SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
The life of a sophomore basketball coach and teacher isn't glamorous although suburban coaches do make more money.
Two of the greatest high school coaches in the state were Mount Carmel football coach Frank Lenti, who won 11 state championships and St. Joseph head varsity basketball coach Gene Pingatore who won 1,035 games and two state titles. Both men began their long career as lower-level coaches.
No dynasty or good winning program is built without good assistant coaches or good lower level coaches. Jack Gavin who is currently the sophomore basketball coach at Fenton is hoping to help Charles Taft build the Bison into a top program in the Chicago area. Gavin is starting his third season at Fenton after beginning his high school coaching career at Elwood Park going 17-5 at the lower level.
“The sky is the limit for him,” Fenton head varsity basketball coach Charles Taft said about his 25 year-old sophomore coach. Taft coached on the Northwest Side at Notre Dame for Girls and St. Patrick.
“He always had fun,” former Orr point guard Handy Johnson said on his former basketball student. “Jack was super competitive. Jack had the ability to be a good basketball coach because even at a young age he really understood the game. He is a player’s coach.”
To say Gavin grew up in the game of basketball would be an understatement. Gavin played in high school at Elmwood Park and has participated in the Sharks suburban youth AAU basketball program as a player and coach. The Sharks recently stunned the basketball team run by former NFL player Tai Streets.
Off the court, Gavin will start student teaching next year after receiving his masters degree from Purdue. Gavin played for Illinois Benedictine University in Lisle led by Keith Bunkenburg.
“He knows the game of basketball,” Bunkenburg said on his former point guard. “What a great kid. Fenton is lucky to have him.”
Lower-level coaches like Gavin have a big job besides player development. Guys like Gavin are also responsible for recruiting and scouting opponents. One other issue since freshmen play varsity basketball you might have to deal with a lesser talented team at times while the varsity coach is juggling the roster. In the past depending on the league freshmen would participate in both sophomore and varsity games playing limited minutes. Ultimately the job of any lower-level coach is to prepare the player for the varsity.
“It is not about wins and losses at our level,” Gavin said on his job as sophomores coach. “It's hard to win basketball games.”
“I hired him because he was young energetic and willing to learn,” Taft admitted and he has now won over 300 varsity basketball games in his career. “He wasn't a know it all. A lot of young coaches in the game of basketball think they know everything. He does a great job getting our sophomores ready to play on the varsity.”
Fenton (2-9) is struggling so far this season with only two seniors. The Bison finished the week by beating Ridgewood in Upstate Eight while sophomore squad is 4-6 under Gavin in early basketball contests.
The Lakers of the NBA are struggling to figure out what to do with Bronny James, who is son of superstar Lebron James and is currently playing with the big boys after playing primarily in the G League last year. The younger James is averaging only two points per game. The Lakers are looking at possibly adding Rodney Gaston of the Windy City Inferno who leads ABA in scoring. A player, who by the way, the Bulls have declined to sign or even give a tryout.
Gavin had his high school playing career in basketball derailed by torn labrum during his senior year at Elmwood Park in 2018. So, Gavin who was a point guard received an early start on his coaching career.
“It was tough getting hurt in my senior year,” Gavin stated. “I was worried about getting hurt because I wanted to play college basketball.”
Gavin learned the game from Johnson, Bunkenburg, Kelly and his father Pat Gavin who played at Steinmetz and later coached at Fenton. The older Gavin coached in the Sharks basketball program started by Matt Kelly 14 years ago.
Mount Carmel football is probably the most successful varsity program in any sport with 17 championships. Jordan Lynch who replaced Lenti enters 2026 going for an unprecedented fifth straight title after topping Oswego in Class 8A championship game at Illinois State. Lynch is 88-12 with five titles while the lower-level teams were 36-0 this past season.
Last year, St Patrick advanced to state basketball finals for first time in school history winning games 29 games. That group as sophomores went 16-0 in ESCC play.
The landscape of high school sports especially basketball has changed. Freshman now play and start on some varsity basketball teams while 19 year-old kids are playing in the NBA.
Speaking of high school basketball players, freshman Emran Alispahic at Notre Dame will be a player to watch over the next four years.
“He had a high basketball IQ,” Johnson said about Gavin. Handy played college basketball at Nebraska and Southwest Missouri State after playing games in the Red West Section with ORR. “He was always a sponge and willing to learn. Jack picked up things fast and quickly.”
Gavin had interesting suggestion for solving our obesity problem with youngsters who spend a lot to time on computers and cell phones while eating junk food.
“I think more kids need to play sports,” Gavin admitted.
The varsity basketball team under Coach Taft will play at Marengo during the Christmas break while the sophomore squad will play at home in a tournament.
