Argo High School varsity girls head basketball coach Dan McCarthy with 300th win game ball (Supplied photo)
Argo’s Coach McCarthy scores 300th win
By Carol McGowan
Argo High School head girls varsity basketball coach, Dan McCarthy, has done something not many others can claim. During this last season, he had his 300th win as a coach.
If you’ve ever been to a game at Argo, where McCarthy was coaching, you would notice his calm demeanor on the floor. He watches every move, but never loses his cool.
During time outs, he’s encouraging his team, and always giving them a hand clap for a job well done.
His 300th win happened toward the end of this past season, on January 31. He doesn’t take all the credit, and says hard work is key.
“Getting to 300 means I’ve been around a while, and along the way, I have had some success. There’s also some validation that the years of hard work did pay off. Sometimes, hard work doesn’t necessarily guarantee desired results in the short term. That was certainly the case for me, as it took a lot of years to get the ship moving in the right direction. It’s also validation for the people in my inner circle who also deserve credit for the milestone-my valued and longtime assistant Mike Richler, and my local Junior Argonaut coaches who have developed our young players-John Wiseman, John Miller, and Armando Gamboa.”
McCarthy has been coaching at Argo for 18 years, and is also the department chair for Pupil Personnel Services.
If you ask anyone, be it a player, former player, parent, or co-worker, there’s no denying the respect they have for Coach McCarthy.
It’s a job he works hard at, and says it’s an ongoing process.
“It’s many factors, such as being the hardest worker in the program, setting the highest priorities in building relationships with players, evaluating the program annually, investing in the community, and always looking to improve my coaching, whether that’s X’s and O’s or adapting to the changing trends of society,” he says.
Argo girls basketball has had many award-winning seasons with McCarthy as head coach. They’ve won 13 conference championships combined among all three levels. Five for varsity, six for sophomore, and two for freshmen.
In addition to that, they have had one Regional title (2020), three varsity holiday tournament titles (two Thanksgiving, one Christmas), and a 42-game varsity conference winning streak (2017-2020).
Under McCarthy, Argo has sent 23 players to play college basketball, including Division I and II programs, and he has coached three IBCA All State Academic teams, and mentored two coaches who later became head coaches.
From 2015-2020, McCarthy had an impressive coaching record of 109-37.
There are many memorable experiences for McCarthy along the way.
“The Regional Championship a few years ago is #1,” he says. “Beyond the conference and tournament championships, that was the next step in the progression of the program. Around here, we are a 4A school that borders Chicago, so our road to a Regional Championship is difficult when you are seeing teams like Benet, Kenwood, Bogan, Simeon, Lyons, Fenwick, and St. Ignatius just to name a few. I see some 3A schools playing teams that don’t have a winning record in Regional Championships. For us, finally breaking through a few years ago was the ultimate validation. The seniors I had on that team wanted to win just as badly as me, which definitely distinguished them from other senior classes. I will never forget that senior group—Gaby Beggs, Gabby Lopez, Hailey Lyczak, Alexis Ross, Monster Tovar, and Jessica White.”
Hailey Lyczak, part of that team, won’t ever forget that win either.
“One of my favorite memories of high school basketball was winning our regional my senior year. Three years on varsity, we talked about it all the time and fell short both years. My senior year, we finally did it. It was such an accomplishment for the girls basketball program.”
Lyczak currently plays basketball for North Park University in Chicago.
McCarthy mentioned more memorable times.
“Number 2 would be winning the first conference championship in 2016. You never forget your first conference championship and I was especially happy for seniors Chely Arreola, Fatima Jaber, and Karolina Krzak. As Charles Dickens one wrote, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,’ and those players saw both sides of the fence. So, I was really happy that they finished as conference champions.”
“Number 3, would be coaching Chatori Tyler and Tadriana Heard. I have coached hundreds of players, but these two were on another level. Not sure if I will ever have a chance to coach two players with the elite talent that they possessed. They were instrumental in elevating this program to the next level.”
“Number 4, would be a 42-game conference winning streak. This covered four different seasons and with the exception of one or two games, we were never really threatened along the way. But we never took any opponent lightly and we prepared the same for every game regardless of who we were facing. And, we never talked about the streak because we were superstitious!”
As for what McCarthy would tell students from Argo’s feeder school that hope to play one day at Argo, “Stay active with the Junior Argonaut program. Our doors will be open year-round with opportunities to work on your fundamentals, especially your jump shot. The jump shot is like a golf swing, in that if you are taught the correct mechanics at a young age, you can spend years developing and refining your jump shot to perfection. Also, players that have a deep organized team background usually have no problem working their tails off here for four years-so play on your grade school basketball teams!”
