Wolfsmith making all the right moves for Bartlett

Many people have been involved in the success Bartlett High School has had in the athletic arena since the school opened its doors in 1997.

Jim Wolfsmith is certainly on that list, and some could argue he's at the top of the list.

Wolfsmith came to Bartlett from his alma mater, Luther North, when Bartlett opened. He toiled as an underclass coach, then a varsity assistant, and landed his first head coaching job for the Hawks when he took over the softball program from Mario Serra in 2004. In nine seasons of coaching varsity softball and boys basketball, his only losing season was his first, when the 2004 softball team went 15-25. He's won 205 games in those nine seasons.

Since 2004, he's taken a softball team downstate in the two-class system, been to a softball supersectional in the four-class system, a basketball sectional final in the four-class system and now, a supersectional in basketball. Wolfsmith's Hawks will take on top-ranked Waukegan Tuesday night in the Class 4A Elgin supersectional at Chesbrough Field House. Not only are the Bulldogs the No. 1 team in the state, they bring the state's No. 1 player to Elgin in Illinois-bound McDonald's All-American Jereme Richmond, who could sell out half the place himself no matter who the opponent was.

While that is a challenge all by itself, Wolfsmith relishes challenges. He lives for them. He's a self-admitted addict when it comes to coaching and he's running with all throttles open these days, coaching his softball team in the morning, teaching all day, then taking his basketball team to new heights in the evening.

"Could you honestly say you'd want anything more," Wolfsmith asked as he was getting ready for softball pictures then practice with his 18-11 boys basketball squad Monday afternoon. "In my world, I love this. Give me as many 15 hour days as I can handle."

Wolfsmith is not your young single guy who can devote all his time to teaching and coaching without care for much else. He's 43 and he has a family. But he says the support of his wife, Sue, has made his passion for coaching manageable. His son, Tommy, will be entering St. Charles East as a freshman this fall and daughter Christine, 10, will be in high school soon as well.

"We promised each other that when this year hit we'd evaluate the situation," Wolfsmith said of he and his wife. "I'm tremendously blessed with my wife supporting my coaching plan. Coaching is an addiction and I'm addicted. My wife understands my addiction and supports it.

"We agreed that as long as Bartlett will have me I'm going to maintain my position as head basketball coach and head softball coach. I feel invigorated that this isn't going to be my last basketball or softball season."

This season has been a challenge to Wolfsmith's coaching abilities. He lauds the work of all of his staff, most notably assistant Phil Church and head sophomore coach Pete Kowalski. He also gives the credit to his team by saying, "I'm not going to take any credit for it. The kids came together."

But someone had to put the pieces in place for this run, and that someone was Wolfsmith.

"No question it's been a challenge," he said. "But it's been a great challenge. It's been a little like a chess game - what's gonna happen next, and what's gonna happen next. I've got multiple pieces and it's been playing around with those pieces and finding the right places. It's easy if you have the five best players in the state. This has been a lot of work and a lot of fun."

"I really liked this team when the year started and I never lost faith. We had to learn to play together as a team. We struggled with that and we lost some games to some really good basketball teams. We were playing good basketball and finding a way to shoot ourselves in the foot."

Bartlett was a feared team coming into the postseason. But one big question remained.

"Once we hit the postseason the only question was could we win the close games," Wolfsmith said.

Answer? Yes. The Hawks' four postseason wins have been by a total of 15 points, including last Friday's 59-57 overtime win in the sectional final against host Rockford Boylan.

"Once we won a couple close ones it was like, 'Hey, we finally got this,' " Wolfsmith said. "We're finally winning a couple close ones. Now comes the final lesson. We get the No. 1 team and the No. 1 player in the state. You can't ask for anything more than that."

This season also brought personal meaning to Wolfsmith, who lost his father, Thomas, to lung cancer over the summer.

"He would have loved this run," said Wolfsmith, through tears, of his dad, who worked in the editorial department of the Chicago Tribune for 35 years. "He was my No. 1 fan."

Christine Wolfsmith had lost a friend to cancer and after Thomas Wolfsmith passed away, Jim, Christine and Sue decided to grow their hair out for Locks of Love, a not-for-profit organization that provides hair to underprivileged children who have lost their hair to a medical condition. Jim said the family hopes to have their hair cut prior to the start of the 2010-11 school year as Locks of Love asks for at least 10 inches of growth before they cut.

"We're hoping to get it cut together," Wolfsmith said. "It's a worthy cause and it reminds me every day how special life is."

The Bartlett boys basketball season has become something special as well. And whether he'll take credit for it or not, a big reason for it is Jim Wolfsmith.