Brennan proudly carrying on her family's tradition

Being in a high school gymnasium makes Colleen Brennan feel right at home.

That's not to say she was literally born in the third row of the bleachers or anything.

But it makes perfect sense that the first-year St. Charles North girls basketball coach would feel very comfortable in a crowded gymnasium considering she has been hanging around them for quite a while.

Brennan, who has guided the North Stars to an impressive 19-7 record, including 7 consecutive victories, spent the majority of her childhood watching her father, Barry, pace the sideline as Wheaton-Warrenville (1981-83) and Wheaton Warrenville South's (1986-2002) boys varsity head basketball coach.

"I was brought up in a gym," said Colleen, who attended most games and numerous after-school practices. "My dad coached pretty much his entire adult life. He began coaching three sports - football (as an assistant to John Thorne at WWSouth), basketball and track.

"He was always very busy but he also always had time to spend with us (older brother Joe and sister Kayce)."

Colleen chose to spend most of her spare time alongside her dad at the high schools he worked - Wheaton-Warrenville, Wheaton North (as an assistant basketball coach) and WWSouth.

"That's where I developed my love for high school sports," she said.. "I'm a big daddy's girl."

During her high school years, Colleen kept very active as a 3-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball-varsity for 3 years, and softball) and member of the Tiger Poms squad (was captain her senior year). As a sophomore, she qualified for the state's Three-Point Showdown held at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena.

Colleen affectionately refers to her dad as being "very strict" growing up.

"It was a different experience when you see your dad everyday at school," she said. "But I felt lucky because it helped keep me in line. He would have heard instantly from his fellow teachers if I had done something wrong in class."

Upon graduation from WWSouth in 1995, Colleen went to Illinois State, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Special Education before attending graduate school at the Citadel College in South Carolina.

Prior to her suburban Chicago return, Colleen spent the past 7 years living in South Carolina - the last 6 as a girls basketball coach at Porter-Gaud School in Charleston.

"I usually saw my parents once or twice every year," she said.

"We wished that she was closer to us at the time," said Barry, who spent his first 9 years as a teacher/coach at Warrenville Junior High School before eventually guiding WWSouth's boys basketball program to a 184-139 record and 6 regional championships.

"I spent a lot of time on the phone with her the last seven years."

The long-distance calls were no longer necessary this past summer after Colleen accepted a teaching position in the Special Education department at St. Charles North.

In addition, she also was named as the North Stars' new girls basketball coach.

"I'm just ecstatic that she's back in the area," said Barry. "It's a bonus for me that she's also coaching basketball."

"It has been a big transition for my family after being away for seven years," said Colleen. "I'm never home.

"It has been a big transition for me, too. It's a new school for me and I'm teaching six different subjects. But coaching basketball has made my transition a real positive one."

Colleen is enjoying the best of both worlds these days - with an assist from her dad.

"My dad is so excited and so supportive," she said. "He's probably been to five or six practices and he doesn't miss many games. He loves it. And I love being around him and the whole family for that matter."

Last month, the daughter/father duo scouted together for the first time during the Jacobs-St. Charles East game.

Colleen credits her dad for helping teach St. Charles North players its zone offense, and it should come as no surprise that the North Stars primarily play tough man-to-man defense.

"My dad is a 100 percent man-to-man guy," said Colleen. "His philosophy is that if you can play man-to-man defense first, you can play any other type of defense. He's got a great basketball mind and he's very savvy."

While admitting to be a "big proponent of man-to-man defense," Barry stops at accepting credit for his daughter's hard work.

"Their defense has gotten better and better - they're hard to score on," he said.

"She has done a nice job and I feel that she has served as a great role model for everyone in the program. She inherited a nice group of kids that play hard and work hard together. I like the fact that she is very composed during games and she likes to play as many kids as possible.

"Her team plays with a lot of poise. I think when the head coach shows composure, even after a tough loss, the kids learn from that."

Colleen, who admittedly uses a few of her dad's old sayings - 'I say right stinkin' now' quite a bit in our team huddles - has a knack for remembering the players' uniform numbers dating back to Barry's early high school coaching days.

"She could always tell me the numbers they wore," Barry said. "And she still remembers them to this day. When we were at Wheaton North (recently), we ran into Kent Graham and Colleen said, 'it's No. 44.'"

"I see some of that now as a role reversal," said Colleen. "My dad tells me so many things about my players."

The view from the stands may be a bit worse than the one he used to have on the bench but Barry is enjoying every minute of the action.

"I'm watching as a nervous dad," he said. "Win or lose, we'll talk about things the next day.

"I'm very proud of her."

You can reach Craig Brueske at csb4k@hotmail.com