McNamara steps down at Aurora Christian

After 41 years coaching basketball, Pat McNamara decided it's time to hang up his whistle.

McNamara took his first job in 1975 coaching a junior college team and hasn't stopped since.

"I love basketball, I love kids, there's just other things I'd like to do," said McNamara, a licensed attorney specializing in real estate who buys homes and remodels or rents them. "It seemed like the right time. It just felt right. Time moves on and all good things come to an end as they say."

McNamara grew up in the small town of Wappinger's Falls in upstate New York and was head coach at Franciscan High School and John F. Kennedy High School. He also has almost 20 years of experience coaching high school basketball in Illinois.

A Yorkville resident, McNamara went 39-40 at Plano in three seasons from 1999-2002, going 18-8 his final year there. At Marmion for five seasons from 2002 through 2007, the Cadets went 73-58.

Before coming to Aurora Christian in 2012, McNamara spent three years assisting Nate Drye at Aurora Central Catholic.

Having already sent a daughter to Aurora Christian, McNamara and his wife Peggy also enrolled their youngest son, Pat. His freshman year in 2012 was the same season McNamara became the Eagles varsity coach, and four years later they are leaving together after a 25-6 season that ended with a loss to Rockridge in the Class 2A NIU supersectional.

"We had a great group of kids this year," McNamara said. "They were a really unselfish team. They had a high basketball IQ. A lot of those guys are at my house hanging out with my son. It was a great year.

"There's a lot of great kids (the last 41 years). I keep in touch with kids I coached in New York, and I'm sure a lot of these kids I will too. You form bonds and a lot of great memories."

McNamara finished his four years at Aurora Christian with an 80-37 record, bringing his total as head coach to 276-219.

He's proud of the climb the Eagles have made.

"Aurora Christian, I sent two of my children there, it's a nice place for kids to go to school," McNamara said. "I think the program is in good shape. When Pat was going into high school the school was in tough financial straights, enrollment was down and we had problems getting enough kids on teams for the first year or two. It's kind of nice now people are enthused about basketball. Plenty of kids are out at the lower levels. It's nice to see that transition from tough times for a little bit there to what it is now. That's a great thing."