They are all itching to get started — officially.
Several high school basketball coaches around the Chicago area have taken over programs since the conclusion of last season. But thus far it’s been about introductions, summer leagues, camps and shootouts since their hires last spring.
With practices starting in four weeks, here is a look at the five most prominent jobs that opened and were filled.
Kenwood
Out: Joe Mason
In: Mohammed Cookbey
Kenwood flourished in Mason’s only season as head coach, helping the Broncos to the program’s first-ever city championship. Now Cookbey, an assistant at Kenwood the past four seasons, takes over.
Even with major defections, including star Devin Cleveland leaving for a prep school, it’s a team that is poised to win right away in what is a very winnable Public League. Damari Stephens, a physical and bruising 6-4 guard, is among the best players in the city.
Homewood-Flossmoor
Out: Jamere Dismukes
In: Brandin Brown
For years Homewood-Flossmoor has been recognized by those in the prep hoops community as one of the top high school basketball jobs around. With a strong tradition, terrific facilities and top talent, it’s a marquee job with rich basketball resources.
Dismukes led the Vikings to their first state championship two years ago. After winning 81 games in three seasons he took a college assistant job at LIU-Brooklyn.
Brown, who is a 2007 H-F graduate and spent the past three years as an assistant at Bolingbrook, now gets his shot at a job where virtually every coach, from Don Laketa to Roy Condotti to James McLaughlin to Marc Condotti, has regularly won 20-plus games.
The first-year head coach will lean on returning sophomore point guard Darrius Hawkins.
Lincoln-Way East
Out: Rich Kolimas
In: Luke Yaklich
The retired Kolimas was the only basketball coach the program has known since East opened as a four-year school in 2001. Now the Griffins turn to a former Division I college head coach.
Yaklich returns to the high school ranks after building his coaching pedigree at the college level –– first as an assistant at Illinois State, Michigan and Texas and then as the head coach at UIC.
Can Yaklich take a basketball program to new heights at a football-dominant school?
Brother Rice
Out: Conte Stamas
In: Rick Romeli
All Stamas did before stepping down last spring was win 92 games in his three seasons and reach the Class 3A state championship game, falling to DePaul Prep last March. Stamas, the 2025 City/Suburban Hoops Report Coach of the Year, was a highly-successful veteran coach who maximized the talent at Brother Rice.
Now Romelis, who was the head coach at Marian Catholic the past two seasons, takes over a program with a whole lot of tradition and history that was built under Pat Richardson, Bobby Frasor and Stamas.
Lake Forest
Out: Phil LaScala
In: Joe Pettinger
LaScala, the most successful coach in Lake Forest basketball history, stepped down after 20 seasons. That included an average of 24 wins and four regional titles over the last four seasons.
Now the Scouts turn to Pettinger, a longtime assistant coach at Marist. Pettinger has been a part of a lot of winning the past three years as a varsity assistant to Brian Hynes, winning 84 games.