Local News
‘Impressive and beautiful’ eclipse wows Argo students
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Argo High School freshman Nicholas Kokarczyk was feeling pretty good after his solar eclipse debut. “I’ve never seen one personally. It looks like a big frowny face now,” Kokarczyk said around 2:15 p.m. Monday. “It’s better than I expected.” Kokarczyk, 14, of Justice, was joined by roughly 1,900 of his…
Bridgeview condemns wars around globe in new resolution
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch As village officials noted, warring factions in the Middle East and elsewhere probably don’t care much about what happens at the Bridgeview Village Hall. But the village board still took a strong stance against war at its latest meeting. At their April 3 meeting, trustees unanimously approved a resolution that…
Cardinal Cupich celebrates Mass on ‘a special day’ at St. Cletus
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch After waiting patiently in line, Indian Head Park resident Tim Kyzivat enjoyed a rare chance to visit with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich. Kyzivat, 77, was among several hundred people who attended the 11 a.m. Mass said by the Archbishop of Chicago at St. Cletus Roman Catholic Church in La Grange…
Boys Volleyball | Sandburg runs win streak to three with wins over Hinsdale South, DG North
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After a sub-.500 start to the season, Sandburg returned from spring break with two victories, defeating Hinsdale South in three sets on April 3 and needing two sets to take down Downers Grove North the following day. The Eagles (6-4) ran their win streak to three games by topping…
Boys Volleyball | Marist still unbeaten after downing Glenbrook South
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Marist is on a roll thus far this season, and improved to 9-0 after topping Glenbrook South in two sets last week. The RedHawks defeated the previously unbeaten Titans, 25-11, 25-21, on April 4 in Mount Greenwood, giving them eight straight matches that have gone two sets. Marist’s only…
Chicago Fire II to host Indy Eleven in U.S. Open Cup
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Fire II continue winning in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. They will be rewarded by hosting a third-round game against Indy Eleven at 7 p.m. April 17 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Entry to Fire II games are usually free; but tickets for the Cup match…
Red Stars to play in Summer Cup
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent When the NWSL season started, there was a gap in the schedule — created to accommodate international play — that left the Chicago Red Stars without a league game for most of July. But some extra games have been added, as the NWSL and Liga MX are participating in…
College Sports | Sidney Lovitsch is officially women’s hoops coach at SXU
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Sidney Lovitsch was named interim women’s basketball coach at Saint Xavier shortly before the 2023-24 season opened and got a trial year to work with. The trial was successful, as the school announced the interim tag has been dropped and Lovitsch is officially the Cougars’ head coach. SXU finished…
Area natives Kendall Coyne Schofield, Abbey Murphy representing at Women’s World Championship
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Local hockey legends Kendall Coyne Schofield and Abbey Murphy are back with the U.S. women’s hockey team at the 2024 Women’s World Championship. Schofield, a Palos Heights native and Sandburg graduate, is playing in the Worlds for the 10th time. Murphy, an Evergreen Park native and Mother McAuley graduate,…
Neighbors
Capitol Briefs: Senate advances elections bill, measure targeting ‘predatory’ lending
By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would put more controls on certain kinds of high-cost loans to small businesses cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday. Senate Bill 2234, known as the Small Business Financial Transparency Act, targets a relatively new kind of nontraditional lender in the credit…
Law enforcement community honors fallen officers at Illinois Capitol
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Six fallen police officers were honored at an annual memorial service outside the State Capitol Thursday. The Illinois Police Officers Memorial occurs annually on the first Thursday of May to honor officers who died in the line of duty and to support their families. “No one…
Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions
By JERRY NOWICKI HANNAH MEISEL & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot. It’s a move that caused minority party…
After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry. The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make…
Capitol News Illinois partners with ‘Illinois Lawmakers’ program to bring it back to air
Capitol News Illinois announced today it will produce the long-running “Illinois Lawmakers” program this spring, in partnership with longtime host and producer Jak Tichenor. “This new partnership is absolutely critical to providing Illinois residents with reliable, independent, in-depth, up to date coverage from the Illinois Capitol after many newspapers and broadcasters shuttered their Statehouse bureaus over…
Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated
By ANDREW ADAMS & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A year and a half after Republican Darren Bailey lost his campaign to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker, state election officials are weighing whether he illegally colluded with conservative radio show host and political operative Dan Proft in the 2022 campaign. The State Board…
Immigrant advocates tout new report showing benefits of state-funded health plans
By PETER HANCOCK and JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status. Those programs offer health coverage for low-income individuals who would otherwise qualify for…
As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…
Capitol Briefs: State unveils report on racial disparities among homeless populations
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Tackling homelessness requires addressing racial injustice, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The report found that Black people are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than white people. Remedying this disparity, according to the report, would require “long-term…
Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared?
by Meredith Newman, Illinois Answers Project April 16, 2024 This story was originally published by the Illinois Answers Project. The electricity in Mary Buchanan’s home in West Garfield Park was not working – again. The outage lasted four days, starting just after a crew dug up her front lawn to install a check valve in…