Coaches debate pros and cons of moving players up

One of the most predictable chants from student sections at basketball gyms - not counting their displeasure with the referees - always involves the fans trying to hype a certain type of player on their team.

It's not necessarily their team's best player, and it doesn't have to be the fans' favorite player.

The cheer goes out for their team's youngest player.

You've heard it. Whenever that player scores a basket, the next thing you hear from the students is "He's a soph-more!"

Why is that? Why doesn't anyone ever chant "He's a sen-ior" or "She's a jun-ior!" That 3-pointer they hit counts just as much as the one the sophomore or freshman made.

Is it a form of school pride, that we have this kid who is so good he or she is playing this well at such a young age? Maybe a way to taunt your opponent, letting them know they are going to have to deal with this player for two to three years to come?

Whatever it is, there's no doubting the buzz a talented young player can create. I know I'm guilty of it, if there's any reason to feel guilty. When I see a team play for the first time, I always scan the roster and about the first thing I look for is to see if there are any underclassmen up.

While it's certainly fun to watch a player talented enough to come in and make that kind of an impact on varsity at such a young age, it's not always easy for the coaches to decide when to make that move, to pull the player up.

Certainly in some situations the talent level is so high it's a no-brainer, such as Nick Fruendt at Batavia or Taylor Whitley at Geneva a few years ago.

When coaches aren't dealing with future Division I players, the decision is a lot murkier, with a number of factors going into it.

"A lot of coaches look physically are they ready, but I think mentally you have to evaluate," St. Charles North boys coach Tom Poulin said. "You have someone like Jonathan DeMoss (a four-year varsity player who graduated in May) who is physically ready, he was also mentally ready. His freshman year he took some lumps but he was better because of it and it motivated him."

Factors to consider

Poulin certainly has plenty of experience playing younger kids. In addition to DeMoss, two of this year's starters, juniors Josh Mikes and Chris Conrad, were up on the varsity last year as sophomores.

The decision was pretty easy with Mikes who started all season. Conrad would have received more playing time if Poulin left him at the sophomore level, but there were other reasons to consider.

"I thought it would be better academically, socially to be around that group of kids last year," Poulin said. "He could have started and played 28 minutes a game for the sophomores. I just thought it would be better around that group of guys because we had such a special group of seniors, and it really did rub off on him. So sometimes there are different reasons."

Underclassmen have played a big role for Geneva girls coach Gina Nolan the last few years. In addition to Whitley, who graduated in May with over 2,000 career points, this year's starting lineup includes Lauren Wicinski, Kelsey Augustine, Kat Yelle and Sam Scofield, all of whom are third-year varsity players. The first two came up as sophomores, the later two freshmen. And the fifth starter is a sophomore, Ashley Santos.

Even though it has worked in terms of victories, Nolan said she doesn't necessarily enjoy moving up the younger players.

"It's kind of a case-by-case basis," Nolan said. "I don't like to do it unless a kid is going to start or be the first person off the bench. I'd rather see them start at the sophomore level and get a ton of playing time and mature and develop than come and sit."

That might be the No. 1 factor for coaches to consider, how much playing time the sophomore would get on varsity. Kaneland's first-year boys coach Brian Johnson doesn't have a single underclassmen on his varsity roster.

"We're pretty senior heavy, if we brought up an underclassmen he wouldn't play a lot," Johnson said. "My philosophy is you have to be a starter or sixth man, otherwise they lose that playing time.

"The pro is you play varsity guys in practice, the con is nothing beats that game experience, going through those final minutes and clutch time and what to do with the ball. That is a big con. If you are going to sit on the bench I don't know how good that is for you."

It's not only the younger players and whether or not they are ready. Coaches also have to consider how the juniors and seniors on the team will handle the situation that could adversely affect their playing time.

"You have to make sure the kid fits in," Johnson said. "This group, if we brought someone up it would be fine because these are good kids. Sometimes there's jealously. As a young kid that is still developing socially that can be hard on them. I've seen it both ways. At D-C (Dundee-Crown, where Johnson was an assistant) sometimes we'd bring kids up to make sure they would get good competition every day in practice."

