EG basketball coach Wills opts out
Elk Grove girls basketball coach Jim Wills has told the school he will not be returning to the post he has held the past six years.
After winning 69 of 169 games and getting the Grenadiers to a pair of regional championships, Wills will step down in order to devote more time to his wife Evelyn, daughter Elli (12), who attends South Middle School in Arlington Heights, and son Ethan (7), a first grader at Dryden Elementary School in Arlington Heights.
"I have always preached to my players that family comes first," said Wills, who began teaching at Richards Vocational High School in Chicago, then went to Whitney Young in the early 1990s where he served one year as the head baseball and boys soccer coach. "Now is the time to start practicing what I preach."
A graduate of Niles West and Illinois-Chicago, Wills began teaching math at Elk Grove in 1994. He coached freshman A boys basketball for one year and the sophomore boys basketball team for three years before becoming the sophomore girls basketball coach.
"During the course of my 16 years of coaching at Elk Grove, my children have grown up right before my eyes," said Wills, who also has a master's degree. "In order to spend more quality time with my family, I strongly feel it is time to step away from coaching."
Wills said he could possibly coach Ethan in park district basketball or even little league baseball.
Elli plays travel soccer and is involved in theatre and dance.
"One of my goals when I took over the varsity girls basketball program six years ago was to get the program headed in a winning direction," Wills said. "I believe we have accomplished that. Our feeder program is prospering and having great success. I am confident that the feeder program will continue to foster quality, future Elk Grove High School girls basketball players."
The Grenadiers (14-14) were a young team this winter and enjoyed their best finish (fourth place at 4-6) in the Mid-Suburban East in Will's career. Sophomore Ashley Capotosto (20.3 ppg, 8.9 rebounds) was an all-area selection.
"This current varsity group, seeing that they are still very young, has the potential to do great things and the ability to lead the way toward becoming a championship caliber program," Wills said. "I wish the program the best of luck. I will continue, as always, to be a big supporter and fan of the program. What I will remember the most is being able to coach all the great student-athletes over the years. We had a lot of girls who did a great job in the classroom and gave it their all the court. They've all been a pleasure work with."