On this night football takes a back seat at Driscoll
NORMAL - Shivering in the stands at Illinois' Memorial Stadium, watching her brother Ricky play for a football state championship, Allie DiVito must have thought this was as good as it would get.
At a school where football is king, record-breaking at that, never could she have imagined owning a slice of Driscoll athletic history.
How surreal must it have been, then, to see her older brother among rows of Driscoll football players at Redbird Arena this weekend, rooting on Allie and the girls basketball team at state.
On this championship night Driscoll Catholic was a girls basketball school.
"I always wanted that feeling that he always got," DiVito said. "This was my chance."
It has been a remarkable ride for the girls and their coach.
Six years ago Steve McCuiston, who played at Proviso West and Northern Illinois University, agreed to take on a program with no winning history. He was at first hesitant to take on the responsibility with a job in sales that took him on the road and could make him a year-to-year coach.
"They called me and said, 'Hey, do you want the job?' and I said, 'Yeah, I'll take it,'" McCuiston said, "and then they said, 'Oh, by the way, your summer camp starts at six o'clock tonight.'"
Success didn't greet McCuiston at the door. Driscoll went 24-51 over his first three seasons. Three years ago he suspended a group of girls for skipping their last game at a Thanksgiving tournament to go watch Driscoll's football team.
"That's a mindset change," McCuiston said, "and winning helps."
So does commitment. Devoting a summer to basketball doesn't guarantee a championship in March. But short-changing the "off-season" in this new-school era of specialization almost forfeits that shot.
Driscoll's girls bought in. They worked the summer camps, mentoring future Highlanders. Went to the shootouts at Sterling, Bradley and Moody Bible.
For the last three years only girls who participated in all of the above attended a team camp at the University of South Florida in Clearwater. Players were set up in two condos, coaches at another condo. Six games were guaranteed, and last summer Driscoll won the 55-school event.
Hardly coincidence, then, that the girls exhibit calm in chaotic big-game environments.
"You have to prepare them for the crowds and the noise," McCuiston said, "because 90 percent of the time they can't even hear me. They have to be able to adjust on their own."
Two sectional championships, and all but one starter back next year would seem to spell out dynasty. McCuiston, though, knows that success is fleeting. There are no promises for tomorrow.
He only need look down the road at Montini, which seemed a cinch to return to state after taking third in 3A last year. It's still possible, but without Michala Johnson it's not the certainty it seemed like three months ago.
Returning to state isn't the foregone conclusion it has been for Driscoll football.
"I cannot say for sure that this will be a sustained program," McCuiston said. "Nothing is guaranteed. You have to take advantage of the opportunity in front of you."
Championship or no, Driscoll's girls were soaking up the experience. Seeing the scores of fans in black and gold cheering them on.
It's their moment.
"You look up at the crowd and see so many kids from school here to support us, that meant the world to me," senior Gigi DiGrazia said. "All the extra fans from town, it was cool. Girls basketball and girls sports in general don't usually get a lot of hype like this. It's cool that we're getting that kind of attention."
"We support them," DiVito said of the football team, "and they support us, even when we weren't good. This was our year."
jwelge@dailyherald.com