Virostko finds coaching destination at Lake Park
Josh Virostko enjoyed coaching Plainfield Central's boys basketball team. It was, after all, the high school that gave him his first teaching and coaching job out of college.
To Virostko, however, Lake Park was a desired destination. It became reality Monday when Virostko was hired as the Lancers boys varsity head coach. He had been offered the position May 6 and accepted it the next day.
"Things are going in the right direction here at Central," Virostko said. "I'm very happy here, but I feel Lake Park is a better opportunity for me, and it's somewhere I really wanted to be at even before this year. That's why I really pursued it hard."
Coming off a tumultuous 5-23 season, 1-9 and tied for 10th place in the Upstate Eight, Lake Park remains a plum post. Five of the Lancers' 10 regional titles have come since 2000 with sectional final appearances in 2000, 2006 and 2007.
"I know what it's like to rebuild, and I also know what it's like to have a pretty good team," said Virostko, who succeeded interim coach Tom Bergen.
Bergen replaced Cray Allen, who resigned in February of his first varsity season after 20 straight losses, 2 due to forfeit for using an ineligible player.
Virostko is just 31 but has six seasons as a varsity head coach under his belt. A 1997 graduate of Paris High School, he assisted and taught two years at Plainfield Central before returning to Paris. Virostko went 15-13 and 12-15 with regional titles in 2004 and 2005 before Paris went 3-19 and 5-23 the next two seasons.
Succeeding Dave Stephens at Plainfield Central, Virostko's Wildcats went 7-19 in 2007-08 then rebounded to 16-10 last season. Highlights were a victory over 26-game winner Plainfield North, the title of the Lemont Christmas Classic, and a tie for third with Oswego East in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
A social studies teacher, Virostko's contract reportedly was not going to be renewed after this school year.
Offensively, he said he likes to find a style that suits his personnel. "Defensively," he said, "we want to be very, very tough, try to create some turnovers, try to create some offense from our defense."
If successful, another of Virostko's goals should fall into place.
"I think it's important that the kids get back to being enthusiastic about Lake Park basketball," he said. "I think that's going to be the biggest thing I'm going to try to implement. Not only with the kids, but with the school and the community, because it's a special place."
• Elsewhere, Ed Lynch has resigned as Hinsdale Central's varsity head coach after compiling a four-year record of 62-47 with regional titles in 2006 and 2007.
Lynch will become sophomore boys coach, switching places with former longtime Glenbard West and West Chicago coach Lee Maciejewski, installed as interim varsity coach for the 2009-10 season. Hinsdale Central athletic director Paul Moretta said a search for a permanent varsity coach will be conducted in the upcoming academic year.