Loyalty in hirings a LeGrand idea
Jeff Brooke and Jack LeGrand are among the nicest guys you'll find in prep sports.
They have been rewarded with head coaching jobs at Wheaton Academy and Timothy Christian, respectively.
Brooke, 24, a former all-area athlete who graduated from Wheaton Academy in 2002 and from Taylor University in 2006, has been named the Warriors' boys soccer coach. He succeeds Dave Underwood, who will be heading to Sterling College in Kansas.
Brooke, three weeks shy of his first wedding anniversary with Warriors softball coach, the former Rachel Keating, worked with Victory Sports Camps upon his college graduation.
He returned to teach at Wheaton Academy, where for two years he was the sophomore boys soccer coach. He's now assisting the typically strong girls team.
"I've found that the best way to lead young men is to demand that high level of excellence by building a team chemistry and accountability within the group," said Brooke, whose degree is in communications studies. A graduate degree in ministry leadership is halfway finished.
"It's so easy not to demand the best of yourself," he said.
Timothy Christian made the logical step of naming LeGrand as new varsity boys basketball coach.
LeGrand, whose eldest child, Kari, is a freshman at Timothy, was the 11-year assistant to Jeff Powers, who resigned his coaching spot after this past season.
The transition should be smooth. LeGrand has been Timothy's eighth-grade boys basketball coach at the same time, all along.
"The style or overall philosophy of the program is going to be the same," he said. "We want to make men of integrity at Timothy, that's the first and foremost thing."
LeGrand, a coach for 20 of his 42 years who countered Powers for a couple years at the eighth-grade level with Southwest Chicago Christian Schools in Oak Lawn, points to the things he and Powers share as coaches -- competitiveness, work ethic, maximizing potential.
But he realizes that being "good cop" to Powers' "bad cop," those days are done.
"I'm not naïve enough, I've been the good guy," LeGrand said. "My job's been to pick the kids up, pat them on the back. Jeff's job was to make the tough decisions. It's my turn now."
The Century Club
With a 6-0, 6-0 win at first singles on April 29, Naperville Central senior tennis player Tyler Hoffman earned the 100th win of his varsity career.
Making them wait
Following up on Kevin Schmit's column last week in this section about college football recruiting programs targeting recruits earlier and earlier, Glenbard West junior Kevin Watt, the No. 1 recruit in Illinois by Rivals.com, will not be rushed.
One of the all-state offensive lineman's agents -- his mother, Mary Pat -- said Watt will try to make his decision by the end of June.
Watt has a reported 24 scholarship offers, including all of the Big Ten except Penn State and Wisconsin. A visit to Michigan was on his agenda, and earlier this week his, uh, agent said he was deliberating taking a visit to UCLA.
Rivals lists the friendly Watt -- whose brother Kevin is a redshirt freshman defensive lineman at Northwestern -- as the No. 52 recruit in the country.
What's up…
…Dominique DeMatteo
The lifelong Villa Park resident won at first singles in sectionals to return to this weekend's state badminton tournament in Charleston for a second straight year. One of three children of Tony and Joy DeMatteo, "Dom" has a screw loose -- literally, after foot surgery. Still, she's got pep in her step; at Willowbrook the Carroll College-bound senior three-sport athlete is involved in National Honor Society and speech and is a class officer and teacher's aide.
You had stop competing in gymnastics because of foot surgery. Please explain.
"The arch bone in my foot didn't fuse with another bone, so I had to have it screwed in to keep it from moving. And I had to have it done on both feet. I had to have it (surgery and recovery) one season out of my sophomore year, and I didn't want to miss golf and I didn't want to miss badminton."
Are the screws still in there?
"Yeah, and actually the one in my right foot is coming out and I had to have corrective surgery on the my left for the same thing. The screw started backing out because of the use I put on it."
Did the doctor let you take the old screw home?
"He asked my mom if I wanted the screw, but my mom said she didn't want it. But he only got about half of it out; the other half stuck."
You started playing competitive badminton in fifth grade after attending camps at Willowbrook. What is it that attracts you to the sport?
"I like it because it's really competitive but really fun. I find it very challenging but it can be really rewarding to know the things you can do, the kind of shots you're capable of. I just really like competing."
Do you play outdoors, too?
"A lot of times I can't stand to play badminton outside because it drives me nuts. It's so different because of all the other factors, like the wind. I'll play it, but I'd rather play it inside."
What was the latest movie you saw at the theater?
" 'Horton Hears a Who.' "
You take honors and a couple advanced-placement courses. What's your least favorite subject?
"Spanish."
What's your favorite Spanish phrase?
"Vamanos." (Let's go.)
You are the secretary of your senior class. What's going on with that right now?
"Right now I'm helping organize the senior slide show. All the seniors, we ask them for pictures and then we make a huge slide show. We sort through all thse pictures and see if they are good or not. We've got hundreds of pictures."
What would you want people to know about badminton?
"That it's a lot harder than it looks. A lot of people try to tell me that it's not even a sport. It's hard, and I don't think people realize how much you need to work and how much effort you need to put toward succeeding."
Last year at state you quickly got bumped into the consolation bracket and didn't advance. What's your goal this year?
"My goal is to make it to Saturday. I have to win three games on Friday. Not lose any, just win three. If I lose, that's kind of a rougher day. But whatever it takes."