Willowbrook Boys Basketball Team Head Coach named IBCA Coach of the Year

Pictured is Willowbrook Boys Basketball Team Head Coach Chris Perkins, who was named as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Class 4A District 7 Coach of the Year on May 5.

Willowbrook Boys Basketball Team Head Coach Chris Perkins recently received a state-level award.

On May 5, Perkins was named as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Class 4A District 7 Coach of the Year. He was honored during a banquet at Illinois State University. Perkins has been a coach with the team for 10 years and has served as Head Coach for the last seven years. He also is a Willowbrook alumnus, class of 2004.

Perkins said the award is based in part on the team’s performance during the season. The Willowbrook Warriors had a particularly successful year, finishing in 1st and 2nd place at several tournaments, taking 2nd place in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division, winning the team’s first Regional title since 2004 (Perkins’ senior year) and qualifying for the finals in the Sectional competition. The boys also beat a school record (which was just set by the team last year) by ending the season 26-6.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by your peers with this title, but this award is certainly bigger than just me,” Perkins said. “It takes the help of so many people to get to this level of success as a team – it takes support from the administration and commitment from the coaching staff and players. This recognition is a reflection of the hard work all of those individuals give to the boys basketball program at Willowbrook.”

Along with his role as coach, Perkins also is a special education teacher with the District 88 Transition Program, which helps individuals ages 18 to 21 who have disabilities learn life skills, obtain job training in a community setting and transition to life after District 88.