After spending seven years at South Elgin, Chaz Taft was somewhat familiar with the Waubonsie Valley program he was inheriting from Steve Weemer when named to the post in late April 2013.
A 19-10 debut season ensued, including a second-place finish in the Upstate Eight Valley, and the Warriors will be looking to offer up a suitable encore in year No. 2 for Taft in Aurora.
“I mean, it was in great shape. You know, everything there was in place when I got there. I mean, it was kind of neat coming there and ‘we got this,’” Taft said. “I mean, they just have so much tradition and in how they do things and stuff like that. I’ve tried to adopt some of the things that Steve did before and stuff like that. I mean, everything was (in place). It was great to see the tradition and stuff that he’d done and we’ve kind of carried over some of that stuff. So it’s been good. It’s been good.”
Losing a pair of All-UEC Valley picks in Jay DeHaan and Nick Karkazis to graduation, along with the departure of second-leading scorer in Matt Gialamas at 10.3 points a game, the Warriors will be led by their one remaining starter from last year, Chris Karkazis.
DeHaan paced the Warriors’ offense with a team-high 14.4 points a game to go along with 5.1 rebounds while Nick Karkazis averaged 10 points a game.
“We lost four starters. The only starter we’re bringing back is Chris Karkazis and our sixth man was Logan Yanisch, so we bring back him,” Taft said. “There was another guy who played last year, Chris McGough, and we bring back him. So all we have is three seniors.”
Chris Karkazis’ 7.03 points-per-game average from last year will be asked to be make a jump as Taft admits there’s some unknowns with his second Waubonsie Valley group.
“We’re going to be real young, which is good. I mean, they’re energetic. We’ll have three sophomores on the varsity and I think that’s a good group of kids,” Taft said. “We have three seniors, juniors and sophomores in the mix. They all gel together. You know, they all like being around each other.
“They all like playing with each other. So that’s kind of a good thing to have when you have kids that you can know they like being around each other and stuff like that. So it helps with our camaraderie. It helps with us playing together as a team and playing together as one and stuff like that.”
Last year marked Waubonsie Valley’s sixth second-place finish in the Upstate Eight since winning its last conference title in 2002-03.
The next task up on the Warriors’ docket to be accomplished is laying claim to their first regional title since Weemer led them to regional titles in each of his first two years at the helm of the program in 2006-07 and 2007-08, respectively.
With Glenbard East and West Aurora joining the UEC Valley this season before the three 204 schools help fill the void the Rams and Blackhawks left in the DuPage Valley Conference next year, the race to the UEC Valley title gets even tougher.
Taft expects nothing less.
“I think the Upstate Eight is the best conference out in the West. … I mean, I know everyone wants to talk about the Valley, but the River is just as strong,” he said. “I mean, they’ve got Geneva. They’ve got St. Charles East. They’ve got Larkin, St. Charles North. They’ve got a heavy side over there too. Yeah, I think the conference, both sides, is unbelievable.
“I think Glenbard East, they were young last year. They got some experience under their belt. You know, West Aurora’s West Aurora. I mean, Gordie and their program (has been) going, I mean, forever. From top to bottom, it’s a pretty strong Valley division. Every game is going to be (a battle). I mean, you take everybody’s best. You know, there’s no team in there that you can slouch on.”
