Let's all just celebrate that GBS beat Simeon yesterday. I never imagined that would happen. I am a proud GBS alum and so are my siblings and my three boys. Coach Ralston is a fantastic coach and teacher. He was one of my youngest's favorite teachers. Ralston taught his honors English class freshman year. We had high expectations when Ralston was hired but never dreamed he would take the program to these heights in 5 years.
GBS has had a smattering of D-1 players over the years. Brad Neimann played two seasons at DePaul before injury sidetracked his career (his son is a D-1 prospect and plays in Texas). Jack Cooley at Notre Dame. Jeff Ryan at NU. Last year we had a Martinelli as a walk on at NU who transferred to St. Thomas but has been injured (a kid from our neighborhood is also at St. Thomas but opted to play for Loyola before Ralston arrived). Nick is going to Elon and of course Cooper.
I never thought I would see GBS ranked in top 10 in the state in hoops, let alone at No. 2 where they should be today. GBS' only loss is to Glenbard West by 3 - the No. 1 team in state. Both Glenbard and Simeon are ranked nationally by Max Preps in the normal school category.
Bottomline - COACHING MATTERS!
Interesting. I went to Glenbrook in 1962-62 and then to South when it opened the next year. I remember voting on the school colors, mascot, etc. We only had freshmen and sophomores our first year, so we played our sophomore games in the night slot. It was certainly a different atmosphere with the domed arena, and that is still unusual for a high school. I was actually the first student basketball manager at GBS. I had tried out for the team as a freshman, but was a short, lousy player, so I figured that was my best route to a letter. We moved to Pa. after my sophomore year, so I never got to see a varsity team there.
Glenbrook was never noted for basketball at that time. They had a decent team my freshman year with an all-league center, Denny Pietrzak. Other notables on that team included Doug Rader, who later played 3B for the Houston Astros and managed the California Angels, and Don Ohlmeyer, who became a top executive for NBC sports. I was surprised to read years later of the Glenbrook North team with Scheyer winning states, and it's interesting that South is a power this year. Times do change.
