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player ready...Although he didn’t know it at the time, Jimmy Copenhaver started his career in coaching when he was in fourth grade after Providence girls basketball games.
Eileen Copenhaver, Jimmy’s mother, is in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and has guided the Celtics since 2004. And Jimmy knew what was coming after each game.
“I’ve been watching film since I was in fourth grade on the couch,” he said. “She would come home and watch film of the games and I would watch on the couch with her. It was always interesting.”
It also paved the way to his future.
Jimmy Copenhaver has been named the women’s basketball coach at St. Francis in Joliet. He replaces John McGinty, who took the head coaching job at Lake Forest College.
Copenhaver was an assistant for four years at Providence and the past three years at St. Francis.
“Having someone like Jimmy, who has been involved with the team during the success that we have had the past three years, bodes well for the future of our program,” said Dave Laketa, a Lemont native and St. Francis’ longtime athletic director.
Under McGinty, the Saints went 61-31 in those three years and made frequent appearances in the Top 25 rankings for the NAIA.
Even as far back as fourth grade, Jimmy shared his basketball opinions with his mother.
“I typically don’t go to bed unless I watch the game, so he would watch the game with me. ” Eileen said. “Sometimes, we watched film on a team coming up.
“Everyone in the house knew when I came home, I had to watch the game. He always had an opinion. Sometimes, it was sarcastic for a fourth grader, but he was always a student of the game.”
Those who have seen Eileen in action know she has an old-school approach. The former head coach at Illinois-Chicago can get animated and loud.
Jimmy? That’s a different story.
“I’m more of a laid-back person — people have told me that,” he said. “But I’m going to hold kids accountable as to what needs to be done. I’ll definitely get more vocal as I get more comfortable.
“Even on the bench, sometimes I’m pretty loud.”
Jimmy spent eight years working in accounting while working as an assistant coach. He wanted to stay involved in basketball.
“I knew a lot of people at Providence and it was a comfortable place to get started and get my feet wet,” he said. “Once I started, I fell in love with coaching right away.”
Eileen could see her son was destined to be a head coach somewhere.
“His passion is coaching,” she said. “He didn’t tell me about accounting strategies. He didn’t give me tips on accounting. That was not where his passion was.
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“He sparked up when he was talking basketball.”
Speaking of talking, the two coaches in the Copenhaver family confer with each other quite a bit.
Eileen has more than 400 wins on the high school level, but she isn’t bashful about seeking advice from her son.
“One of his great strengths is that he knows the technical part of the game,” Eileen said of her son. “I pick his brain all of the time. I call him all the time. I do like his feedback for me.”
Jimmy confirmed that, between his mother and McGinty, he has had two great mentors.
He also added that he and Eileen have no filter when it comes to offering advice and both can take criticism from each other.
“She’s been around forever and has seen everything,” Jimmy said of his mom. “I can talk to her about any situations that come up. I can get advice from her in almost every area.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.