Sunday Slam: Barrington Grad Energizing Chicago Kids Through 1000 Watts Sports
Six Coaches with MSL Ties Win Boys Basketball Regional Titles; Smith Looking for Another Big Year with Benedictine Baseball; Schmacks Teaming Up at Valpo Baseball
Brandon Watts didn’t get charged up from coaching college football at North Park University after his playing days there ended.
Watts’ dad Donald and his older brother Marquis Lovings envisioned him helping a much younger group find joy and success through sports. So they encouraged Watts, who was a senior wide receiver on Barrington’s 1998 Class 6A state runner-up, to follow a path that led to him starting 1000 Watts Sports in Chicago in 2016. The objective of 1000 Watts is to give kids from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade the chance to learn and have fun playing the sports they enjoy.
Marquis, who graduated from Barrington in 1995, would be proud of how it has turned out for his younger brother. Sadly, Marquis did not get the chance to see it happen as he was murdered in a home invasion in Rolling Meadows in 2006.
“It’s like my brother Marquis and dad told me, this is really your passion,” Watts said. “That’s what steered me in this direction before he passed. Marquis saw this was a passion of mine and really pushed me toward it.”
Watts always had a tremendous passion for sports. He played the 1998 football season at Barrington with a broken thumb but it had a memorable ending personally when he returned a fumble for a touchdown in the state championship loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. He also played varsity basketball for the Broncos.
Watts’ football playing career took him to Western Illinois and North Park, where he was a standout wide receiver and kick returner, and then to indoor football’s Chicago Slaughter coached by Bears’ Super Bowl legend Steve McMichael. He also coached at North Park for two years while he was working on his Masters’ in business. But he didn’t have a passion for college coaching like his Barrington teammate and friend Kyle Derickson, who is now the associate head coach at Eastern Illinois.
“I figured out it just wasn’t necessarily for me,” Watts said.
It was while Watts was playing with the Slaughter and working on his MBA at North Park that he started helping out with a summer camp at Hi-Five Sports in Chicago. He wrote a business plan for a kids’ K-8 program for a class at North Park, where his professor was the aunt of legendary NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, that had a profit and non-profit side.
“I started to realize this was the direction I wanted to be going,” Watts said. “She said, ‘Brandon this sounds great but this will never work. You’re going to be spinning your wheels trying to get the non-profit side. You need to start a profit business and once you get to a comfortable space you can reach out and do the philanthropic side.’”
Watts finished grad school and focused on working in finance during the recession. Then he was offered a position with Hi-Five and worked for them for nearly eight years while writing a flag football curriculum for them. But he also had a desire to branch out on his own.
So he started 1000 Watts Sports with a football program and ended up with 106 kids. Watts said he now has nearly 300 kids in his winter flag football program. They have programs for multiple sports and also put together birthday parties and field trips.
But Watts said one of the important aspects of 1000 Watts Sports is it’s driven by unrealistic dreams and pursuits of future stardom or college scholarships.
“When I started, word got out and people knew me and trusted me,” Watts said. “Football was the cornerstone of what we do. I played it the longest and coached it so it comes as second nature to me. I think one thing people appreciated about me in that process at K through 8, and I try to get through to families, it’s more advantageous to teach a love of the game than to try to sell a dream.
“As a coach I don’t want to be saying, ‘Hey, I’m sure we’ll make your kid start for their basketball team or turn out to be the next Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes.’ I want to teach kids the love of the game. We add music and if we can make it fun, folks enjoy it and all week the kids talk about coming back to football, coming back to basketball, and it’s not all just about the sport.
“We want you first to develop a love for the game. We want you to want to be there. We want you to feel like you’re coming to something bigger than sports.”
Amada Giordano and her husband Dean feel that way about their sixth-grade son Aiden’s participation with 1000 Watts Sports. They live in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood and Aiden’s first involvement was at a 1000 Watts basketball camp with friends that was held at Walter Payton High School about six years ago.
Giordano said Aiden, who plays football, basketball and baseball, thought it was cool to go to a camp named after arguably the greatest player in football history. But they soon found it was really cool to be part of the 1000 Watts program.
“Brandon is the real thing and I can’t say enough wonderful things about him,” Giordano said. “During camps he’ll go right in with the boys and start playing. When we first started going he had a handful of coaches and now he has a ton of them. He’s starting to hire more female coaches with a lot of girls going to his camps and the kids he hires are so impressive.
“They are prepared for any situation. He hires really, really quality people and he takes it really seriously. I love how it’s so organized and the kids are also learning skills.”
The ability to provide an outlet for kids after COVID hit in March 2020 was a big boost for 1000 Watts. They couldn’t do indoor activities but they held a summer camp with all protocols being followed and did the same with football into the winter and January of 2021. After a snowstorm the 1000 Watts staff went out and shoveled lines for a football field so kids could play.
