St. Edward athletic director P.J. White found himself in a unique position last spring.
Retiring as the boys basketball coach, but staying on as athletic director, he was in a position to choose his successor on the bench.
His eyes turned a few miles west, to Westminster Christian and its coach, Andy Zielinski.
“It was just kind of by happenstance,” White said. “I was talking to (former Westminster athletic director) Rick Palmer and said I was looking for people, and I said, ‘Do you mind if I talk to Andy?’”
The match was made and St. Edward had a new boys basketball coach.
“We get along really well,” Zielinski said of his relationship with White. “We’ve spent hours since April talking about anything and everything. I think that’s important. I got the offer, and it’s been great. It’s a great school academically. They have a storied tradition for basketball. They’ve had some really good teams.”
White’s eight-year run as head coach ended with a senior-laden team. Zielinski, Westminster’s coach the past three seasons, doesn’t have much varsity experience returning off last year’s 20-9 team.
The lone returning starter, senior guard Danny Parks, tore his ACL in April, but is hoping to be ready for the season. That meant a summer of new players getting used to a new coach.
“We have a lot of young kids that I’m really high on,” Zielinski said. “We’re going to have a lot of competition for playing time. We can play nine or 10 guys next year. I like what we’ve got, I do.”
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One key player will be a transfer, Gio Gonnella. The 6-foot-2 senior guard joins the program from Schaumburg.
“He had a great summer,” Zielinski said. “He just works hard. He’s in the gym an hour before practice every day, going through his routine. He has a great attitude, very coachable. With Danny being hurt, we went through our whole summer without our only returning starter and we did well.”
Even though White retired from coaching, he was in constant communication with Zielinski, who teaches at South Elgin.
“It’s a tough thing because as the former coach, you don’t want to step on his toes,” White said. “Nobody wants a backseat driver. It worked out well that I knew him and we do an awful lot of talking about basketball, which is really fun for me. It makes it easy for me to pop into practice and be a part of the program. It’s nice that he includes me and tells me how things are going.”
Zielinski said he enjoyed his time at Westminster, but he’s also embracing his transition to St. Edward.
“I think we’re kind of rebuilding, but we have kids who can play,” Zielinski said. “Some of our seniors have grown up, and now is their shot. And we have some young kids who I think are really going to help keep the program going the next few years.
“I think we may be kind of under the radar, but I expect a lot out of myself and the kids. We’ll get into the season and see how it goes.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.