PROVISO WEST HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
50-YEAR ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

ROY CONDOTTI, Westinghouse & Homewood-Flossmoor – Coach Roy Condotti has been a fixture on the sidelines as both an assistant coach and head coach in Holiday Tournament history.  As head coach, Westinghouse participated in three championship games, including back-to-back second place finishes in 1993 and 1994.  After taking over the Homewood-Flossmoor job, Condotti returned back to the Proviso hardwood and captured the 2003 Holiday Tournament title.

LANDON COX, Martin Luther King – A multiple title winner, Landon Cox guided the Jaguars to two Proviso West titles, 24 tournament victories and eight trophies in 14 years over two stints at the Holiday Tournament.  During a stretch from 1981-1985, King made four championship game appearances, compiled a 14-4 record and won the 1985 tournament title.  Cox returned the Jaguars to the Holiday Tournament in 1993 and promptly won his second crown.

MIKE FLAHERTY, Thornridge – A perennial winner at the Holiday Tournament, Mike Flaherty’s teams won 10 trophies in their 15 years of participation.  The Falcons tallied 39 wins, a first place finish in 1988; a second place showing in 1989; three third places; three fifth places and a pair of consolation titles.  In trophy game competition, Flaherty compiled an impressive 9-4 win-loss record on the last day of the tournament.

BILL HITT, Proviso East – After following coaching legends Tom Millikin and Glenn Whittenberg as head coach in Proviso East’s storied history, former Pirate player Bill Hitt continued the tradition of winning, as his teams won back-to-back Holiday Tournament and state championships during the “Three Amigos” years in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.  As a player and coach, Hitt saw the Pirates win in 32 of 45 games while competing in the Proviso West event.

LOWELL LUCAS, Proviso West – In addition to being an administrator of the Holiday Tournament from 1970 to 1993, Proviso West basketball coach Lowell Lucas put together impressive numbers as well, on the hardwood.  The Panther mentor led West to three championship titles in 1975, 1984 and 1992.  He ranks second on the all-time list for tournament games won with 56.  He improved the Panther program which had never had a winning season prior to his arrival to one of the most respected in the state winning 433 games at Proviso West in his 23-year coaching career.

TOM MILLIKIN, Proviso East – Although the tournament was only in its fourth year in 1964, Proviso East basketball coach Tom  Millkin had two Holiday Tournament titles under his belt in his first two Christmastime appearances.  The Pirate coach guided his school to ten straight victories in his first ten tournament games, coached in five championship games over six years, put together the best win-loss percentage to date of any coach in tournament history as Proviso East won 24 games while only losing three over a six year period.  Millikin's teams captured Holiday Tournament titles in 1963, 1964 and 1968.

WILLIAM “WOLF” NELSON – In nine years Wolf Nelson was as productive as any other coach in Holiday Tournament history.  During that span the Admirals won three titles and captured 25 wins, and amassed seven tournament trophies.  Farragut never lost an opening round game during their tenure and in addition to their three championship titles, they placed second, third, fourth and fifth one time each.

RON NIKCEVICH, Riverside-Brookfield & Lyons Township – Coaching two different teams in the Holiday tournament at Riverside-Brookfield and Lyons Township, Ron Nikcevich won four titles.  In 1969, his first year with the Lions, his team went 31-0 and became the third straight Proviso West Holiday Tournament champion to win the state tournament later that year.  Nickevich won three Holiday Tournament titles in his first five years with Lyons Township, and won his last championship in 1982 – making him the first coach to capture tournament championships, in three different decades.

GENE PINGATORE, Saint Joseph – Saint Joseph coach Gene Pingatore holds just about every imaginable coaching record in Proviso West Holiday Tournament history, including marks for most championships won and most games won.  Pingatore’s teams secured nine Holiday Tournament titles, including four in a five year stretch from 1977-1981, and the tournament’s only three-peat from 2004-06.  He has also coached 14 first-team All-Tournament Team players.  In 1998-99, Pingatore’s team captured the school’s first ever state championship.

GLENN WHITTENBERG, Proviso East – Glenn Whittenberg coached at Proviso East for thirteen seasons and won four Holiday Tournament titles during the seventies in 1970, 1974, 1976 and 1979.  His teams won 35 of 49 games and sixteen players made the All-Tournament Team first five under his tutelage.  Whittenberg’s 1973-74 team, despite finishing fourth at Proviso West, captured the state championship later that season. 

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