Taking a big step up and changing his mindset, this year our very own Coach John O’Bryan has won NIC-10 Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. Coach O’Bryan had spent almost all off season working on ways to better the program and change the outlook that people had on the Freeport Girls Basketball Program.
Now if you know O’Bryan, you know that he changes every student and athlete that comes under his wing and helps them to thrive in the next chapters of their lives. He spends countless hours watching the game and teaching the game. Walking around the school, you’ll definitely hear him making a joke, but once he steps in that gym… it’s a whole different domain. Those from outside the circle may think he is intense because he gets a bit loud, but they will never understand the love that he does it with and the effort that he puts into those girls and their program.
After coming back into the season with a losing record he said, “going into the season I knew with what we had returning on top of who came into our program that we were in a position to compete for a Northern Illinois Conference Championship (NIC-10). We also wanted to put ourselves in a situation where we wanted to earn our respect as a program. The team we had returning was going to make some noise around the area, but we wanted to be recognized as one of the best programs in the entire state.”
This team surely was recognized with not only the help of O’Bryan and his staff, but the support they had around them. With that being said, we ended the season with two All Conference athletes, Aaliyah Martin and Paityn London.
Coach O’Bryan really sees the best in all of the girls and he really does everything in his power to be able to watch them all succeed and get what they work for. O’Bryan inspires his players to work harder for our goals, he always tells us stories about him growing up and he gives us insights on his peers that he played with and how they’ve grown. He always tells us that he didn’t get to where he wanted just by showing up to practice, but by putting the extra work in and helping his team succeed as well.
His response in getting named NIC-10 Coach of the Year really showed his selflessness, “It is an honor to be named Coach of the Year in the conference this year. For myself personally, it is not a goal of mine to win this award each year. So many great coaches in our conference and great teams that it is hard to bring home an award like this. This is a program award and I would not have had this given to me without my entire coaching staff, my family, and the wonderful young ladies that play basketball for me.”
O’Bryan is someone who focuses on the work and dedication to get to the outcome, in which he proves in not only the words he speaks, but the actions he carries out.
While asking him about going into this season, he surely didn’t forget to leave his staff out by saying “As a coach, I knew my coaching staff and I had to take a step forward with our group to get the girls to buy into the same belief. We know that we would need to be more stern in practice, make our expectations higher, and ensure we are holding every player to a high standard. This mindset for us was that we are in a win now situation so we are going to prepare every single kid to be excellent each day.” As you can see, they did just that.
This year, the Lady Pretz Girls Basketball program took a significant turn around as they changed their losing record on all three levels to a winning record for all three teams. On top of that, the program had placed top 4 in the conference on all three teams, with a 2nd place finish for varsity, 4th for JV, and 3rd for F/S. This is the first time since 2002 that all three levels of this program have walked out with a winning record.
Not only does O’Bryan shape his players into the people they are today, but he believes even more that they do the same. “The girls I coach are the reason I am who I am. They make me the coach I am everyday. I am blessed to have this award, but I want more as a coach.”
O’Bryan has shown that it’s not all about the award, it’s about the work that was put into achieving this award. He has exemplified that he, his staff, and athletes are capable of more and are hungry for more. It is a guarantee that O’Bryan and his athletes will come back even stronger next year!
As he says, “I want to win a regional! I want to win a Sectional! I want to win a Super Sectional! I want to win a State Championship! Those are the awards I want to win right there!”
There is no doubt in our minds that he will be able to guide the girls to fulfill any of those steps and stages.
