St. Edward boys basketball coach Chuipek steps down

St. Edward boys basketball coach Keith Chuipek stepped down this week.

Chuipek coached the Green Wave for four seasons, highlighted by a Class 2A regional title in 2008-09. He took over a program in turmoil in 2006-07 after longtime coach Kevin Dix resigned in the wake of a player revolt and interim coach Frank Hood was not retained.

Previously an assistant varsity coach and lower-level coach at Jacobs High School for eight years, Chuipek said he had originally intended to coach at St. Edward for three seasons. He decided to stay for an extra year after the Green Wave rallied to win the program's first regional championship since 2002-03.

He informed St. Edward athletic director P.J. White of his decision on Monday.

"It was just time," said Chuipek, who teaches at Neubert Elementary School in Algonquin. "I feel good about leaving now. I think there's stability in the program, and I think we're respected when we play other teams. I wanted to leave them in a better position than when I came in, and I think I've done that."

In his four years at St. Edward, Chuipek (42-70) never cut a player who tried out for basketball. The number or players participating at all three levels swelled to nearly 50 in his final season. He immediately initiated summer camps upon his arrival and began scheduling games against larger schools in an effort to prepare his teams for the Class 2A postseason. That strategy paid off last year when the Wave won a regional despite just 10 regular-season victories.

Chuipek said he regretted not being able to break the news to the program's returning players in person this week because the school is on spring break, but he thanked his players and their parents. He also thanked the administrators who made his time at St. Edward enjoyable.

"(Stepping down) is hard to do because you grow attached to people," he said. "I wish everyone at St. Edward well. P.J. is a great guy. He's got some great ideas about improving the school and I love him to death. And I can't say enough about (former principal and superintendent) Fr. Edward (Seisser). I was sad he wasn't part of the school this year. He was the one that hired me and he was a real good people person. I really enjoyed getting to know him and watching him get the school back up. We came to the school in the same year."

Though winning the regional title in 2008-09 against Aurora Christian was the signature victory of Chuipek's reign, he pointed to another win as his favorite moment.

"A bigger thrill for me was when we won our first game my first year," Chuipek said of a victory that ended St. Edward's 34-game losing streak. "They had lost 26 the year before. We lost our first eight games and ended up beating (Marmion) at home. That was a good thing, especially for kids like Josh (Dix) and Brett Manning and those guys after all the things they had gone through. Like I said then, it was like winning the NCAAs."

Chuipek said stepping down holds a personal advantage for him. His son, Drew, a Jacobs graduate, is working toward gaining his PGA card at qualifying school and has been invited to 14 major amateur golf tournaments this year.

"Now I can be his caddy," Chuipek said.