William Allen: GHS Teacher Makes Ultimate Sacrifice in WW2

 William Allen was a 1939 graduate of Knox College. While at Knox, he became a political activist. He was part of a large group of students who were unhappy with the school’s “chapels.” They felt that the chapels had become a way for the college to indoctrinate students with conservative, pro-business speakers. His activism led him to take a leadership role as the editor of the Knox Student (school newspaper). His outspoken approach caused some to label him as un-American and a Communist.  

After graduation, he taught three years in Fairview. He moved back to teach at Galesburg High School in 1942. He was an English teacher and in charge of all of the drama activities. At this time, before TV, school plays were performed almost monthly. 

Caitlin Clark’s Comeback, Fever Stun Liberty, Commissioner’s Cup Implications

I wasn’t the only one that was anxious to have Caitlin Clark back. The game set a record for most watched WNBA game. 

Streaks Scrapbook- From 1954 JH City Champs To 1957 Elite Eight

 

In 1954 Hitchcock hosted a junior basketball tournament at Steele Gym. The tourney included Galesburg’s three JH teams- Hitchcock (today Hitchcock apartments), Lombard, and Churchill (still downtown), as well as ROVA. 

Hey Coach- Happy Father’s Day

Mike Reynolds- DeKalb

"I Doubted I'd Ever be a Streak"

The old GHS located just off the square.

This post was originally published Nov. 13, 2011. 

When we think about segregation and racism in America during the 20^th century, most of us in the North immediately turn out thoughts to the South. The reality is that there were many examples of segregation and racism in the North during the 20^th century.

My mother told a story of when my father was coaching basketball in Savanna, Illinois in the 1940’s. Savanna was located about 40 miles from Wisconsin, so definitely the “North.” My father had an African-American player on his team. If the team was going to stop for a meal after a road game, my father would always go into the local restaurant to see if they would serve an African-American. If they would not, he would go back out and tell the team, “The restaurant is full.” And they would look for another place to eat. Having grown up in the 1960’s, I found this story to be a revelation. I was sure that only happened in the South.

Inside Hoops- Learning From Sue Bird

One of the best ways for coaches and players to learn about the game is to learn from the best players in the world. A great opportunity to do this is with Sue Bird’s podcast. Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird drops every Friday. The podcast can be listened to as a podcast or on YouTube. 

Inside Hoops- Pacer’s Plan To Stop The Star

I write this after game #3 of NBA finals. It may well that the Pacer’s plan does not work in game #4 so you decide that this is not valuable. 

My take is that everyone who knows the NBA is in agreement that OKC has much more talent than Indiana. So how is Indiana managing to be up 2 to 1. 

Players Playbook- We Don’t Do That Here

When we think about the transition from JH to HS, it is easy to think about the basketball skills. It is easy to focus on the JH player needs to learn how to become stronger with the ball, clean up their shooting form, not take possessions off, get down in a defensive stance, etc. That is all true- a JH athlete transitioning to the HS must really improve their skill sets. 

The same is true of players transitioning from FS to Varsity. They have to improve their skill sets. All of this is true.

College Playbook- Advice and Insight From First Year Students

I had the opportunity to reach out to 10 Silver Streaks athletes, who graduated from GHS in 2024. They are all finishing their first year of college. Seven of the ten continued to play a sport in college, while three did not continue playing a sport.

These 10 shared their college experiences this year. They talk about classes, time management, high/lows, advice for graduating high school seniors, and things they missed in Galesburg. 

Summer Sports at GHS- Programs and Opportunities

Summer sports programs have been a part of Galesburg High School dating back to the 1960’s. 

With summer programs just getting ready to start, I reached out to GHS varsity head coaches to see what summer programs were available. 

It is exciting to see the opportunities being provided to Galesburg student-athletes.  

Massey Book Club’s Top Choices For Summer

A big thanks to the people who contributed to this booklist to the “Massey Book Club.” I feel like I am the member of the book club who hasn’t read any of the books but you keep me in the club because I supply the wine!!

