Hickory Creek Coach Greg Rigoni honored by Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame

Hickory Creek Middle School teacher and coach Greg Rigoni is being honored as career coach by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame. He will be recognized at the Hall of Fame banquet in the Illinois State University Ballroom on April 27.  He has been an IBCA member since 1983.

Mr. Rigoni has worked with student athletes in the Lincoln-Way area for over 32 years. He has taught physical education and health education, as well as coaching various sports at Frankfort Junior High School and Hickory Creek Middle School in District 157-C. He holds the record for the longest tenure and the most wins as a basketball coach in 157-C.  He has coached both boys and girls basketball and also coached one season of freshman girls basketball at Lincoln-Way Central High School. 

Under his direction, Frankfort students have won six Des Plaines Valley Conference titles, including the 1995-96 season where the eighth grade boys’ team went undefeated with 30 wins and 0 losses.  In the same season and again in the 2002-03 season, the team won the prestigious St. Raymond Holiday Tournament in Joliet. This year his team won the Illinois Elementary School Association 4A Regional Championship. His career record includes 471 wins and 352 losses.

In 1995, Mr. Rigoni was awarded the IBCA District 8 Junior High “Coach of the Year” award.  Along with being the Head Boys Basketball Coach for the past 32 years, he was the District 157-C Athletic Director for 23 years and Head Boys Volleyball Coach for six years.  This year is also his thirty-third year as Head Track Coach.  Last year he served as Honorary Chairman for Lincoln-Way East’s Medieval Classic holiday basketball tournament.

Throughout his years as a coach, Mr. Rigoni is known for always placing the student first instead of only focusing on wins and losses. His athletes not only benefit from his knowledge of the sport, but more importantly by his teaching of life skills such as teamwork, cooperation, communication, winning with class and losing with grace.

Mr. Rigoni was recognized for his IBCA Hall of Fame award by the District 157-C Board of Education on March 11. Hickory Creek Middle School Principal Dr. Kevin Suchinski stated, “Mr. Rigoni has taken the time to not only be a coach, but a mentor to his players.  He has spent countless hours nurturing and guiding his players to display outstanding character as well as playing at their highest level.  We cannot begin to express our gratitude for his dedication to the students of District 157-C.”

Greg and his wife Karen have lived in the Lincoln-Way area for the past 24 years with their son Chris, a Lincoln-Way East graduate.