“Parents were so appreciative to give their kids an option to get out and socialize and get 60 minutes of play,” said Watts, who has young sons Preston and Parker with his wife Reasheal, a nurse practitioners manager at the University of Chicago Hospital.
Giordano said it was during COVID when she started advocating for Watts and what 1000 Watts was providing for kids.
“Coaches give them plays and little techniques and even though there’s six games going on, Brandon is walking around and making sure everything is going right,” she said. “He always has his pulse on what’s going on. We never have to worry about Aiden going to camp with Brandon. They have people who are well-trained. With other camps you don’t have the same sense of confidence.”
One of the keys for Watts is to make sure the kids want to keep coming back by focusing on what sports should be all about in the first place - especially at the younger ages. Kids aren’t pigeonholed into specific roles because of size or athletic abilities or pushed aside because they haven’t developed as quickly as others their age.
“The pressure isn’t there and they can come out and compete and have fun,” Watts said. “We’ll stop the game and everybody will be on the field and be dancing. That’s the essence of what children at this age have to develop, a passion and love for the game. Our coaches know their job is to make sure every kid gets an opportunity to score a touchdown and make sure every kid gets the ball.”
And much like it was suggested when he did his initial business plan at North Park, Watts now has the ability to use 1000 Watts to help others. They partner with Village Leadership Academy, a middle school in Chicago’s South Loop, and other Chicago Public Schools on sponsorship programs so kids who are less fortunate also have opportunities to participate in after-school activities and camps.
“People can donate and send kids to our weekend program and I’m able to work out my philanthropic aspirations to work with inner-city youth,” Watts said. “Parents are gratified that we got this going for them and we are able to do it more affordably depending on their socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Especially being a black male in Chicago, for me it’s integral to the success of what 1000 Watts really is to help kids of different backgrounds. To keep them safe and make it fun goes to the mission of who we are and what we do.”
It’s a mission Marquis would be thrilled to see his younger brother Brandon Watts fulfilling.
Super Six Titles for MSL Boys Hoop Alums in Regionals
Six Mid-Suburban League products, who are now boys basketball head coaches, won regional titles Friday night.
Rolling Meadows won back-to-back regionals for just the second time in school history under Kevin Katovich and won one on its home floor for the first time as it topped Loyola 52-44. When it won consecutive regionals in 1988-89, Katovich was finishing his playing days at Conant for all-time MSL boys basketball wins leader Tom McCormack. Minnesota-bound Cameron Christie also moved into second place on the school’s career scoring list behind his brother Max.
Next up for Meadows is a chance to avenge a late-season 2-point loss to Glenbrook North in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Class 4A sectional semifinal at New Trier. Katovich also became the ninth boys coach to win 300 games at an MSL school or schools this season.
Bryan Zyrkowski has produced consecutive record-setting regional title seasons at Libertyville with a 67-55 victory over Warren. The outright North Suburban Conference champions matched last year’s single-season record of 27 victories under Zyrkowski, who also played for McCormack at Conant and graduated in 2000.
Zyrkowski is now 117-57 with 3 regional titles in 6 seasons at Libertyville and the top seed in the Barrington 4A sectional now faces the hosts in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal. Zyrkowski and Katovich also squared off in a non-conference game three weeks ago with McCormack in attendance.
Scott Hennig got his third regional title in six years at Geneva in dramatic fashion when Jimmy Rasmussen hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner to knock out defending 4A state champion Glenbard West 43-42. Hennig started on Hoffman Estates’ 2003 AA sectional finalist coached by 300-game winner Bill Wandro.
Geneva is now 116-60 under Hennig and went 32-2 with a sectional title in 2019. The Vikings (23-9) are seeded third in the Bartlett sectional and face No. 2 Wheaton Warrenville South in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal.
Mike Featherly got his second regional title as Hampshire’s boys coach with a dramatic 53-50 double-overtime upset of sub-sectional top-seed DeKalb in 4A. Featherly was a senior starting guard when Palatine finished 18-10 in 1998 under 500-game winner Ed Molitor.
Featherly won a regional title in his first year in charge of the Hampshire boys in 2019-20 after a successful six-year run as the school’s girls head coach (111-62). Next up for the Whip-Purs (17-16) is a trip to Rockford Jefferson for a 7 p.m. Wednesday semifinal against perennial power Rockford Auburn, which beat NIC-10 champion Rockford Guilford in the regional final.
Tony Young claimed his second 3A regional title in as many seasons in charge at Fenwick and hit the 20-win mark 70-47 over Payton. Young was a three-year starter at Schaumburg for Bob Williams and as a junior was one of the stars and leaders of the 2001 Class AA state champions.
Young also coached at East St. Louis and Marmion and worked as an assistant coach for the legendary Rick Majerus at St. Louis University and at Southern Illinois. The Friars are in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal at DeLaSalle against the top-seeded hosts.
