SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
Mike Bailey is a self-described gym rat at 71 years old who loves the game of basketball. He is addicted to watching basketball games and practices. Bailey also enjoys everything that takes place off the court, like recruiting and game planning and summer basketball. Most of all, he loves teaching the game to his players during practice sessions. And he has no intention of doing anything else.
“I am not retiring at the end of the season,” Bailey said, putting an end to rumors to the contrary. “I’m just getting started.”
“Mike Bailey has all the qualities that you are looking for in a head coach,” said former Weber and Elgin basketball coach Jim Harrington, who had Bailey on his staff at both schools. “He is hard working, loyal and dedicated. Whether Mike is young or old, he is always trying to get better as a head coach.”
Bailey, who began his hjgh school coaching career with Harrington at Weber in 1979, will begin his 32nd year as head coach at St. Patrick in the Shamrocks’ annual Thanksgiving tournament. He has won 583 games at the school on West Belmont and one of his goals is to surpass the record of 658 victories established by his predecessor, the legendary Max Kurland.
“I just keep going,” said Bailey, who recently underwent hip replacement surgery. “As long as I have energy, enthusiasm and health, I will keep coaching. I don’t think I would have retired if I had won a state championship last year. A lot of people ask me that question. Honestly, if we had won, I wanted to come back and coach this group of kids because I had promised them and their parents that I would be their coach. I think that I am a better and more prepared basketball coach now at this stage of my life.”
Last season, Bailey guided St. Patrick to 29 victories and third place in the Class 3A tournament. The Shamrocks lost to Brother Rice in the semifinals, then came back to rout Chatham Glenwood for third place.
“It was probably the most proud I have ever been of any team I have coached, to come back and win third place after losing 24 hours earlier,” he said.
Twelve players return from that 29-8 squad, including starter RJ McPartlin. The Shamrocks will begin their quest for a return trip to Champaign on Monday, November 24, against Chicago Public League power Dyett, the defending Class 2A champion.
“This team knows how to win basketball games,” Bailey said. “It expects to win. They are very motivated to get back Downstate.”
The road back to Champaign won’t be easy. It became more difficult when the Illinois High School Association placed St. Patrick in Class 4A with defending champion Benet and neighborhood rival DePaul Prep, last year’s Class 3A champion, which also has been moved up into Class 4A tournament. St. Patrick might have to beat both schools to reach the championship game.
Meanwhile, Bailey has been proud to follow in Kurland’s footsteps. Kurland built the Shamrocks into one of the state’s most successful programs at St. Patrick playing his signature 1-3-1 zone defense. St Pat's always fell short in conference play, finishing second to coach Gene Pingatore’s St. Joseph teams. The one thing that Kurland couldn’t do was advance to the state quarterfinals and gain ticket play to at Assembly Hall in Champaign. Kurland retired in 1994 after losing to Lyons Township in the York sectional championship.
“It was an honor to be chosen to replace Max Kurland at St. Patrick,” Bailey said. “Max was very nice to me when I came to St. Patrick. I didn’t replace him. I followed him.”
Bailey has a different philosophy playing strictly man-to-man defense.
“Max Kurland was one of the greatest guys in the coaching profession. He had a heart of gold,” Harrington said.
Bailey, a graduate of Gordon and DePaul University, joined Weber in 1979 as Harrington’s sophomore coach. He was head coach at St. Gregory in 1984-1986, then head coach at Dundee-Crown in 1986-1990. Then he went to Elgin to assist Harrington in 1990-94. In 1992, when Steve Pappas left Gordon to become head coach at Deerfield, Bailey applied for the job. Rich Kolimas was hired to replace Pappas. When Kurland retired in 1994, he brought his expertise to St. Patrick.
After losing four times in the supersectional round before finishing third in the Class 3A tournament last season, marking the first time that the Shamrocks have qualified for the Final Four. The achievement isn’t lost on Bailey or his staff. Why retire when you still have goals to accomplish?
“It means the world to advance to the state finals for the first time in school history,” he said.
Basketball is a family affair in the Bailey household. Mike’s daughter Kelly is the official scorer for the Chicago Bulls while son Brandon is an assistant coach for DePaul’s men’s basketball team after spending time with the Boston Celtics in the NBA.
After the upcoming Thanksgiving tournament, St. Patrick will open its regular conference season in a televised matchup against Notre Dame of Niles. This is the last season of the ESCC in basketball. The Chicago Catholic League has merged with the East Suburban Catholic. Next season, St. Patrick will join Marist, Benet, DePaul Prep, St. Ignatius, Mount Carmel, Loyola, Brother Rice and Fenwick in a new and very competitive conference featuring three divisions.
Mike Bailey can’t wait to be a part of it.
