Wayne Bosworth hired to coach Grant High School Bulldogs

Wayne Bosworth graduated as the most prolific scorer in Grant basketball history.

Which makes his coaching philosophy interesting, if not surprising.

Grant's school board officially approved Bosworth's hiring as the Bulldogs' new varsity boys basketball coach Thursday night.

"Defense is my main key," Bosworth said. "Everyone gives me a hard time about that. They're like, 'What do you know about playing defense?' But defense is what I like to focus on."

A 6-foot-1 guard who could fill the basket with the best of them during his playing days, Bosworth graduated from high school in 2000 after scoring a school-record 1,827 points in four varsity seasons. Grant won the Northwest Suburban Conference championship his freshman season, but the conference disbanded the following year. Grant did not have a conference affiliation Bosworth's final three seasons.

While Bosworth was busy filling the basket, his defensive skills were hard to judge.

"We played a lot of zone in high school," Bosworth said. "I never understood (man-to-man) concepts until college."

After playing a year at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Bosworth transferred to Elmhurst College, where he enjoyed a productive career. He was named team MVP and all-conference his junior year.

He earned his first coaching job at North Chicago, where he was an assistant varsity coach under Gerald Coleman. Bosworth has spent the last two years at his high school alma mater as a physical education teacher and varsity assistant under Phil Ralston, who resigned suddenly last month to become the boys basketball coach at Geneva.

While Bosworth's goal was to become a varsity head coach, the 26-year-old didn't expect the opportunity to present itself this early in his career.

"I'm very excited," he said, "having gone to Grant and knowing the type of kids who come here and knowing the community and how supportive they are."

Bosworth takes over a team that is perennially one of the best in the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division. Bosworth figures to have his hands full in his inaugural season, however, as Grant graduated four starters.

That said, athletic director Mark Barczak is confident in Bosworth's abilities.

"We're really excited," Barczak said. "We think we got it right. That's why we took our time with (the hiring)."