‘Nothing is more important than family’: Palatine’s trip to state is a family affair for Millstones
Palatine boys basketball coach Eric Millstone saw his sister Caryn first.
Millstone was standing at the mouth of the tunnel inside Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center on March 4, some 30 minutes before the start of the Class 4A supersectional between his Pirates and Warren’s Blue Devils.
“She was pointing to my parents,” he recounted the next day.
Millstone then spotted Doug and Susan Millstone and did a double take (blink, blink), maybe a triple.
Palatine’s historic playoff run had interrupted — delightfully — the Buffalo Grove residents’ month-long stay in Naples, Florida. Mom and Dad’s presence in DeKalb surprised the Pirates’ 16th-year hoops coach.
“For years I’d been encouraging my parents to spend more time in Florida in the winter and they didn’t even last five days this year,” Eric Millstone said. “The first thing I said to them was, ‘You’re giving up your time in Naples for this?’”
Yes, they did. Good thing, too. Mr. and Mrs. Millstone witnessed Palatine’s 55-53 victory, a result that secured the program’s first state finals appearance. Ever. Susan kissed Eric on the cheek afterward and Doug, 82, gave Eric, 52, an I-couldn’t-be-prouder-of-you hug.
Palatine (28-8) faces Normal Community (31-5) in a 4A state semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center in Champaign. Doug and Susan wouldn’t miss it for all of southwest Florida. Or for the world.
“Eric’s team isn’t afraid of anything, of any team,” said Doug Millstone, who had to watch, with Susan, Palatine’s Elgin sectional final win over Stevenson via live streaming from the Sunshine State on March 1. “It’s led by two seniors (6-foot-7 forward Connor May and 6-3 guard Tommy Elter), but they’re all playing such good basketball at the most important time of the season, and they’re all receiving incredible energy and support from the school’s students and the community.”
Doug Millstone, who coached boys basketball at Buffalo Grove from 1990-2000, has a smile that’s quicker than a point guard’s first step. He and Eric (BGHS, ’90), an assistant under former Palatine coach Ed Molitor for eight seasons, have the same sense of humor: clever, smart, sneaky.
But their coaching styles? Not so similar. Night-and-day different, the patriarch’s sideline mode akin to a slam dunk compared to the son’s finger roll.
“Eric got his demeanor from his mother,” Doug said. “He’s calm, even-keeled. A friend of mine once told me, ‘I can never tell if Eric’s team is up by 10 points or down by 10. He’s composed, no matter what.’ But when I coached, I was … .”
Doug then sought his wife’s help.
“Susan,” he asked, “how would you describe my coaching demeanor?”
“Demonstrative,” she replied.
“Yeah, demonstrative sounds about right,” a chuckling Doug said. “Use that word.”
Look for placid Eric Millstone to steer his two-time reigning Mid-Suburban League champion Pirates (a combined 72-28 since the start of the 2021-22 season) steadily for two more games this weekend. Way back in November, it’s hard to believe now, his hope for the team that would become the best squad in program history was a modest one.
“I just wanted us to be competitive in MSL games,” he said. “We had lost several good players to graduation. We had Connor and Tommy back and three question marks. Guys (sophomore forward Tony Balanganayi, sophomore guard Darrin Dick and junior guard Carter Monroe, to name a few) eventually found their roles and became comfortable in them. Each trusted the other four on the floor more and more each game.
“Our team’s confidence grew.”
His team’s postseason success disrupted a certain couple’s trip.
“Nothing,” Doug Millstone said, “is more important than family. Nothing.”