A bittersweet story: Round Lake's about to lose its Edge

He's up against vending machines as well as convenient and grocery stores and gas stations around seemingly every corner. All carry what he sells.

So Gary Edge needs an edge.

And he has it.

Known as the "Candy Man" at Round Lake Senior High School, according to his longtime assistant Doug Barnshaw, Edge has an incentive for Round Lake students to go to him to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Considering the school's large number of Hispanics, he, on occasion, will make a trip to a local Mexican grocery store and load up on Mexican candy, including those spicey-flavored kinds.

"I call it imported candy," Edge said with a smile.

He's got all kinds of candy.

"You name it," Edge said.

"He carries a candy bag around (at school)," Barnshaw said with a laugh.

Here's the really sweet part for Round Lake: Edge does it for the kids, specifically, members of his girls basketball program, of which he's relinquishing the reins at the end of this season, his 23rd as head coach.

Edge wants any Round Lake female student interested in playing basketball to get a taste of high school athletics, so he does all kinds of fundraising - like selling candy at school - so maybe players won't have to worry about being able to afford to play.

"We fundraise like crazy," Barnshaw said.

It's all about participation and doing well in school, and Edge is one of those coaches who understands that. As all candy is sweet, so are all seasons.

Coming off a 1-win season once, Edge politely disagreed when it was suggested it was a tough season.

He's won nearly 300 games at Round Lake, where he started teaching nearly 30 years ago, and has earned his share of hardware. The Panthers won Northwest Suburban Conference titles four times, and last season they captured their second North Suburban Conference Prairie Division crown under him.

He's directed the Panthers to a pair of regional championships, too.

"Coaching for him has been the best experience of my career," Barnshaw said. "He knows what it's all about, and he brings it with every team. It doesn't matter whether we've had great, talented teams or teams that were obviously lacking. We address the issues we have and we try to get the girls to play."

Edge knows it's a team game. He considers himself "very fortunate" to have worked with what he calls "great assistants" in Barnshaw, Doug Moss and Howard Conkling.

Edge has coached superstars, including Cindy Donner, Jenni Malueg and Labrenthia Murdock. He's also coached hundreds of girls who were less talented, who simply wanted to play. He gave them the opportunity.

"It's all about trying to be the best you can be," Edge said. "I think sometimes we get all messed up with the wins and losses and championships. It's just high school basketball, right?

"When we've had talent, I think we've maximized the talent that we had. We've had some very good teams over my long history, and we've won a lot of basketball games. I don't think we've ever been an elite team, but we've had some very good teams. Every group is exciting to work with."

It hasn't always been easy at Round Lake. Edge has seen the school experience its ups and downs, athletically and academically, and he yet he's always been proud to be a Panther.

"Over his career, he's gone through everything at Round Lake," Barnshaw said, "from the highs of when we really had things rolling and we were financially stable to where, financially, we were having huge problems and (the administration) was like, 'We're going to cut all sports.' He's stuck through the whole thing and battled through it. It's really a testament to him."

Edge's perspective had allowed him to persevere. He's understood what's important, with school ranking first and foremost.

During the summer, if girls are interested in playing basketball, Edge makes it easy for them. Girls have to pay only a minimum fee to participate.

"We've always tried to take away excuses or barriers to compete at our highest level," Edge said. "Over the past years, we've done it. We've went to team camps, we've went to summer leagues, we played at Lake Geneva and Zion, then we played down at Stevenson. Last year we were at Grayslake North."

He can go on, but he's made his point. He brushes off praise.

Round Lake has been lucky to have him.

"Working with him has been incredible," Barnshaw said. "I'm really going to miss him. To me, he's the definition of a hall-of-fame coach. He's done it on all ends. He's been with all different types of teams, and he's stuck by those teams."

BEGIN ATTRIBUTIONjaguilar@dailyherald.comEND ATTRIBUTION