Rick Romeli was hired to coach boys basketball at Marian Catholic, his alma mater, two years ago and wasn’t looking to leave.
But when Brother Rice came calling, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
Romeli was announced as the Crusaders’ new coach on June 2, less than three weeks after Conte Stamas stepped down following the best three-year run in program history.
“(Rice athletic director) Sean McBride had reached out about a week and a half ago,” Romeli said. “We started to have a conversation.”
Romeli liked what he heard about the school and the program. With an all-senior starting five led by Southwest Regional Player of the Year Marco Gonzales, the Crusaders went 31-7 last season and won their first state trophy after finishing second to Catholic League Blue rival DePaul Prep.
Under Stamas, Rice went 92-16 with three regional titles.
“It’s definitely big shoes to fill,” Romeli said. “They’ve been extremely successful over the past few years under coach Stamas.”
The Spartans had a good run during Romeli’s two years as well. Marian was 48-19 after Romeli arrived following 18 years in the college ranks at St. Xavier and Governors State.
Romeli is in the process of putting together a staff, which he said will include two of his assistants at Marian: Julian Hardy and Mike O’Halloran. He also hopes to retain some of the current Rice staff.
“I would like to keep some of that continuity,” Romeli said.
It’ll be a quick adjustment process. He met with his new players the day after being announced as coach, and jumps right into summer-league play a day after that.
The Crusaders will play one more season in the current Catholic League Blue before the conference absorbs the current members of the East Suburban Catholic Conference — including Marian Catholic.
Although the new conference alignment for the 2026-27 season hasn’t been officially announced, Romeli has heard rumblings.
“The full-circle moment is Marian and Brother Rice are going to be in the same conference,” he said.
He’ll also become part of one of Illinois’ historic rivalries: the Battle of Pulaski between Rice and Marist.
“Once everything is said and done, I think it’ll be arguably the best conference in the state,” Romeli said.