This has been a busy spring when it comes to the high school basketball coaching carousel, including some surprise openings around the area.
Here is a rundown of a few of the significant coaching changes.
Rick Romeli takes over at Brother Rice
After three big winning seasons under veteran coach Conte Stamas, Brother Rice was in search of a new head coach this spring.
The program turned to Marian Catholic coach Rick Romeli to replace Stamas, the 2024-25 City/Suburban Coach of the Year.
Romeli departs his alma mater, taking over a Brother Rice program that finished second in the state this past year and won 30-plus games in each of the past three seasons.
“It was obviously a difficult decision given it was my alma mater,” Romeli admitted. “Marian is a special place.”
But Romeli couldn’t ignore the potential at Brother Rice and what was best for his family at this time.
“I live in Palos Heights, my kids go to school there, so from a family standpoint it made a lot more sense as far as location for us,” Romeli said of the move. “As far as Brother Rice, it was more of it being a perfect fit situation for me rather than simply leaving Marian.”
Romeli knows there are some big shoes to fill at Brother Rice. It’s a program coach Pat Richardson put on the map with a long run of success over two decades. Then Crusaders legend Bobby Frasor reloaded the program and in his six years as coach averaged 21 wins a year. Stamas then won a whopping 92 games over the past three years.
“Some great names have coached there,” Romeli said of the former Brother Rice coaches. “Following coach [Mike] Taylor, the best coach in Marian history, has hopefully prepared me a little for that.”
Romeli spent the past two years at Marian Catholic, where he guided the Spartans to a 48-19 record. He previously spent 18 years as a college assistant coach at St. Xavier and Governors State.
Now he takes over a marquee name in the Catholic League.
“The tradition they have there and how well they support athletics stood out to me when evaluating the job,” Romeli said of Brother Rice. “You can see their passion and basketball is extremely important to them. I’m excited for the opportunity to take over a program with such great tradition.”
Luke Yaklich returns to high school coaching
You want to talk about coming full circle?
Luke Yaklich has been away from high school coaching for the past 12 seasons. Now he heads into the busy month of June leading a team at that level once again, albeit in summer camps and shootouts.
After four different college coaching stops, including leading the UIC program as the head coach from 2020-24, he’s back in the high school game. Yaklich was named the head coach at Lincoln-Way East, taking over for the retiring Rich Kolimas, earlier this spring.
The move from the college ranks to high school is a path not often taken by a coach. Yaklich, however, was ready for it at this time.
The past year afforded Yaklich the time to see his grandchildren who live in Bloomington, watch his son play basketball at Roosevelt University in Chicago and run up to see his college daughter at Wisconsin, where she’s the head manager for the men’s basketball program. That important family time is difficult to do as a college coach.
Yaklich already has a familiarity with high school basketball and a passion for it.
“I am more than comfortable returning to coaching high school basketball,” Yaklich said. “It’s the perfect timing for me and the ideal spot at Lincoln-Way East. I’ve always had a passion for high school basketball. I am extremely excited for this opportunity.”
Yaklich, who had head coaching stints at both Sterling and LaSalle-Peru, last coached high school basketball at Joliet West. He led the Tigers to 24 wins and a sectional title in 2010 and a regional championship in 2013 before landing an assistant job at Illinois State that spring.
After four seasons at Illinois State, two at Michigan, which included a Final Four run in 2019, and one season at Texas, Yaklich was named the head coach at UIC.
“I pour my heart and soul into coaching and teaching, no matter where it’s been,” Yaklich said. “I’ve kept that mentality. I’m all in. Players want to feel and see the passion and energy, and I want to apply that and use relationship building just as I always have in any coaching spot.”
Addison Trail hires former star player
Addison Trail didn’t need to look far in finding a replacement for Brendan Lyons, the longtime coach who has led the Blazers program since the 2007-08 season.
Former Addison Trail star Cory Little, who has been the school’s girls basketball coach the past six seasons, was named the new boys head coach this week.
Little, an all-state player at Addison Trail in the 1990s, was an assistant coach under Lyons before taking over the girls program. Content and excited about leading the girls basketball program, Little says he didn’t have his eyes on the boys job.
“I learned so much under Brendan when working on his staff,” said Little, who played collegiately at UIC following his all-state career. “But the boys job wasn’t on my radar.”
But Little says he also has always wanted another opportunity to coach boys basketball again. And for it to be at Addison Trail, where he and his family members have all attended and played, is a bonus and blessing.
“This is the place I’ve grown, first as a student and player, then as an educator and now as a coach,” Little said. “I am ecstatic. I wake up in the middle of the night and ask myself, ‘I’m really able to do this? I really get to do this?’ I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to run this program.”
Retiring Phil LaScala was Lake Forest’s best
Lake Forest is still in the process of hiring its next coach. Whoever it is will be taking over for the winningest and most successful coach in Lake Forest history.
Phil LaScala, respected for his team’s great discipline and regarded as one of the better high school basketball coaches in the Chicago area, announced his retirement earlier this spring. He’s been the head coach at Lake Forest for 19 years, highlighted by the current run of four straight regional championships, which included three sectional title game appearances in a row, and four consecutive 20-plus win seasons.
LaScala’s 2008-09 team, featuring all-stater Matt Vogrich, finished 22-5 and was the first Lake Forest team to ever win a conference championship.
But it was LaScala’s 2014-15 team, led by Evan Boudreaux, that was the best of the bunch. The Scouts finished 28-3 with all three losses, including a sectional title game defeat, coming to Jalen Brunson’s state championship Stevenson team.