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wilmettebeacondaily.com sports
the wilmette beacon | January 23, 2020 | 35
Youth Sports
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 2 days ago
St. Francis Xavier brings out the pros
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
Many people growing up in
Chicago in the 1990s recognized
the names Billy Wennington
and Dave Wannstedt,
even if they weren’t sports
fans.
Wennington played for the
Chicago Bulls from 1993 to
1999 and won three NBA
championships with the team,
while Wannstedt served as
the Chicago Bears coach from
1993 to 1998.
Since their careers have
ended, both Wennington and
Wannstedt have transitioned
over to the media side of
sports, with Wannstedt becoming
a broadcaster for Fox
sports since 2014 and Wennington
the color analyst for
Bulls radio broadcasts.
The two can now add
on other titles, as both are
coaches at St. Francis Xavier
School in Wilmette. The seven-foot
Wennington coaches
sixth- and seventh-grade girls
basketball, while Wannstedt
was the defensive coordinator
of the junior varsity football
team, a team made up of fifthand
sixth-grade students.
Both coaches are in their
first year coaching at the
school and each had his own
way of getting to the Wilmette
school.
It was a way for Wannstedt
to be closer to his son, while
Wennington went out and
helped his son Rob, who is the
athletic director at St. Francis
Xavier.
“I really didn’t have any
intentions on helping out
coaching or doing anything,”
Wannstedt said. “I didn’t
know what to expect. I just
wanted to go up and got to see
my grandson play. And then
once I got up there, the head
coach and the other coaches,
were so nice to me. And they
basically said, ‘Any chance
you could help out a little bit?’
“So I said the days that I’m
off I’ll come up and help out.
So I would go up every week
and pick the linemen, take the
big guys, and have some fun
with them.”
Having coached at both the
collegiate and professional
levels and then going to teaching
kids who have never really
played the game of football
was quite the change for the
former Bears coach.
“I just kept it as fundamentals,”
he said. “I just think that
they got to have a good base.
They got to have good fundamentals
if they’re going to
play this thing. And that’s kind
of where I kept my focus. I really
never got into anything
more advanced than that.”
As a parent, Wannstedt had
two daughters, so he never had
the opportunity to coach sons
in football growing up. Of
course, coaching in the NFL
and college probably would
have prevented that as well.
But now, as a grandparent,
he has six grandchildren, five
of which are boys. His eldest
grandson is the sixth-grader
at St. Francis Xavier, playing
tackle football for the first
time.
“I’m going to be coaching
for as long as my health holds
up,” Wannstedt said. “I plan
on coaching these young kids
for a long time.
“I think seeing him enjoy
it (was the most rewarding
part). As a kid, the first time,
not knowing how to put his
shoulder pads on and then seeing
him at the end of the year
where he got better at some of
the skills you have to do and
enjoying it. I would say when
you make improvement and
you enjoy what you’re doing,
that was awful rewarding.”
From one hardwood to the
other
Bill Wennington, a former Chicago Bulls player, gives
instruction to some of his St. Francis Xavier girls basketball
players. Photo submitted
Unlike Wannstedt, this
wasn’t Wennington’s first goaround
at coaching children.
When Rob was growing up,
he’d take his turn coaching his
teams and others as well.
The big difference between
then and coaching St. Francis
Xavier, a school that draws
kids from Wilmette, Winnetka
and other surrounding
suburbs, is that he would be
coaching girls this time, not
boys.
“My dad’s been around basketball
for 30-plus years and
he’s still a radio broadcaster
for the Bulls,” St. Francis
Xavier athletic director Rob
Wennington said. “So he’s got
a very busy travel schedule because
he travels with the Bulls
when they’re on road trips.
“But coaching has always
been part of his DNA. And
the cool part was when I was
a young kid growing up, I was
fortunate enough to have him
coach me a few years and it’s
something that I know he’s
aspired to get back into, but
didn’t really know how that
path would open up. When I
was in search of a few coaches,
we just had a conversation
and he said ‘Can I take a look
at your schedule? Will I be
available enough in my own to
make it work, and could you
give me a couple assistants to
fill in gaps when I’m unavailable?’
So we did just that and
it worked out for him to coach
one of our sixth and one of our
seventh grade girls teams.
And actually, I was at (a recent)
game and it’s cool to see
him enjoy himself and give
back.”
With the school having a
no-cut policy and the recent
merging with St. Joseph, St.
Francis Xavier has 17 basketball
teams this year, meaning
that gym space has been limited.
So much so, that the team
really only practices a couple
days a week, sometimes only
once.
The limited schedule has allowed
Wennington to be present
at many games and practices,
so that hasn’t been an
issue for the teams.
Like Wannstedt, the return
to coaching has been a rewarding
one.
“For me, it’s (about) growing
the game,” he said. “I love
the game of basketball and
what it’s done for me. It’s enabled
me to obviously have
a better life because I played
professionally. If I can grow
the game by getting young
people to love it, and they participate
in it even more, then
that’s fantastic.
“Really, just the day to day
interaction with the kids is
phenomenal. They’re great
kids. You get to see them literally
grow in front of you.”
Basketball Power Rankings
The 22nd Century Media Sports
Editors ranked the North Shore area
boys and girls basketball teams in our
coverage area throughout the season.
BOYS BASKETBALL
1. Loyola Academy (Previous week: 1)
Loyola lost its second game of the season
in a tough game against Homewood-
Flossmoor, one of the better teams in the
state.
2. Glenbrook South (2)
The Titans held on to take down New
Trier in a tough battle before defeating a
strong Mundelein squad in the Lake Zurich
MLK Tournament semifinal.
3. New Trier (3)
New Trier almost pulled off the upset
at Glenbrook South before taking care of
business against Oak Lawn at the War on
the Shore. .
4. Highland Park (4)
The Giants won a good conference
game against Vernon Hills before falling
to Naperville Central..
5. Lake Forest (5)
Lake Forest couldn’t hang on against
Lake Zurich.
6. Glenbrook North (6)
The Spartans saw just how good Evanston
is in a conference loss.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
1. Lake Forest (1)
The Scouts hit a tough stretch, losing to
both Libertyville and Hersey as they try to
heal up before the postseason.
2. Loyola Academy (2)
Loyola rebounded with strong wins
against Regina and Trinity.
3. New Trier (3)
The Trevians looked strong with wins
over Niles West and Glenbrook South.
4. Glenbrook North (4)
The Spartans saw just how good Evanston
is in a tough loss against the Wildkits.
5. Highland Park (5)
Highland Park lost tough games to Zion-Benton
and Vernon Hills.
6. Glenbrook South (6)
South couldn’t keep up with New Trier.