Mike Hutton Post-Tribune

Nov 4, 2023 | chicagotribune.com | Mike Hutton Post-Tribune |Mike Hutton

Everybody that had any connection with Bob Knight has a story. Or even two. Former Bishop Noll boys basketball coach Jack Gabor has dozens of them. They’re indelibly tucked away in his memory bank, where he gets to cherish them forever. Knight was a large man in every way. A former 6-foot-5 reserve for Ohio State, Knight looked bigger in person than his height. He had big ideas, a big appetite and an outsized sense of responsibility. Knight won three national titles — 1976, 1981 and 1987.

Aug 24, 2023 | chicagotribune.com | Mike Hutton Post-Tribune |Mike Hutton

Crown Point football coach Craig Buzea didn’t know if this day would come. He was too busy fighting for his life. Buzea was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on December 6, 2019. It’s all a blur to him. The diagnosis, the subsequent treatment and then the stem cell transplant in July of 2020 are hazy memories. At the time, Buzea, who spent 16 years coaching at Portage and Michigan City, was the football coach at Homewood-Flossmoor. He started at Crown Point in 2021. “I don’t remember a lot of it.

Aug 6, 2023 | chicagotribune.com | Mike Hutton Post-Tribune |Mike Hutton

Kids have options. Gary has nine charter schools and a public high school. Its population is under 70,000, according to the 2020 census. Building a high school basketball program in Gary is about making connections and fostering relationships. No one did it better than former 21st Century boys basketball coach Rodney Williams. Williams and Ricky Haskins, his long-time assistant, were why some of the best in the city gravitated to 21st Century. Williams, 68, died of cancer on July 18.