Paradise instilling passion into his Marmion program
Ryan Paradise is not a teacher at Marmion. But he plays one on the basketball court.
The Cadets’ first-year coach sprinkles his conversation with words such as “teach,” “establish,” and “develop.”
The main duty of a freshman basketball coach is instruction, and he taught enough for them to go 16-7 last year. Promoted this summer to replace varsity head coach Rashon Burno, who accepted an assistant’s position at Towson University, the teaching will continue.
“We hope to establish just a certain energy and passion about our basketball program,” said Paradise, a star guard at Naperville Central, Class of 2003, whose career at Northern Illinois University was plagued by injuries that forced him to hang it up.
“In our first week of practice we had kind of a newfound energy. The guys were really excited to put in the work and that’s something we’re going to be doing all year... put out a fun product to watch, not to mention playing out on the court.”
It may take time. Paradise is hoping senior Nick Scoliere and Grant Wilson, the post player at 6-foot-4, will set a gritty tone. Presently they’re playing on Marmion’s football team that’s in Saturday’s Class 6A semifinals.
From last year’s freshman team Paradise will raise sophomores Alex Theisen and Colin Kavanaugh to varsity, where they’ll join a group that includes sharpshooter Eddie Grahovec and Steve Bryant, who missed last year with an injury.
As a junior last season Grahovec earned his stripes shooting 88 percent from the foul line and a fantastic 52 percent (31 of 60) of his 3-point shots. The guard is Marmion’s top returning scorer at 7.3 points per game, with Scoliere next at 5.1 points and senior forward Mark Berdelle at 4.4 points per game, all well off the 17.7 points plus 7.3 rebounds All-Area forward Mark Peters took to St. Xavier University.
Paradise can’t control the lack of height and size he sees. What he can control, he’ll work on. And teach.
“My goal is always to win a conference championship, and I believe our guys understand that,” Paradise said. “After that I want to develop guys that are dying to play basketball. I think we have that right now, but I want to increase their passion for the game.”
Quick facts
Coach: Ryan Paradise (first season)
Last year: 17-10, 5-3, second in Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division; lost 64-49 to Aurora Central Catholic in a Class 3A Aurora Central regional quarterfinal.
Players to watch: Mark Berdelle, sr., F; Steve Bryant, sr. G-F; Eddy Grahovec, sr., G; Nick Scoliere, sr., G; Eric Van Scoit, jr., G; Grant Wilson, sr., F-C.