Streamwood, basketball will miss retiring Prose's presence

There are some constants you just know you're always going to see when you walk into a gym.

At Streamwood, one of those is assistant girls basketball coach Carl Prose.

For the better part of the past 33 years Prose has called Streamwood High School and coach George Rosner's girls basketball program his second home. For the past 13 years, since he retired from his "real" job with International Harvester, you couldn't get to Streamwood early enough to beat Prose, always the first guy there for practice or a game.

But at the end of this season, the longtime Sabre will hang up his whistle, opting for more family time.

"It will be very emotional," Prose said of retiring. "The real emotions will probably come next November when I'm not coming to the gym everyday. I've been associated with Streamwood High School since it opened."

Prose and his wife of over 54 years, Mary, had four daughters graduate from Streamwood. The youngest, Lynda, played for the Sabres and was later an assistant coach for Rosner.

"When she was in seventh or eighth grade George came to a game at Tefft (Middle School), we got to talking and that started our relationship," said Prose, who last year was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a friend of basketball.

"I've always enjoyed basketball. I played basketball all my life until about 15 years ago when I had some back problems and the doctor told me I probably shouldn't play anymore. It's been a lifelong love of mine and the thing is that everyday I walk out of this gym feeling I learned something new."

Rosner admits it will be very different without Prose around.

"He does everything and so much of it behind the scenes," said Rosner, now in his 34th year as a varsity coach with 29 of those at Streamwood. "He's a good sounding board for me and he doesn't sugarcoat things. He tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. He's going to be missed, that's for sure."

Assistant coach Angie Oates, who also played for the Sabres, admires Prose's loyalty.

"His overall dedication to the sport and the school," she said. "There's nothing keeping him here except that he loves the game and he wants to share that with the girls. He's always got something to say that I haven't heard after a game."

Prose has not only seen and helped coach some of Streamwood's best players, he and his family have had close relationships with several of them, including Donna Groh, a 1987 graduate who went on to play at Northwestern and lived behind the Proses growing up.

"And I'll remember (2014 graduate) Hannah McGlone for a long time because her family goes to our church," Prose said. "She became a dear friend."

Prose, who grew up in Morrisonville, Ill., and attended Southern Illinois University, will attend his 32nd straight state tournament this season, and he says watching the evolution of the girls' game has come down to one major change over the years.

"The athleticism of the girls," he said. "I can remember one of the first state tournaments I went to and East St. Louis Lincoln was playing Marshall. Both of those teams had one player who was outstanding. Now the teams downstate have five players who are outstanding. The athletes we have today are much superior to what we had 15 years ago."

Andrews watch: Huntley junior Ali Andrews is closing in on the school's scoring record, which was set by 2004 graduate Samantha Mader, the 2003-04 Fox Valley Female Athlete of the Year who went on to play volleyball at Purdue. Illinois recruit Andrews has scored 1,566 career points, leaving her 89 points short of tying Mader's record of 1,655. Andrews is averaging 20.8 points per game this season and Huntley has seven regular season games still to play.

Another record watch: Westminster Christian junior Maddie Versluys' march toward her school's career scoring record has been put on hold as she has missed the Warriors' last five games with illness. Versluys has 1,132 career points with Stacey Mahlman's 1,219 standing as the record. Westminster coach Fred Versluys said earlier this week he was hoping his daughter would be back in the lineup Saturday when the Warriors host Luther North.

Battle for the lead: Despite its loss to St. Charles East in an Upstate Eight crossover Thursday, Bartlett has a bigger prize still attainable but it will take an upset win at Neuqua Valley Friday night. The Wildcats are 9-0 in the UEC Valley (18-5 overall) and have won 5 straight since losing to Huntley at the Montini Christmas tournament. Neuqua beat the Hawks 48-41 in Bartlett on Dec. 11.

"They're a talented team with a tough defense," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team is 13-7 overall but 6-1 in the Valley. "We gave them a good battle but now we're going on the road."

In other conference races, a key Big Northern East battle is at Burlington Central next Tuesday when the Rockets (15-3, 6-0) host Johnsburg (14-7, 7-1). Central, the two-time defending division champion, has won 30 straight in the BN-East. BC defeated Johnsburg 49-34 on Jan. 6 in Johnsburg.

Seeding time: Seeding for the Class 1A and 2A postseason is next week, with classes 3A and 4A the following week. In Class 1A Harvest Christian (16-3), which has won 10 straight and is ranked No. 9 in this week's AP statewide poll, will host a regional the Lions figure to be the top seed in. Harvest also hosts one of the sectionals that feeds to a supersectional at Lewis University.