Galesburg Summer League- Downstate Tradition

This is the 38th year for the Galesburg Summer League. We started the girls basketball league in the summer of 1987, and took one summer off for COVID. 

Previous to GSL, the Carver Center had run a summer league for men’s and women’s teams. Usually there were 3 Galesburg teams and a couple area teams who entered the Carver league. 

We started to take GHS varsity teams up to Maine West to play in their weekend tourneys. I had become friends with the Maine West coach, Derril Kipp- we were both on the All-State board. At the time, Maine West had a league during the week, and ran a couple one day weekend tourneys. We would go up and play, and usually lose badly. It was very obvious the Chicago area teams were very much ahead of us in the summers. They were playing a lot more basketball. 

The One-Sport Squeeze: Pressures on HS Athletes To Specialize

Greg Bennett is a retired Athletic Director at Lewistown High School in Lewistown, Illinois. I asked Greg to share what he did as AD at a small school to develop a culture where coaches, athletes, and parents saw the value of participating in multi-sports. 

Greg not only shares some of the ways he worked to establish a multi-sport culture, but also touched on some of the pressures placed on athletes to specialize. 

Promoting Multi-Sports Participation

 I had a coach share that a coach at their school was telling some players in their sport not to go out for other sports. The coach had a simple question,”How can this prevented and discouraged in an athletic department. 

To answer this question, I reached out to two individuals who were athletic directors. I wanted to know how they developed a “multi-sport culture at their schools. 

Mike Tracey and Greg King share great advice for athletic directors, coaches, and parents. 

Inside Hoops- Slappin’ Glass Podcast w/ Kellen Sampson

Slappin’ Glass Podcast produced another great one with Kellen Sampson, assistant coach for the Houston Cougars. Their questions and his responses make it a must listen to podcast. Some highlights of the podcast—

UNSCRIPTED POINTS

Houston’s Focus is to win “the unscripted points.” This means winning in three areas- 

1- Offensive rebounds

2- Producing turnovers and fastbreak

3- Rebounding and fast breaks. 

All three of these areas involve winning the battle of energy. 

Streaks Scrapbook- Galesburg’s All-Time Best Season

Galesburg’s all-time best team? The debate is on! There are some who say the best team has to be 1959 with Bumpy Nixon, 1966 with Dale Kelley, 1968 with Jim Reinebach, 1998 with Joey Range. And some might claim 1997 with Molly Watson, 1999 with Sarah Larson, or 2000 with Megan Pacheco. 

Caitlin Clark Reveals The Secret To Her Greatness

Clearly Caitlin Clark has drawn the attention of many, many fans- and brought fans to watch the WNBA. Fans analyze her game, and experts analyze her game. So why should I be any different? 

My question is: What is it that makes Caitlin Clark great? 

Parents Playbook- Advice From A Parent

The following is a Facebook post from a parent- giving parents advice on the do’s and don’t’s of being an athletic parent. It may take some courage for parents to read!!

The Architects of Galesburg Basketball

This is a picture of two Galesburg High School coaching legends- John Gillespie and Gerald Phillips. This picture is from the 1935 GHS Reflector. They are talking in Galesburg’s brand new spectator gym in Steele Gym. 

Streaks Scrapbook- The Legacy of Steele Gym: A Galesburg Treasure

According to the monument on the NW corner of Broad St. and Tompkins St., Galesburg High School was moved to this location in 1906. 

Inside Hoops- Pacers & Thunder- 5 Strategies That Will Shape Basketball

NBA teams are quick to imitate the champions in their league. Colleges and high schools then follow. The Pacers and the Thunder share a template that is sure to impact basketball at all levels in the future. 

