Role models? You don't have to look far to find them

As a reporter, sometimes you ask a question and think you have a pretty good idea what the answer will be before you hear it.

Like when you ask Batavia boys basketball coach Jim Roberts about the keys to a nice offensive game, I bet he'll point to his team's good ball movement.

Or when you want to know what St. Charles North girls coach Colleen Brennan thinks about her senior forward Jen Bell, I'll put my money on Brennan calling Bell one of the best athletes she's coached who could excel in any sport she tried.

So when I set out to take an informal poll of area players about who their basketball role models were, someone they looked up to and might have been an inspiration for their love of this sport, there were a couple answers I figured to hear.

Michael Jordan. Candace Parker.

I did get those, just not as often as I figured. And I was surprised by some of the names I didn't hear, like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

Then there were names I'd never heard of, like Steve Haugen, Jeff Block and John Foens. But to be honest, I'm glad I now know who these people are and why they are so important to these athletes.

If someone would have asked me this question back when I played high school basketball in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I wouldn't have had to think twice before naming Kenny Battle - who I knew then as Flight No. 33 on the Flying Illini and not as the West Aurora legend he is around these parts.

Alas, not a single Illini made this list. Without further ado, here's a sampling of the role models who helped shape some of the top area basketball players.

Girls choicesYou always hear about the impact Candace Parker - a Naperville Central High School graduate who went on to stardom at the University of Tennessee and now in the WNBA - has had on revolutionizing her sport, how much she has helped create more interest among younger players.That includes several from the Tri-Cities. "I watched her play here when I was younger," St. Charles North senior Dana Sibley said. "Definitely someone I look up to. She was such a great player and I loved watching her play."Parker held a camp in St. Charles that Sibley attended where she was able to meet her favorite player."That was real cool," Sibley said.Batavia senior Kelsey Stone also chose Parker, and not just for the style Parker plays on the court but the way she handles herself off of it."I still look up to Candace Parker. She's a local girl, a good role model, got good morals to her but she's also a good player on the court," Stone said. "I knew I had the potential and I said, 'Hey she can do it on the court' and that's who I looked up to.'"Like Sibley, Stone also had a chance to see Parker play in person."My club team was playing there (in Naperville) and I got to watch her practice a little bit. Her work ethic was just phenomenal."As a side note, I worked in our DuPage County bureau of the Daily Herald while Parker was in high school and I can second everything Stone said about Parker off the court.Of all the All-Area banquets we've had and the dozens and dozens of heartfelt, well-spoken speeches our captains have delivered at those banquets, nobody did it better than Parker. Not necessarily because she was the best speaker, but because you could tell how much time she put into her speeches (she had four of them as our captain four straight years). She came up with a new theme each year, always humble and deflecting the spotlight from herself to parents, teachers, coaches and teammates.I also can remember a Friday night in the spring after Naperville Central's season had ended. A time I'm sure most high school kids would be hanging out with their friends, Parker wanted to come by the Daily Herald office and see how we put out our sports section. She remains the only athlete I've covered that has asked to do that. I can assure you there are about 999 more exciting ways to spend a Friday night, but there was Candace helping us take softball scores and track results.So I was glad to see her influence has spread to Tri-Cities players we write about today.Parker wasn't the only WNBA player chosen. Kiley Hackbarth, a St. Charles North senior, selected Diana Taurasi."I always looked up to men's college basketball. I loved watching it. As role models, Diana Taurasi is phenomenal. I like her style of play. She's quick and a great guard, If I were to pick a role model that would be it."Rosary senior Stephanie Haugen chose her father Steve."I've heard stories since I was young from by grandparents about how good of a shooter my dad was," Stephanie said. "I really look up to him as a scorer and I want to be like him so it's good he's in my house and he takes me everywhere and watches my games so whenever I don't feel like I'm shooting right or playing well he's always there to tell me what I'm doing wrong."Kara Schnier, a senior at St. Charles East, mentioned a couple players - including the only Saint to tally 1,000 career points until Lexi Baltes did it this year."When I was in middle school I used to come to basketball games here and I loved the way Claire Sheehan played," Schnier said. "I loved her. She was probably my favorite high school player."Batavia junior Maddie Sychta also stayed local with her answer."I can't say a specific person but the older girls like Kelsey (Stone) and Sara (Fruendt) and all those girls, I wanted to be able to play with them. That was my motivation," Sychta said.Boys weigh inMaybe it's a Batavia thing, because Bulldog junior Jesse Coffey gave an answer similar to Sychta."I think just most of the guys who have come through Batavia High School I've watched," Coffey said. "Nick Fruendt, David Bryant, Ben Potter. They really set a good example for me."Why does Coffey choose to focus on those players and not someone like Kobe Bryant?"They are more real kind of," Coffey said. "You can follow them easier and they are from your hometown."St. Charles North senior David Johnson concurred, mentioning his teammate from last year Jon DeMoss before adding another important name."The person who most influenced me about basketball was my grandpa (John Foens)," Johnson said. "He just taught me everything I knew and made me love the game. I also shot around with him in the summer."For Geneva senior Nolan Block, he doesn't have to look farther than his father Jeff."My dad has been my coach since I was 5 years old and he's always been preaching defense and hustle," Block said. "That's what I've been getting by mostly in my high school and middle school career."That's not to say players today don't also follow college and professional stars."Chris Paul, he knows how to control his team and plays hard," Marmion senior Greg Askwith said. "Ever since Wake Forest (where Paul played college basketball) I've watched him and enjoyed him."Like Paul, an All-Star with the New Orleans Hornets, Askwith is a point guard. He said there's parts of the game he can improve on by studying Paul."Just watch how he hustles and how even when he doesn't have the ball he controls his team," Askwith said. "That's something I struggle with."Just when I thought maybe I was dating myself, that kids today are too young to remember Michael Jordan, St. Charles North junior Josh Mikes helped me feel not quite as old."Definitely Michael Jordan, probably every kid's," said Mikes, who like Block is the leading scorer on his team. "I remember watching his games as a little kid with my dad, seeing that guy and wanting to be like him."Though judging from this group of players, the grade school standouts around the Tri-Cities probably want to be more like Mikes, Coffey, Haugen and Hackbarth than whomever they see on TV. And maybe that's not such a bad thing.jlemon@dailyherald.com