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Harper's Amarino reflects on 32-year basketball coaching career

After 32 years of coaching, Harper College men's basketball coach Tony Amarino is calling it a career.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," Amarino said. "It was a good ride."

And a varied one.

Amarino spent his early career coaching at the high school level - at Notre Dame in Niles, and at Morton.

Then he had a sustained 15-season run at Morton College before being named the coach at Harper.

"I thought we had some good runs at both schools," said Amarino, who strolled the tartan court at Harper for seven season. "I loved my time at Harper."

Harper athletic director Doug Spiwak will look to Amarino as a consultant in the process of naming a successor.

The former Harper coach is proud of the way the program has been run.

"I thought we did the things the best way we could," he said. "I knew it was time when I didn't go to a high school game this year. Once you start cutting corners, you either do it the right way or don't do it at all."

Amarino won't miss the constant need to find players, which is especially pressing at institutions such as Harper, where athletes have just two seasons of eligibility.

"It's a tough level to coach," he said. "Recruiting is a bear. You have to go out and get the kids.

"The players are a program's life blood. The last couple of years, we got solid kids."

Amarino has seen plenty of changes, including the expansion of the North Central Community College Conference. One thing hasn't changed much - the important of relationships with teams in the immediate area.

"In order to land the desired players, a coach must have a good relationship with coaches in the district," Amarino said. "The thing I appreciated are the (high school) coaches."

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