Bumbales, Smith fit right in with Elgin, Burlington Central

Each program has had its share of success over the years, albeit one a little more than the other.

But each program has gone through changes over the last few years that haven't transcended to the greatest of success on the basketball court.

Now, each program is being led by a new coach, each of whom is no stranger to basketball in the Fox Valley area or these pages.

It was just a fate of scheduling that they squared off against each other in the season opener Tuesday night but come February, Burlington Central's 48-23 win over Elgin will mean little.

What will mean much more is how their teams develop, and with Stephanie Smith in charge of the Rockets and Dr. Nick Bumbales guiding the Maroons, one can make a safe bet that however their respective teams fare between now and the state tournament, the two coaches will get the very most they can out of their players.

They are basketball junkies, gym rats through and through. They've been around successful programs all their lives and they have basketball knowledge and experience that will do nothing but make their players better athletes and better people.

Resurrection on Maroon Drive?

The old saying goes "age before beauty", so we'll take a look at Bumbales' first few weeks on the job first.

He takes over a program that struggled to a 17-66 record in Angie Hudson's four years at the helm. Hudson stepped down in early October for medical reasons, so Bumbales didn't even have the luxury of going through summer leagues with his program to see what was there.

His first task was to get the numbers back up and he's done that. There's 19 girls on the varsity roster and almost 50 in the program.

"The first thing was to get the numbers up and we've done that," said Bumbales, who coached at York High School for one year under current Chicago Bulls assistant Bob Ociepka before coming to Elgin High and watching and learning from two legendary coaches in Lee Turek and Jim Harrington, both of whom took Maroons teams Downstate with Dr. Nick as the team physician. "The enthusiasm is good and we've really come together as a team."

Bumbales knows it will be no easy task to turn the Elgin program around and bring it back to the prominence it had under Turek, which culminated with a second-place finish in the 1996 Class AA state tournament.

"We talk about the past successes and we want to be as positive as we can," said Bumbales, who growing up was a student manager/trainer in the basketball-crazed state of Indiana.

"One of the things I tell them is that the teams we play haven't played this Elgin team. I'm focusing on the things I know that have made teams successful in the past. I'm big on fundamentals and playing defense. We're working on a lot of little things and breaking the game down as much as we can. We're running drills that have a purpose and the girls are seeing the light a little. We're trying to make it fun and I think as a whole, right now they're having fun playing basketball."

Bumbales, who teaches in the science department at Elgin High, is having fun so far as well.

"I'm enjoying it," he said. "The only disadvantage was in how late I got the job. We only have six home games and 20 on the road. We play some pretty tough competition early, like Oswego, Rosary and Antioch and they all have their best back. There's a big challenge ahead of us.

"But I expect for us to go out every night and compete. Players win games and coaches lose them so if we lose it's my fault."

Bumbales knows Rome wasn't built in a day, but he sincerely believes he can resurrect girls basketball success on Maroon Drive.

"We're going to get better and by the end people aren't going to want to play us," he said. "I have lofty goals. I've always been a part of successful programs. My three coaches from Indiana are all in the Hall of Fame. Ociepka, Jim, Lee ... I've been around winning and I draw from that all the time; I think about those people all the time. I've been blessed and I've been fortunate to work with the people I have."

A Whip-Pur becomes a Rocket

To Hampshire followers, seeing Stephanie Smith coaching a Burlington Central team might seem a little like Packers fans seeing Brett Favre in a Vikings jersey.

But the opportunity on Rocket Hill was one Smith, who scored 1,245 career points in her Hampshire career before going on to a 4-year career at Northern Illinois, couldn't pass up.

She takes over a program at Central that had an interim coach last year in Wade Maisto, who stepped in when Darlene Guyett went on maternity leave and then subsequently stepped down from the job, opening the door for Smith.

A 2000 graduate of Hampshire, Smith was twice named an honorary captain of Daily Herald all-area teams. She led Hampshire to a 75-16 record in her varsity career and had a couple of pretty fine mentors herself in former Hampshire coach Milt Awe and current Whip-Purs' boss Sue Ellett.

"This is an awesome opportunity for me and I'm excited about it," she said prior to her team's season opener Tuesday. "Head coach is just a title next to my name. I just want to have a program where the kids leave here loving the time they played here and one where the kids are good role models. Be positive and be classy.

"The seniors here are on their fourth head coach but they're adjusting really well. I'm glad I'm here with such a great group of seniors and it's my job to give them a good last hurrah. My job here is to prepare them for college if they want to play in college."

Smith has some state experience as well as a coach. Even though she graduated from Hampshire before the Whip-Purs' run of state trips between 2002 and 2004, she did coach at south suburban Marian Catholic, where in 2007 she was part of the staff that led that school to third place in the Class AA state tournament.

One thing Smith learned at Hampshire was the basic goal of any good program, one that Awe, and now Ellett, have made a staple of a Hampshire program that has won over 500 games since 1986 - win conference, win 20 games, win a regional, and then let the chips fall where they may.

"I have that faith that you can win," she said. "Heart always beats talent and if you work hard and have pride in your school ... that's what we're working for. We want to win conference and regional championships and hang some banners in that gym. In my experience at NIU I learned a lot on and off the court. If you're working at the dream, your coaches have to support that."

Smith, who has brought in Central's all-time leading scorer and another former Division I player, Jenna Real, as her sophomore coach, also knows that in the nearly 10 years she's been out of high school that things have changed.

"The game itself is a lot quicker," she said. "My belief is that you keep it simple. The demeanor of today's athlete is a lot different than when I played. Sometimes it's harder to get them to practice and to get them to commit. A lot of the challenges are off the court. Everything they want is quick. They text and they have the Internet and those things are quick. It's a different mentality."

But Smith's goals as a head coach are quite clear.

"I want to get Central back that name. When I played I hated playing Central because no matter what you knew they were going to be scrappy and you were in for a fight. We want to be that team you don't want to play.

"I've been to state as a coach and I know what it takes. I want state for this program. Volleyball's been there and softball's been there. Why not basketball?

"I want everything to be right for these kids," she said. "I coach for the student-athlete."

As another old saying goes, wins and losses will take care of themselves. But this much we know - the girls basketball programs at Elgin and Burlington Central are in more than capable hands.

jradtke@dailyherald.com