PACE- Their uptempo offenses are exciting to watch and have worn their opponents out. They run off rebounds like most teams. The Thunder are deadly in creating and running off turnovers. A lesson from the Indiana Pacers is the value of running off the opponents makes. They don’t do this sometimes, they do it every time. Every game it seems that Siakam get 6-8 points off layups after makes. And when he is not beating the other team up the floor, he is wearing them out. 

Possible Impacts- 1) More HS teams develop true rim runners like Saikem. 2) More HS teams work to run out of the net on makes. 

Building Champions In Off-Season- Coaches Share Their Plans

I always enjoyed “summer basketball” when I was coaching. It was a great chance to build team culture, work on individual skills, and experiment with team offenses and defenses. Summer basketball is a more relaxed atmosphere where the focus can be completely on the process not the outcomes. 

I asked some of favorite high school coaches if they would share their approach to the summer. 

Alan Stein’s Expert Advice For Basketball Parents

Alan Stein started at a basketball trainer for pro basketball players. He worked with and helped develop some of the top NBA players. He knows the game and he knows the mindset of the best of the best. 

Today Stein has become a coach for organizations and of leaders in many fields. He shares the most effective and the least effective ways to help build up people. 

I have collected a series of Tweets from Alan Stein in which he shares expert advice for basketball parents. 

Any parent who wants to help their son/daughter reach their goals in basketball, MUST read these Tweets. Stein clearly spells out the do’s and don’t’s of being a basketball parent. 

As you read these- remember, he has been paid lots of money by the best pro players because he knows what leads to success!!

Alan Stein, Jr.‏ @AlanSteinJr Feb 24

Parents who shout instructions to their child during a game do a few things: 1) Undermine the coach 2) Confuse their child 3) Sound like an ass Remember, just because something is UNDERSTANDABLE doesn’t mean it is ACCEPTABLE. Good intentions doesn’t equal ‘right.’

Alan Stein, Jr.‏ @AlanSteinJr Feb 24

I will be attending my daughter’s kindergarten game and my son’s 2nd grade game today. You won’t hear a peep from me the entire time. When each game is over, all you will hear from me is, ‘I love to watch you play.’ Support Coach

2025 Galesburg Summer League Schedule

Galesburg Summer League for girls basketball will tip-off their 38th season on Tuesday, June 3. 

Games are played in Thiel Gym, and in Kimbrough Fieldhouse. 

Admission for adults is $3, while students are free. 

Old School Coaches- Mark Massey’s Blue Print for Success

Mark Massey was head volleyball coach at Clinton High School (Iowa) for 38 years. He had several teams go to State and five win the Mississsippi Athletic Conference championships. He won 232 conference matches which is the all-time best in MAC history. 

He finished his career with his teams having won 818 matches. 

Mark was the Iowa Coach of the Year in 1994 and twice the finalist for National Coach of the Year. He has been inducted into the NW Illinois HOF, the Iowa VB Coaches HOF, and the Clinton High School HOF. 

I have asked Mark’s players and coaches to share why they think Mark was so successful. 

Streaks Scrapbook- Jay Redfern- Molly Watson Inspiring (2003)

One of the most exciting things for a coach is to see the impact that one generation of players can have on the next generation. To see young players looking up to older players as their idols. 

Jay Redfern in 2003 captured this relationship between Molly Watson and younger players. In Silver Streaks Insider, younger players like Jenna Bicego talk about the impact Molly Watson had on her as a player. 

At the time of the article, Molly was a recent college grad and Jenna was a high school players.

Team Chemistry- The Value of Summer HS Basketball

Years ago I was sitting between Galesburg Summer League games with a few of the varsity girls basketball players. While we were sitting there, one of the “stars” of the varsity boys team came up and joined in conversation. One of the girls said,”I thought you guys had games tonight, what are you doing here?”

The guy replied,”I was too tired, I played 18 holes of golf today and I want to rest up for a golf tourney this weekend.” 

After he left, one of the girls made a comment,”That’s why they won’t be very good, they don’t have the commitment to each other that we do.”