SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
It’s always a pleasant feeling to return home as a state basketball champion.
Things have changed for former St. Patrick basketball player Gene Heidkamp, a 1988 graduate who grew up in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood and played for legendary coach Max Kurland.
He competed against Benet, Marist, St. Joseph and Notre Dame, then returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach under Mike Bailey. After 12 years, he became head coach at Nazareth in 2002. He didn’t have much success at the La Grange Park school. Known as a football power, Nazareth has won six state football championships while winning only three regionals in basketball since 1980. In three seasons, Heidkamp’s teams were only 24-57.
So Heidkamp moved on to Benet Academy in Lisle in 2008. A longtime basketball power, Benet won 367 games and qualified for the state finals on three occasions under coach Bill Geist, who also played at St. Patrick. Geist’s successor, Marty Gaughan, who played at Weber, won 259 games.
“I owe my career to Mike Bailey,” Heidkamp said. “I view him as a mentor. Mike Bailey taught me how to coach the high school game of basketball. Mike Bailey taught me how to run a program. There is a lot of Mike Bailey’s influence in our program at Benet.”
At Benet, Heidkamp is a history teacher who is doing well on and off the basketball court. He guided the Redwings to the Class 4A championship last season and his current squad is 20-1 and ranked No. 1 in the Chicago area. His annual return trip to St. Patrick was successful last Friday night as Benet prevailed 53-43 for its 17th consecutive victory. It was St. Patrick’s third loss in 17 games. Benet’s only setback was to St. Ignatius (19-2). Perhaps Heidkamp was recalling last year’s 53-49 loss to St. Patrick.
“It was surreal to coach against St. Patrick,” Heidkamp said after Friday’s game. “It was a great high school basketball atmosphere tonight. St. Patrick has a great team. It is always special to come back and play at St. Patrick. We knew we were in for a tough game.”
Benet used its two-headed basketball monster of 6’8” junior Ed Stasys and 7-foot senior Colin Stack to prevail against the Shamrocks and their twin towers of 6’8” RJ McPartlin and 6’7” Omar Ajanovic. It is rare at the high school level to see four players at 6’7” or taller battling against one another. This was a heavyweight fight until McPartlin picked up his third foul late in the third quarter. The Redwings took advantage with McPartlin on the bench, scoring six straight points to take a 36-29 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“You take a big kid like McPartlin out of the game against their players and it makes a big difference,” Bailey said afterward. “Benet has a really good basketball team.”
McPartlin finished with only nine points in the duel of basketball titans while Stasys scored 14 and Stack accounted for 12 while guard Jayden Wright added 12, including seven in the final period. Ajanovic led St. Patrick with 12.
If the Shamrocks hope to return to State Farm Center in Champaign, they will need more consistent scoring to support McPartlin, who is having a fine season. The road won’t be easy because St. Patrick likely have to beat Loyola (17-4) and last year’s Class 3A champion DePaul Prep (17-3) or Evanston (16-3) at sectional play in Wilmette.
Growing up in Rogers Park, Heidkamp was aware of Kurland’s success at St. Patrick. In his long career, he won 658 games, but he never managed a trip to the state finals.
“I grew up coming to St. Pat’s games,” Heidkamp recalled. “It was such a great environment for basketball and such a great place. I always wanted to come here. Max was a legendary coach but he was even a better person.”
Benet and St. Patrick are coming off banner seasons and could face each other in the Class 4A championship game. Heidkamp lost three state final games before winning in Class 4A in 2025. In 18 seasons, he has posted a 441-109 record. Heidkamp was inducted into IBCA Hall of Fame for basketball players and coaches after last season.
“It was a little bit of relief to finally win a state championship after getting so close in the past,” Heidkamp said. “I was happy for our program and happy for our past and present players who built this program. Winning state championships is great but there are more important things in life.”
Heidkamp has a low key approach on and off the court. You could say he has built Benet into one of the state’s premier programs. He is quick to give credit for his success to Kurland and Bailey.
“I would never say we have the best basketball program in the state,” he said. “I hope we can compete with the other teams. I hope we run a quality program.”
Heidkamp’s chief assistant, John Bonk, has a good read on his boss. “He is very dedicated and committed to every kid on the roster from 1 to 20. He is a super communicator and cares about kids and their success on and off the court,” Bonk said.
“I am not surprised at his success,” Bailey said. “When he was in our program, Gene had that it factor and communicated well with the kids. The one thing he still does well today is communicate with his players.”
It will be March Madness in this year's Class 4A state basketball tournament. The road to repeat as champions won't be easy for Benet.
