Heisler, O'Keeffe chart their own routes to MSL head coaching spots
Wade Heisler and Mike O'Keeffe have taken different paths to their current dream jobs of coaching Mid-Suburban League boys basketball teams.
Heisler is the small-town kid from Warsaw, which is about five hours from Chicago and just north of Quincy along the Mississippi River. He's gone from playing at a school that won a Class A state championship, to coaching small-school boys and girls programs at Fairbury Prairie Central and Byron to now taking over a Schaumburg program that won the AA title in 2001.
"When I left being a head coach (at Byron) to come to Schaumburg, I thought it was a great opportunity with a great district," said Heisler, who has been at Schaumburg the last three years. "All the way around it's really a dream to coach basketball at such a high level.
"I always wanted to be a head coach again. I sleep, eat and breathe it, and it becomes part of who you are."
O'Keeffe is the local kid whose playing career at St. Viator included a dramatic shot at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic to help Joe Majkowski get his 300th career victory. Now he returns to the spot of that memorable moment to lead the Wildcats in his first head coaching job.
"As a kid starting in third grade, I would go to all of the Viator games and the Hardwood Classic to watch basketball," said O'Keeffe, who was an assistant at Wheeling for three years and the sophomore coach at Carmel last year. "At a young age I knew I wanted to be a high school basketball coach.
"Obviously it happened a lot quicker than I thought it would, but I would always keep my eye out for counseling openings and varsity (coaching) openings. Luckily they had both at Wheeling."
The good news for Heisler and O'Keeffe is their transitions have been aided by their familiarity with the kids in their programs.
Heisler was a varsity assistant for two years for Matt Walsh. Last year he worked at the freshman level for Marty Manning, who became the Saxons' athletic director.
"That has helped a ton," Heisler said. "One of the things is I know every kid in the program and Matt had me highly involved in a lot of areas."
O'Keeffe has been able to see the growth of some of his current players since their middle school days.
"The nice thing is I pretty much knew every kid," O'Keeffe said. "In the summer, pretty much the big question mark going in was to see how the kids had improved over the last couple of years.
"The offensive system we're running is a lot different, so it took a couple of weeks for the kids to start to get used to what we're preaching on a daily basis and what the expectations are, especially on the offensive end of the floor."
Both of them also feel good about the experience they have gained from some of the coaches they have been around.
O'Keeffe played for Majkowski, an Illinois High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer whose teams were renowned for their man-to-man defense. Clancy, former Viator all-area guard and head coach Mike Howland, former Viator all-area standout Mike Hare, Como and second-year Carmel coach Zach Ryan have also been very influential.
"They've been very positive influences and I would always pick their brain," O'Keeffe said. "I've stolen a lot from them, I guess you could say."
It's no different for Heisler since his brother Bill, who led Warsaw to the 1997 title, is starting his ninth year as Leyden's head coach. When Wade Heisler started coaching he lived in the basement of Mike Miller, who had state runner-up teams at Rockford Guilford in 1993 and Galesburg in 1998, spent a year at Elgin and is now at Rockton Hononegah. Walsh and Manning have also been excellent resources.
"I've been blessed to be around a lot of really, really successful guys," Heisler said. "It has opened a lot of doors. That's why I feel very ready to be in this position."
Heisler is ecstatic about the opportunity to open up against defending 3A champion St. Joseph and IHSA boys basketball career wins leader Gene Pingatore on Nov. 23 in the St. Charles East tournament. There is also an interesting matchup down the road on Feb. 20 when Leyden visits.
"I don't know if my mom thinks it will be fun," Heisler laughed about the sideline battle with his older brother. "It's one of those things that will be great as long as I win, and I'm sure Bill feels the same way. He couldn't have been a bigger help."
O'Keeffe also gets everything started on Nov. 23 when Wheeling plays in the Northridge Prep tournament. He thinks this is one of the more talented groups, including 6-foot-8 Chicago State commit Patrick Szpir, the school has had in recent years.
And O'Keeffe is getting used to his first taste of all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into building a program.
"I'm young, energetic and love what I'm doing," O'Keeffe said, "and I'm exactly where I want to be."
New jobs for Howland, Clancy: Former Daily Herald All-Area guards and area head coaches Mike Howland and John Clancy now have new college coaching jobs.
Howland is in his first year as Director of Basketball Operations at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. Howland, who played and coached at St. Viator, held the same position last year at Missouri State.
Clancy is in his first year as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois in Carbondale. The Buffalo Grove graduate was a head coach for two years at Wheeling and spent the last three years as an assistant coach at Niles North.
Congrats to Gummerson: Kevin Gummerson, a 1994 Schaumburg graduate, has continued the family legacy of coaching success in cross country and track and field at Minooka.
On Saturday, Gummerson led the Minooka girls team to its first cross country state title in the Class 3A meet at Peoria's Detweiller Park. Gummerson's boys cross country team also qualified for the 3A state meet and he is the girls track head coach.
Winning the title in Peoria is also a big part of the family history. Gummerson's father Ron, the longtime track coach at Conant who passed away in 2011, ran track at Bradley University. His grandfather Roy, known as "Mr. Track and Field" in Illinois, was born in Peoria, ran at Bradley and in 1952 coached now-shuttered Peoria Woodruff to a single-class boys cross country state title.
Ex-Farragut star Michael Wright dies: Former Farragut star Michael Wright, who was part of the star-studded Illinois prep class of 1988, was found dead in his car in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Tuesday. According to the New York Daily News, police were investigating Wright's death as a homicide.
In Schaumburg's first appearance at the prestigious Proviso West tournament in 1997, the Saxons made an unexpected run to the championship game, but the 6-8 Wright had 25 points and 11 rebounds to earn MVP honors and lead Farragut to a 67-52 victory. Wright also played as a freshman on the Admirals' 1995 Elite Eight team led by Kevin Garnett and Ronnie Fields.
Wright starred at Arizona, was drafted by the New York Knicks and had a productive pro career overseas. Wright was part of the 1998 class that included Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette and Frank Williams and Lucas Johnson and Kevin Frey from Maine West's fourth-place state finisher.
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