Consider the case of Grant High basketball coach John Eiduke.
He played basketball for Grant High in the 1990s, and eventually worked his way back home, so to speak, where, for the last seven years, he served as coach of Grant High's sophomore boys basketball team.
That would, you would guess, make him a solid candidate to become Grant High's varsity boys basketball coach, if/when veteran coach Phil Ralston dedided it was time to move on.
Alas for John, the coach of Grant High's varsity GIRLS basketball team, Phil Oeffling, stepped down in the early spring, creating an opening.
Eiduke, ever qualified, was hired as the rock-solid choice to take over the Bulldogs' girls varsity program.
Alas, two months later, Ralston announced he was leaving his Grant varsity BOYS basketball job to take the same position at Geneva High. That created an opening that, if it had been there two months earlier, you have to wonder if Eudike wouldn't have been the perfect fit for the BOYS program.
But because he just got the girls job, he obviously couldn't even be considered for the boys job, which should be filled soon.
If the coaching vacancies had occurred in a different order ...
As they say, timing is everything.
Boys basketball: June 2008 Archives
When Warren High played in a boys basketball tournament last weekend in Champaign, two veteran viewers of the sport had vastly different opinions of how Blue Devil senior star Brandon Paul will fit in at the collegiate level (he's committed to the University of Illinois).
One thought he was the best player on the court on a day when prep stars were all over the court. The other thought he would never fit in at the next level.
The truth? Obviously, time will tell.
The good news for Brandon is that he has a true position -- "2" guard. The better news is he can shoot the rock from 3-point distance and he can also beat a defender on the dribble/drive to the bucket.
What remains to be seen is whether he can guard any "2" guards at the Big Ten level. His high school coach -- Chuck Ramsey -- is a defensive-minded coach and it will be interesting to see if Brandon becomes the basketball version of a "lock-down corner" in football. That is, the guy he's guarding -- a Ben Brust from Mundelein, for example,-- can't get open to get any shots off.
In other words, it won't be the points Brandon's scoring this winter that will be worth paying attention to. It will be the number of points scored by the guy he's guarding. Because at the Big Ten level, he's going to have to guard the best if he expects to play.
College of Lake County has hit the motherload in terms of it Tuesday night prep boys basketball league. The field includes Zion-Benton, Warren, Waukegan, North Chicago, Libertyville, Lakes and Grayslake Central.
Play begins a week from Tuesday, with action going on from 5-10 p.m. each game night.
As for what to watch for, keep your eye out for players you DON'T recognize.
For example, is there a 6-foot-6 rebounder anywhere on the court for either North Chicago or Waukegan ... two teams that desperately need a tall, inside presence?
Summer league is the first time for players we're not familiar with to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
In The Locker Room, of course, we'll be watching closely.
