job in his six seasons but has stepped down.

Dan Paxson takes over after leading the Niles North girls program in 2007-22.

MAINE SOUTH

After two decades of Tony Lavorato running the Maine South program, where he turned the Hawks into perennial winners, Colin Wehman takes over.

Wehman is familiar with Maine South basketball and has family ties with the Park Ridge program. He played under Lavorato at the school, and a grandfather, Bernard ‘‘Bernie’’ Brady, was the first head coach in the history of the program.