Somewhere hidden inside a sea of people near midcourt Saturday, St. Joseph boys basketball coach Gene Pingatore allowed himself to be engulfed by the moment.
Minutes earlier, the legendary coach had become the only boys basketball coach in Illinois history to win 1,000 games in his career, when St. Joseph recorded an 81-71 win over St. Rita in the first round of the Catholic League playoffs in Westchester.
The 80-year-old Pingatore usually keeps his emotions under check, but as he was surrounded by a group of former players and friends, he shed a few tears over achieving a milestone. Pingatore, who had a 1,000-353 record for a .739 win percentage at St. Joseph after Saturday’s game, is the 15th boys coach in the United States to have more than triple digits in wins, according to the National Federation of High Schools. Marshall girls basketball coach Dorothy Gaters is the only other high school basketball coach in Illinois to have more than 1,000 career wins.
"It’s not about the 1,000 wins," Pingatore said after the game. "It’s about all the people who contributed to the 1,000 wins. All the players, all the assistant coaches and the fans that have followed us. They all made it possible. Not me."
There’s a long list of assistant coaches and players who helped Pingatore amass 1,000 wins. Several of them were in attendance for Saturday’s sold-out battle of Catholic League powerhouses.
Pingatore, in his 48th year at St. Joseph, has 13 sectional titles, six top-four state finishes, two state championships (1999, 2015) and has coached three McDonald’s All-Americans — Isiah Thomas, Daryl Thomas and Deryl Cunningham. He is also recognized nationally for his role in the 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams."
Isiah Thomas, a Basketball Hall of Famer, is the most celebrated of Pingatore’s former players. The 1979 graduate led the Chargers to a Class AA second-place trophy in 1977-78, led Indiana to an NCAA title in 1981 and won two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons. Thomas, who still calls his former coach "Mr. Pingatore," noted that Pingatore instilled at an early age the importance of hard work and not overlooking the details.
Photos from St. Joseph boys basketball coach Gene Pingatore’s 1,000th career win, on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, against St. Rita.
"After practice every Wednesday, we would have to set up the tables and chairs for bingo, but before that in nearly every practice, we would have to run the stairs," Isiah Thomas said. "We would run sprints, then run 25 stairs and then we had to set up the bingo table and chairs throughout the gym. He had a system of setting up the tables.
"We weren’t setting up the tables right, so he literally started setting them up with us. The first time he did them, ‘We were like, Wow, coach is out here setting up the tables for bingo, that’s pretty cool.’ I learned how to be a leader on the basketball team and a winner from Mr. Pingatore. I love him."
Former Ohio State star and current Portland Trail Blazers guard Evan Turner was one of several former Chargers players to congratulate Pingatore on his accomplishment via Twitter on Saturday night.
Current Montini boys coach and former St. Joseph forward Daryl Thomas credited Pingatore for helping him succeed in life. Daryl Thomas, who won an NCAA championship with Indiana in 1987, talked about his frustration of having one side of the gym with permanent stairs.
"Coach has not changed much," said Daryl Thomas, a 1983 McDonald’s All-American. "He’s still a fiery guy. He’s not as loud as he used to be, but just as animated, full of life and basketball as I’ve been around. He used to make us run the bleachers. That was one of the things when you did something wrong; he would say, ‘Hit the stairs.’ I always hated that we had permanent stairs on one side at our school and wondered why they couldn’t fold back like all other schools. No one wanted to run those stairs."
Some changes over time, but still the same coach
Pingatore, a St. Mel graduate, has changed with the times in some respects. There were moments Saturday when Pingatore shook in head in frustration but allowed his players’ personalities to shine. Star sophomore guard Marquise Walker stared at St. Rita’s bench for a few seconds following an early 3-pointer. When some of his players celebrated a momentum-changing dunk by Emanuel Cross for a few extra seconds, Pingatore turned his head away from the court.
Former St. Joseph center Nick Rakocevic, now a USC freshman, said Pingatore molded him into a Division I player.
"Coach Ping definitely means the world to me," said Rakocevic, who was part of the Chargers’ 2015 state championship team. "Everything I have done and accomplished throughout my life with basketball, I could not have done without Coach Ping. He also made me a better person. Words can’t describe what he has done for me and my family and how much he means to us."
Having coached nearly five decades at the same school, Pingatore remains close to numerous former players. Cunningham, a 1989 McDonald’s All-American who came off the bench for the Chargers’ third-place team in 1987, said Pingatore drove to his South Dakota wedding.
"Coach tried to help you with your overall life and put you in the right direction to be successful," Cunningham said. "I couldn’t have been more proud to play for him. He’s a been a great coach and friend to me. With the St. Joe’s family, we got a coach for a lifetime."
Not much has changed at the school on Cermak Road, Daryl Thomas said. The Chargers (14-10 after defeating DePaul on Sunday) are still winning games, and Pingatore is still mentoring young men.
"I make the joke, the light bulbs are the only things that have changed," Daryl Thomas said. "It’s such a historic place. If it was not for that man, I don’t know where I would be, only because of what he meant to me as a coach but also a mentor and role model. He’s always been there for me. I can’t tell you how many players that had success and did not have success that still go to Coach Pingatore. It’s truly a family.
"I’m grateful because he will always be a part of my life. I can never ever repay him for what he has done for me."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
St. Joseph head coach Gene Pingatore
St. Joseph boys basketball coach Gene Pingatore discusses his career as he closes in on his 1,000th win. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
St. Joseph boys basketball coach Gene Pingatore discusses his career as he closes in on his 1,000th win. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
See more videos
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
