Visiting the best of Lake County's gym dandies
Last Friday, I was at Grant High School, which was celebrating the first boys basketball game to be played in its brand-new field house.
After the game, Grant coach Wayne Bosworth was disappointed that his team had lost to North Chicago but was glowing when I asked about the facility. He said it was like a small-college venue.
I agree with him. The Bulldogs' new $9-million home is very nice. Big, bright, airy, comfortable, convenient.
In fact, I think the facility is probably nicer than most small-college gyms.
That conversation with Bosworth got me thinking about my impressions of other high school gyms in Lake County.
What gyms are fun to visit? What or who is the first thing you think of when you step into a particular gym?
At some gyms, you can't forget the past. The walls are dripping with history. These gyms have been home to some unforgettable moments over the years.
Other gyms simply have good, or interesting, bones. I think it's fun to go to different gyms and take in the architecture and design.
So here's my take on the gyms in Lake County. Feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts and impressions. A mailbag from readers on this topic could make for a great read.
Old-school gym, old-school player: The gym at Libertyville High School, complete with its squeaky, wooden bleachers, is probably one of the oldest in Lake County. And one of the best players in Libertyville history was about as old-school as it gets.
Matt Heldman, who graduated in the mid-1990s as the third-leading scorer in Lake County history and went on to play at the University of Illinois, was famous for his pinpoint shooting, attention to fundamentals and his old-fashioned buzz cut.
You can't help but remember Heldman every time you step into the gym at Libertyville. His name is posted on a sign attached to the scoreboard.
Tragically, it's a memorial. Heldman and his father were killed in a head-on car collision in Libertyville in 1999, one year after he started 33 games and led Illinois to a share of the Big Ten championship as a senior.
I will never forget the night during the following winter that I covered a boys basketball game at Libertyville and Heldman's mother and sister were in attendance. Before tipoff against Warren, a moving video tribute to Heldman was shown on a big screen in front of one of the baskets. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place.
The granddaddy of gyms: My favorite gym in Lake County, when it's filled with fans, is the gym on Waukegan's old East Campus.
Home to this area's Class 4A boys basketball sectional in most years, this place can be magical come tournament time. Kids love playing there. Coaches love coaching there. Fans love cheering there.
I saw a spectacular game there last season when Waukegan beat Warren on a buzzer-beating half-court shot by Jereme Richmond for the sectional title. Coupled with the fact that that amazing game took place in a gym that is refreshingly old-school in every way from the balcony to the seats that wrap around the entire court, it ranks as one of the very best games I've ever witnessed.
Other good old-school gyms: Zion-Benton, North Chicago and Lake Forest. None of them are as old as Waukegan, but they all have some character and can take you back to a time before the dawn of the shiny new mega-fieldhouse.
This gym brought to you by -: Warren is my "commercial gym."
Most high schools plaster the accomplishments of their sports teams all over the walls of their gyms.
At Warren, they do that - but they also make sure to get in a word or two from their sponsors.
There isn't a gym in Lake County that features more corporate signage and advertising than Warren. And it's been a boon to the athletic department.
A few years ago, Warren partnered with a company from Ohio that paid for and installed two fancy new scoreboards in the gym. The scoreboards include a scrolling screen for multiple advertisers at the bottom. The company's marketing arm secures local advertising for Warren and has used revenue from the last two years to pay off the scoreboard. Now, Warren and the company will split the advertising revenue.
Athletic director Mark Pos estimates the athletic department stands to make between $3,000 and $6,000 per year from the scrolling ads, as well as from a permanent ad placed above the scoreboard by the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute. The revenue will be crucial as the school district looks to cut costs in the current economic downturn.
In the spirit of good advertising, Warren also does a great job of "promoting from within." The school has hung huge personalized banners in the gym for two of its greatest athletes in recent history.
Anthony Colaizzi was named the Illinois Gatorade soccer player of the year in 2007 and Sarah Boothe was named Illinois Ms. Basketball in 2008.
Of course, the Blue Devils need one more such banner: Brandon Paul was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2009.
A work of art: I love watching games at Grayslake North.
I have to be careful, though, because I sometimes find myself paying more attention to the gigantic mural over the homeside bleachers than the game itself.
I'm telling you, this is one super-cool work of art.
Grayslake North's nickname is the Knights.
The mural features about a dozen knights on their horses and they're all holding their shields, which are branded with the letter G, as their horses gallop ahead.
In fact, the mural is somehow almost three-dimensional in nature, so it looks like the horses are about to gallop right out of the mural. Some of the hoofs look like they're actually coming out of the wall.
The mural was partially designed by athletic department officials Tina Woolard and Barry Gurvey and painted over the summer of 2007. It was funded by the school's booster club.
"It's the most recognizable feature of our gym," boys basketball coach Todd Grunloh said. "Well worth the money if you ask me."
Other cool artwork: There's a mural of an eagle blasting through the wall at one end of the gym at Lakes.
All the angles: Stevenson gets my award for the best-vantage-point gym.
Besides Waukegan, Stevenson boasts the only gym in Lake County with permanent seating on all four sides of the court.
What a great place to see all the action.
Grant now has the room to move in temporary bleachers to fit into both end zones, as do Lake Zurich, Grayslake North and Grayslake Central - which makes all of those schools great candidates to host a sectional.
In fact, Lake Zurich hosted a sectional in 2005, which head coach John Zarr calls the most memorable experience in the Bears' new field house.
Newsies with oldies: Grant, Wauconda, Lake Zurich, Grayslake Central and Carmel all have new or newer gyms that are very comfortable and convenient.
But all four schools kept their old gyms for the added space.
How much fun would it be if every once in a while those schools sponsored a throwback night and staged one of their games in the old facility.
I once went to a boys basketball game at Carmel that was played in the old gym, I think because of some kind of scheduling conflict with the new gym.
It was kind of neat watching a game in the old gym.
Cool bones: There are some interesting design features that make a few gyms in Lake County unique.
For instance, I can't think of another gym besides Antioch that features the weight room on an open balcony above one of the baskets, completely visible from the floor.
Speaking of balconies, Antioch and Round Lake are two of only a few gyms in the area that still have them. Very old-school. Very cool.
Meanwhile, Mundelein has a stage at one end of its gym. You don't see that much anymore. Wauconda also had a stage in its old gym, as did Grayslake Central.
And Carmel has a walking track that goes all the way around its gym. You don't see that much either.
Lasting impressions: Just 10 years into the school's history, Vernon Hills is still building its resume. So is its gym, which is modern and comfortable but short on a long laundry list of memorable moments.
There are some, though. Here's one of head boys basketball coach Matt McCarty's favorite memories so far:
"My favorite moment came on Jan. 19, 2002. We were in our second year and looking for a little respect. We were playing a very good Buffalo Grove team in front of the biggest crowd that I can ever remember in our gym. We were down 1 point as the clock ticked.
"All-Area football and basketball player Jason Newburger hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer in front of our student section to win the game 50-48. The victory propelled us to a 20-win season."