Tanaka takes over at Minooka

Minooka basketball coach Scott Tanaka talks to player David Manning during the Morris Shootout.
(Liz Wilkinson Allen/Herald-News)

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If, in college football circles, Miami (Ohio) often is referred to as the Cradle of Coaches, then what does that make Neuqua Valley?

How about Land of the Clipboard? Or, The Illinois High School Basketball Coaching Factory?

Todd Sutton, during a successful run at the helm of the Neuqua program, has sent a number of his assistants out in the world to work on their own.

Today, Mark LaScala is the coach at Lisle. Mike O'Toole is the coach at Joliet Catholic Academy.

And Scott Tanaka is cutting his teeth as the new head coach at Minooka.

All three once served in apprentice roles working under Sutton.

"Yeah, but we can't take any credit," Sutton said. "Scott was a great coach before he got to Neuqua Valley.

"He's just going to go to Minooka and do what he did at Neuqua, show great enthusiasm. He's just a great teacher."

Tanaka, 34, was dressed in a white Minooka basketball camp T-shirt, khaki shorts and sneakers on Tuesday at the 23rd annual Morris Shootout, a Minooka lanyard hanging from one pocket.

He sat on the end of the bench -- except on rare occasions when he stood to call timeout. His was the voice of calm resonating from the storm that was the Indians' 4-22 season in 2007-08.

"We're going to push the ball up the court," Tanaka said. "We're going to run a lot of sets. We're going to be very smart offensively. And, defensively, we're starting to grasp it a little bit. We're going to be very good at helping each other out. We're going to be taking a lot more charges during the season.

"We're going to be a team that gets after it, a team that doesn't give up many points during the year. It's been a tough transition this summer. I've been with these kids for four weeks. So, it's been tough trying to put in something new in just four weeks.

"But, as you can tell, we're in every game we play. It doesn't matter who we're playing. And I really do expect some very nice things from this team."

The Indians return a cast headed by the likes of Jake Butler (9.5 ppg./4.0 rpg.), Cody Carter (7.6/3.7), David Manning (10.6/3.9) and Tommy Stokke (6.8/2.8). All gained a baptism under fire last season.

Sophomore-to-be Parker Parzych has been playing with the varsity squad over the summer months. His dad, Scott, was an all-stater on Lockport's undefeated state championship team in 1978. He later went on to play at North Carolina State.

And, to assist Tanaka during his get-acclimated days, Jon Monti has agreed to stay on as a varsity assistant coach at Minooka. His wife died of cancer last summer. Then, after a trying season, he stepped away from the head coaching job for personal reasons.

The progress Minooka already has made under Tanaka was evident in a 48-47 pool-play victory over Lockport and a 60-56 loss to East Aurora.

The Indians played an aggressive man-to-man defense against East Aurora, using ball pressure to occasionally rattle the Tomcats. Stokke twice drew charging fouls in the lane. And, on the other end, his teammates were setting screens, running a motion offense and dropping the ball down in the post for good looks, if not always baskets.

"Coach Monti did a great job last year of preparing them for me," Tanaka said. "It's just the whole thing of learning brand-new stuff. The kids actually are doing a really nice job of learning what we're trying to put in place. And, like I tell them, we don't even have 10 percent of our offense in, and we're still scoring. So, that's a positive to look at."

Tanaka spent time coaching both at Oswego and Chicago Mount Carmel before moving on to North Carolina and then returning to Neuqua Valley. He worked the last four years in the Wildcats' program.

"He's got us confident and believing in ourselves, which is hard to do coming off a four-win season," Stokke said. "But he's not dwelling on that. The biggest thing is for him is to keep our confidence up. These summer things, for us, don't matter much in terms of wins and losses, but in understanding the new system, learning the plays.

"So far, it's been kind of a 'flex' and we've got a 'motion' offense. He says there is a lot more to come. I'm looking forward to that."

"First and foremost, he's a guy that expects a lot out of you in terms of being a good player and a good person, on and off the court," Carter said. "He stresses hard work, playing hard and competing. We haven't had things really working here at Minooka, but I think it's going to turn around. I think all it takes, really, is a summer.

"Most of the guys here were on the varsity team last year. And we're going to have a couple of other juniors, too, that are going to step in. We have experience now. With the new coach, once we get the offensive and defensive philosophies down, I think we'll be able to turn it around and have a good season."

The 'X' factor could be Monti.

Tanaka doesn't consider his presence in the program awkward in any way. Rather, he's tapping into his knowledge of the boys on the team and people in the school district.

"You know, you would think maybe it would be awkward," Tanaka said. "But Jon is as true a professional as you could get. He's really done just a great job of helping me out. It's actually been a huge blessing. He knows the ins and outs of Minooka, the conference, the ins and outs of the summer.

"So, with this being my first head-coaching gig, he's done a great job of helping me out with paperwork. I'm looking forward to working with him. And I truly believe his heart is in helping these kids be successful."

Monti is grateful for the opportunity to continue coaching.

"The guys that we've got on this team -- we went though a lot last year," he said. "We grew quite a bit. It's something -- having gone through that -- I want to see it through. Being on the bench and being able to go through that with them is something that's going to be real rewarding for me. Because I think we'll be solid.

"I think Coach Tanaka will do a real good job. I think we'll be much-improved and we'll do well. He's come in with a real organized system. For the kids, it's a huge learning curve, trying to pick up on it. There's a lot of overlap in terms of the ways we wanted to play when I was the coach and what he wants to do from an offensive and defensive perspective. But it's still a new system."