Sitter's performance warrants removal of interim tag

Let's say you're a high school boys basketball coach looking for a job.

Maybe you took note back in November when Elgin assistant varsity coach Mike Sitter was named interim head coach of the Maroons shortly before the season opened.

Maybe you thought, 'Hmmm, I should get my resume in order and apply when the job is posted after the season by Elgin Area School District U-46.'

Well, let me save you a stamp.

Yes, the Elgin High job will be posted following the season in accordance with District U-46 red tape.

However, if you think for one minute Mike Sitter isn't going to be installed permanently as coach of the Maroons, you haven't been paying attention to the job he has done to prepare this team for Monday's playoff opener at Larkin.

Streaking Elgin (15-9) has won 9 of its last 11 games in 2008, capped by impressive back-to-back wins against Bartlett and Waubonsie Valley.

At the time of those victories, Bartlett (17-7) was ranked No. 12 in the Daily Herald Top 20 while No. 2 Waubonsie Valley (20-5) was the undefeated leader of the Upstate Eight Conference.

Not anymore.

Elgin is a dangerous team bearing its teeth at the right time because Sitter has the Maroons playing hard-nosed defense, a concept this talented, senior-heavy assemblage of offensive aficionados wasn't always willing to internalize.

This group, led by seniors Armani Williams, Jeremy Granger, D'Angelo Stewart and Kenny Williams has always been an offensive force. But defense? Not so much.

Things have changed.

I saw disbelief in the eyes of stunned Waubonsie Valley players last Friday night after they lost 73-58 to Elgin at Chesbrough Field House. They couldn't believe Elgin had just played such an intense brand of swarming, pressure defense from start to finish.

The Maroons disrupted the Waubonsie offense by hounding the Warriors on the perimeter, denying passes to the wing, getting into the passing lanes and aggressively contesting every shot the league leaders attempted.

Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer lamented that his team came out flat that night. Maybe so, but Elgin's defense never allowed the Warriors to inflate.

Sitter's predecessor, Rob Brault, tried in vain to get this group to play defense on a nightly basis but was frustrated more times than not.

Here's what Brault told me outside the East Aurora locker room on Dec. 20, 2006, after the Maroons gave up 78 points in a loss: "Not one player did anything positively defensively. You can't win that way."

He was right, of course.

Sitter, who became an assistant varsity coach last summer, inherited the same problem when he took over for Brault in November. Not surprisingly, the Maroons played inconsistent defense for the first six weeks of the season.

It wasn't until banged-up Elgin lost 6 of 7 games in December, culminating in a disappointing 1-3 showing at its own holiday tournament, that Sitter was able to get this group to fully buy into his defense-first philosophy.

Since the holidays he has spent the vast majority of Elgin's practice time drilling his team on defense and little else.

A group with loads of talent but no postseason hardware to show for it finally embraced the idea that their collective athleticism can decide games on the defensive end more consistently than it can on offense.

"The kids for the last several weeks have bought into it and our practices have been much, much better," Sitter said. "We'll have scrimmages where we play up to 5 or 6 points and we'll have a hard time getting to 5 or 6 because we're just getting after each other.

"We're at that point we'd rather lose a win than give up a bucket in practice. That's a good philosophy to have. Teams you see go downstate have that philosophy. They'll do anything not to give up a basket and we have to have that same point of view."

An Elgin High player and graduate himself, coaching the Maroons has always been Sitter's dream job. It's in his blood: His mother, Susan, has taught English at Elgin for 30 years and has long manned the ticket booth for basketball games.

Mike Sitter, who is getting every dime's worth out of the Masters degree in Leadership he earned at Aurora University, hit the ground running when he was named Elgin coach. The interim tag never got in the way of how he chose to direct this team. Part of that direction came from wisely picking the brains of mentors.

"I had a lot of advice from some good people," Sitter said. "They said, 'You know, Mike, you might not get a second chance. Do what you think is right every time. Don't make it easy on them. Do what you would do if this job was yours permanently.'

"I've had to ride a few kids and I've had to be a bully sometimes in practice, but in the end it's starting to come around and you're seeing some good performances from some kids who haven't always given good performances.

Sitter told me he didn't want to teach at Elgin until his mother retired because he wanted to be his own person. "But I eventually got tired and couldn't wait that long, so I came home," he joked.

Elgin High is thankful he did.

"First of all, he bleeds maroon and cream," Elgin athletic director Art Rohlman said. "He's been a ballboy here, a player here, a teacher here, a coach here. He's a life-longer. And on the basketball floor they're jelling now."

Does that mean the job will be Sitter's permanently after the formality of re-posting?

"We'll have to formally post the job," Rohlman said. "I don't want to prejudice the process."

Understood, Art.

But let me prejudice it for you.

The job's filled, guys.

Address your resumes elsewhere.