Coleman retiring with a lot of wins on, off court
North Chicago boys basketball games will look different next season without Gerald “King” Coleman on the bench.
But Coleman, who has been the face of the Warhawks for two decades, isn’t focused on his accomplishments or even his team’s fortunes as he nears retirement.
“How I want to be remembered is not by wins and losses, but by the success of our student-athletes and what they’re doing today in life,” he said. “It’s not our goal to win regionals or sectionals. We tell them that basketball will come to an end, but you can’t take away academic success and a degree.”
That approach has made Coleman a beloved figure among players in North Chicago’s program. It was easy to embrace for Coleman, who was once in their shoes.
Before Coleman ever picked up a whistle, he was a prolific scorer for the Warhawks. He helped North Chicago reach a Class AA supersectional and set a program record with 26 wins in 1971-72. That record stood until Coleman’s 2012-13 team went 28-4.
The supersectional was the final game of Coleman’s high school career. North Chicago lost to Evanston when Joe Wharton, who was the Warhawks’ coach for two seasons in the late 1980s, scored the winning points at the free-throw line.
“I’ll never forget that game,” Coleman said I can play it back in my head quarter by quarter. Games like those stick with you. But the years go by fast.”
Coleman played college basketball at Northern Illinois and Wisconsin-Whitewater and then played professionally in Europe before returning home to begin giving back.
After coaching in area youth leagues, Coleman became North Chicago’s girls basketball coach and held that job for eight years. He took over the boys basketball program in 2005.
Coleman said his current team is one of his favorites. Winning hasn’t been easy for the Warhawks (2-26, 2-10), who are in seventh place in the Northern Lake County Conference, but Coleman cites success elsewhere. He noted that a majority of the players on the roster earned “academic all-star shooting shirts” to wear during warmups. He also said the players are fun to be around.
“We’re fighters, and we want to win,” senior point guard Jabbari Sparkman said. “But I honestly feel that he cares more about making a difference in our lives. That outweighs the basketball side.”
Of course, North Chicago has won a lot of games over the years with Coleman as coach. He came into the season with 298 victories, 10 regional titles and seven sectional titles. The 2012-13 team was part of a four-year run that included 95 wins, four sectional titles, and fourth-place and second-place finishes in Class 3A in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, respectively.
Coleman said the 2010-11 team is his most memorable, in large part because the Warhawks entered the playoffs with a 12-13 record and then won five straight games to advance to state.
“That team really bought into what we were teaching as the season went on,” Coleman said. “Every game in the playoffs, we upset someone. To see it all come together like that was a beautiful thing.”
The leading scorer in 2011 was then-junior Aaron Simpson, who later played at DePaul and coached under Coleman from 2019 to 2021. Simpson remembers a practice drill that involved Coleman putting eight players on defense against the starters to simulate a toughto-crack full-court press.
Simpson said he also appreciated the way Coleman treated his players.
“A lot of coaches just stick with X’s and O’s, but he allowed his players to grow and be themselves on the court,” Simpson said. “He always had your back, always asking about what’s going on in your household. There was a real family feeling.”
That makes sense, given that Coleman’s wife, Cheryl, has been by his side throughout his coaching tenure. They met in kindergarten and have been married for almost 50 years.
Cheryl Coleman is a big part of the program too. Gerald and Cheryl Coleman are both listed as North Chicago’s coaches in the boys basketball records on the Illinois High School Association’s website. Teachers of players who weren’t meeting expectations knew to call Cheryl Coleman to get things turned around.
“She’s a real student of the game, doing a lot of the game planning,” Gerald Coleman said. “We were married in July, so we’ve always celebrated our anniversaries in gyms.”
There is one exception to that tradition. Cheryl Coleman planned a two-week cruise for their 40th anniversary. But every other year, and every other day that the Colemans’ class was in session, it didn’t feel like work anyway.
“When you love what you do and you feel like you’re making an impact on people’s lives, it’s not a sacrifice,” Cheryl Coleman said. “The only regret is that we maybe didn’t get through to everyone. But it’s been a great run.”