Kaneland girls coach Ernie Colombe is in a unique situation, with the perspective as both a coach and the father of Steve Colombe, now a senior on the Kaneland boys team who was called up as a sophomore.

"When he was a sophomore he played quite a bit," Ernie Colombe said. "I think it was right for him at that time. As a coach and a parent I don't think you never necessarily want to pull a player up but sometimes you are in that position where they give you the best situation to win on varsity."

No choice

While in all the above examples coaches have to weigh different factors, two teams in the area don't have much of a choice this winter.

Both Colombe's Kaneland girls team and Dan Stone's Aurora Christian girls team have one senior on the varsity.

So both coaches don't have much choice but to turn to sophomores and even freshmen just to field a varsity team.

"We're kind of in the same situation with the girls right now where we have some young kids up and we're going through some growing pains but you hope that pays off down the line," Colombe said.

Understandably, the Knights and Eagles are both going through those growing pains at 2-9 and 4-6, respectively. All those losses make it even more important that the players have the right type of attitude.

"I think the most important thing is if they can handle it mentally," Colombe said. "Sometimes as a young team you take your lumps and they have to be mentally strong to handle that because you don't want them to get discouraged."

If they don't get discouraged, the payoff for both Colombe and Stone will come the next couple years when all these freshmen and sophomores become juniors and seniors with the added bonus of the experience playing against older players.

"We're young but sometimes you lose with youth and hope it is going to pay off," Stone said. "That is going to help us in the future because these young girls are learning a lot."

Case-by-case study

As Stone said, there's certainly benefits to having the extra years on varsity. Nolan sees it with her senior post players Wicinski and Augustine.

"That is what is so nice is they have matured so much on the floor and can be in control of the team and talk to the team and stuff," Nolan said. "It's really nice to see."

Johnson also got a firsthand look at a success story as an assistant at West Aurora last year, where Juwan Starks broke in as a freshman on varsity and wound up leading the Blackhawks in rebounding and making our All-Area team.

"I don't know if we realized how fast he'd develop but what helped him a lot is he had a really good point guard (Markus Cocroft) who could get him the ball and get him shots he could make," Johnson said. "He (Starks) would have still been a good player but he wouldn't have been as good."

At St. Charles East this winter, boys coach Brian Clodi has freshman Kendall Stephens and sophomore Charlie Fisher among the underclassmen up. After they combined for 26 points in their first varsity game at St. Charles East's Thanksgiving tournament, Clodi said: "They are up for a reason and they showed it tonight."

Perhaps no program has done a better job of letting young players develop on the varsity level the past few years as Nate Drye at Aurora Central. Mark Adams started the run, suffering through losing seasons as a freshman and sophomore, but by his senior season he led the Chargers to their first Suburban Catholic Conference title.

Adams graduated and then his brother Mike and Anthony Kelley did the same thing last year, winning a second straight SCC championship.

With those two gone it's now Joey Guth following ACC's model. After playing small roles on varsity the last two years, Guth is thriving in the spotlight as a senior, a 41-point game against Aurora Christian Saturday night the latest in a torrid start to the season. And looking at this year's roster, Drye is again sprinkling in freshmen and sophomores with seniors like Guth and Steve Hollon.

While players like DeMoss and now Mikes and Conrad have had success at St. Charles North, Poulin said he would prefer not promoting so many youngsters.

"I'd really like to not move up as many as we have been moving up," Poulin said. "I would rather they experience it with their class. One thing Jon always said (as a junior) is this is the first time I get to play with these guys since eighth grade. I kind of miss that.

"The past couple years we've moved up a lot of kids from (the) freshman (team) to (the) sophomore (team) just trying to strengthen every level. It gave a lot of opportunities to freshmen who might have come off the bench (on the freshman team). It's just a year-by-year basis and go with your gut on what is best for the kid."

That's one thing all the coaches agree on, that whatever decision is made they want to see it work out best for the players.

"You never know if you are right but it is your instinct and you always want to do what's best for the kid," Poulin said. "That's the No. 1 thing.

"This is the memories they are going to take for their life. You play a big role in developing those memories. You don't want to have the kid have any regrets. You don't want the kid to look back unfavorably."

jlemon@dailyherald.com