Sitter's 'dream job' now all his at Elgin

Mike

The man who once said coaching the Elgin Maroons boys basketball team was his "dream job" gets to live the dream indefinitely.

Mike Sitter, an Elgin High graduate, was named the permanent head coach of the Maroons Tuesday.

Sitter took over as interim coach five days before the 2007-08 season began after Rob Brault was arrested for driving under the influence and subsequently removed.

The Maroons got off to a shaky start and slipped to 6-7 through holiday tournament play. But by stressing a defense-first philosophy, Sitter and assistants Jeff Howard and Quentin Howard managed to guide Elgin to 15 wins in its final 18 games.

Following a Class 4A regional title victory over St. Charles North, the Maroons upset Hononegah on a last-second shot by Kenny Williams and beat Rockford Boylan 70-67 for the Jacobs sectional title.

Elgin finally bowed out with a 64-50 loss in the Northern Illinois University Class 4A supersectional against eventual state runner-up Zion-Benton.

"I'm excited," Sitter said Tuesday. "I can start thinking long term instead of just reflecting on the past season, so that's nice. We're getting the summer schedule set and getting ready for camp."

Sitter earned a bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois University and a Master's degree in leadership from Aurora University.

He coached for three years at Round Lake High School before returning to Elgin High seven years ago. He has previously coached freshman and sophomore teams at Elgin and was beginning his first season as a varsity assistant when he was named interim head coach unexpectedly in November.

A current resident of the east side of Elgin himself, the new coach plans to settle in for a long stay.

"I live in the community and my kids go to school here," Sitter said. "I have one entering seventh grade and one entering third grade, so I definitely want to see them through the high school process.

"I'll be at Elgin until they drag my rotting corpse from the building."