| By Cody Cutter, NISB Publisher [email protected] (Note: Republish of NISB Article from April 2008) When discussing the most prestigous records in Illinois high school boys basketball, several come to mind. Charles "Chico" Vaughn's 3,358 career points. Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin winning four state titles in high school. Mark Peterman's seven state tournament trophies. Dick Van Scyoc's 826 career coaching victories. The latter may be the most heralded coaching record in Illinois, but chances are Van Scyoc may not hold that record for too long. Steve Goers and Gene Pingatore are knocking on the door. Like gentlemen, the two coaching legends refrain from basking in all of the glory, but instead give all of the credit to those who have served under them all these years. "It means a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication from a tremendous amount of people," the Titans coach told the Peoria Journal Star's Wes Huett after reaching the mark against Normal West at the Pekin Holiday Tournament. "I really feel proud of everybody who has ever played for me, ever coached with me and put in the time and effort for me to stay in this game for 36 years." ''When you dwell on it, it's not about Gene Pingatore,'' the Chargers coach told the Chicago Sun-Times' Scott Powers after reaching No. 800 against Mundelein Carmel on December 15. ''It's about the program. Because over the years, obviously a lot of people have contributed to the 800 victories. You're talking about a lot of players, assistant coaches, parents, fans, my family. They all contributed in some way." If Goers wins out this season, meaning winning his first state championship in his illustrious coaching career, he would end the season with 817 career wins. Pingatore would end with 819. The two coaching legends have only coached against each other twice. The first time the two met, Boylan and St. Joseph met in the 1986-87 Class AA state quarterfinals: a Charger win. Pingatore had 349 wins at the time, while Goers had 282. The second time was at the 9th Annual High School Hoops Showdown in January of 2006: another Charger win. The two wins Pingatore has over Goers has been the difference for most of the times the two have been pursuing the 800 win mark. The Coaching Record Dick Van Scyoc amassed 826 wins in his 45-year career from 1948 to 1994. He began his coaching career at Hittle Township High School in Armington and after a couple of years moved to Washington, where he remained until 1966. During the rest of his career at Peoria Manual, he totaled over 500 wins until winning his last game in 1994: the one that saw him win his first state championship. Centralia�s Art Trout held the record until Van Scyoc broke it in a game against East St. Louis Lincoln with win No. 811 in 1994. Trout, who coached from 1914 to 1950, holds the all-time record for wins at a single school, which Pingatore is expected to break this season. One of the first permanent faculty coaches, Trout�s career set the standard for this record, and the progression of the record up to that point has not been researched as of this time. Best known for his career at Boylan, Goers has over 675 wins at the school dating back to 1980-81, when he took over the reins from the legendary Dolph Stanley. Goers began his career at Bardolph in 1967, which was his smallest team he�s had in terms of height (Goers would later recall this in 2005). He then served as head coach at Oswego and led the Panthers to a Class AA state appearance in 1974. He coached at LaSalle-Peru and Harvard before coming to Boylan. Pingatore began his coaching career in 1969, when he led the Chargers to a 3-13 record. Goers IS in Second Place According to totals on the IHSA website, Gene Pingatore has two more wins than he is credited for. As of the end of the 2007-08 season, Goers has 815 wins and Pingatore has 814. |
| Boylan's Steve Goers and St. Joseph's Gene Pingatore Set To Make History ... |
| Road To 827 |
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