Brett McAllister has continued the tradition of success at Rockford Boylan as it won its fifth regional title in his seven years in charge by coming back from an early double-digit deficit to beat Prairie Ridge 74-65 in 3A. McAllister graduated from Barrington in 2003 and was a key player off the bench as a junior for Mike Obsuszt’s AA supersectional team.
McAllister started as an assistant at Boylan under Hall of Famer Steve Goers and is now 149-61 with five 20-win seasons since taking over in 2016. The Titans have a big challenge when they travel to Burlington Central for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal against the top-seeded hosts and 6-9 Belmont University signee Drew Scharnowski.
Smitty Ready for Another Big Season with Benedictine Baseball
Adam Smith has been a part of successful teams throughout his life as a player and coach at Schaumburg High School, Carthage College, Concordia University Chicago and Benedictine University. Smith has never had a losing season or won less than 20 games in 11 full seasons as a Division III head baseball coach.
The 1995 Schaumburg graduate is now 306-154 in his career after Benedictine opened this season by splitting a doubleheader Saturday against Millikin. He was 179-53 in five seasons at Concordia (2011-15) and is 127-100 since taking over at Benedictine in 2016.
Benedictine was ranked third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) preseason baseball poll, voted on by league coaches and athletics communication professionals, behind Aurora and Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Aurora received 21 of 26 first-place votes and Benedictine received 3 first-place votes in the poll.
Benedictine is coming off its best season under Smith as it went 26-13 and 20-4 in the 13-team NACC to finish a game behind Aurora. MSOE won the NACC postseason tournament.
Double Schmack Attack at Valparaiso
Valparaiso head baseball coach Brian Schmack, a Rolling Meadows grad, and his son Kyle, a junior first baseman-outfielder, are accomplishing something that hasn’t been done in the school’s athletic program since 1998. Kyle is the first athlete to play for one of his parents at Valpo since 1998 when future NBA player and March Madness legend Bryce Drew starred for his dad Homer.
Valpo started Brian Schmack’s 10th season in charge of the program at 3-2 and Kyle is making a big impact by hitting .286 with 2 homers and 5 RBI and three 2-hit games. Kyle hit .292 last year with 7 homers and 27 RBI and hit .264 with 24 RBI in 2021.
Brian Schmack pitched for Meadows, Lloyd Meyer and the Arlington American Legion and Northern Illinois for four years (1992-95). He then embarked on a professional career that was highlighted by going 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in 11 games for the 2003 Detroit Tigers.
Can MSL Girls Turn First State Tournament Double Play?
Barrington and Hersey reaching Class 4A supersectionals was a historic feat for MSL girls basketball. It is the first time two teams from the league have reached the Elite Eight in the same season since the girls tourney started in 1977.
This is the third time the MSL had two girls teams reach supersectionals in the same season. Those were under the two-class format when reaching the supers were the Sweet 16.
In 2000, Buffalo Grove beat Barrington 55-52 in the AA Schaumburg supersectional. BG went on to win the state title.
In 1980, Buffalo Grove and Elk Grove made supersectionals. BG beat Crown 63-51 and took fourth in the state and Elk Grove lost to Sterling 63-59. The Grenadiers would come back the next year and win the state title.
Anthony Donatucci Takes the Reigns of Conant Football
Anthony Donatucci isn’t going to need time to learn the landscape of MSL football in his new job as Conant’s head coach. He replaces Bryan Stortz, who stepped down after 6 seasons.
Donatucci has taught at Conant and been part of the football staff as an assistant since 2009. He also was a standout linebacker at Buffalo Grove before graduating in 2004 and was an all-conference linebacker at Quincy University.
Donatucci has also coached wrestling, softball and track at Conant. His uncle Mike is the winningest head coach in MSL history with 153 victories at Fremd and Hoffman Estates.
Triton Basketball Falls in Tough Nationally Ranked Showdown
Triton College, ranked ninth in NJCAA Division I, rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit but fell 87-84 to No. 6 Indian Hills in Iowa on Saturday night. Ethan Pickett scored a game-high 36 points on 14-for-20 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range as the Trojans (21-6) had an 8-game winning streak snapped.
Triton, led by second-year head coach and Buffalo Grove grad John Clancy, now gets ready for Region IV postseason play as it looks to make a return trip to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
North Park Basketball Caps Turnaround with CCIW Title
North Park basketball has a rich history with five NCAA Division III national championships (1978-80, 1985, 1987) but achieved a first Saturday night when it won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament title with an 83-75 victory over Elmhurst, last year’s national runner-up. The CCIW postseason tourney started in 2006.
North Park had won only 26 games total in the previous five seasons but is 22-5 under first-year head coach Sean Smith. Twins Jalen and Jordan Boyd, from now-shuttered basketball powerhouse St. Joseph, scored 23 and 11 respectively to help lead the Vikings to their first NCAA D-III tourney berth since 1990.