Grant honors Oler with 'W'
Grant's boys basketball team produced a performance Lee Oler would have admired.
After dedicating the school's gym to the Grant and Lake County basketball legend, the Bulldogs earned a 62-54 victory over Wauconda on Friday in Northern Lake County Conference play.
Senior guard Mike Huff made four 3s and finished with a game-high 24 points to lead the way for Grant (11-12, 7-4). Joe Gorden contributed 9 points, and Matt McGraw and Henry Kusiak finished with 8 apiece for the Bulldogs.
Wauconda (6-7 NLCC) was paced by Connor Brannick, who scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half.
Oler succumbed to cancer in September at the age of 68.
The year he graduated from Grant, 1968, he was the all-time leading scorer in Lake County history with 1,798 points. He earned all-conference recognition three times and was an all-state selection in his senior year, during which he led the Bulldogs to district and regional titles.
Among the measures of Oler's effectiveness were his career bests in single-game scoring and rebounding: 54 and 34, respectively.
After excelling at Wisconsin and graduating among the top 25 scorers in program history, Oler played professionally before coaching and teaching at Wauconda. Later, he contributed as volunteer assistant to Grant boys program.
He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.