Brendan Savage, the Hinsdale South senior whose mother sued to get him back on the basketball team, played in his first game of the season Friday at Downers Grove South.
Savage received the full high school basketball experience. Mustangs fans booed him when he first checked in with three minutes left in the first quarter. He was the first player off the bench for the Hornets.
When he checked in for the second time, the Downers Grove South fans chanted “mama’s boy” briefly.
Erin Savage, Brendan’s mother, said her son wasn’t nervous to play in his first game after receiving so much attention during the week.
“I asked Brendan if he was nervous, and he said no,” Savage said. “He said he just wanted to play. So if he was relaxed, I wanted to be relaxed.”
Hinsdale South lost 81-56. Savage played nearly half the game. He scored on a layup, missed a shot in the post and grabbed two rebounds.
“It would have been nice if we could have been more competitive in the game,” Erin Savage said. “But I’m sure [Brendan] is excited that he got in, and I’m sure he’s going to be ready to get back to the drawing board and work with the team.”
A Hinsdale South spokesperson was at the game in Downers Grove and said basketball coach Michael Belcaster was not available for comment.
Brendan Savage checks in at the 3:00 mark of the 1Q. First guy off the bench for Hinsdale South. Quickly grabbed a rebound. pic.twitter.com/md3rKQUNJy
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) December 2, 2023
Savage sued the school district and several employees when Brendan was cut from the team after tryouts. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. It alleged that Belcaster cut Savage after tryouts this fall in retaliation for the family filing a complaint, alleging verbal abuse and bullying, against the previous coach, Michael Moretti.
Belcaster was the sophomore coach under Moretti last season.
“I’ve never filed a lawsuit before,” Erin Savage told the Sun-Times on Monday. “Our six kids have been involved in approximately 31 varsity sports at the high school. I’ve never complained about a coach. But we’ve also never encountered [someone] who thinks he can do whatever he wants. That was [Moretti].”
On Tuesday morning, Savage learned that Brendan was back on the Hinsdale South team as a result of the lawsuit. The Hinsdale Township School Board made the decision in a meeting Monday night.
The school district didn’t give her any guarantee that Brendan would receive playing time. The lawsuit hasn’t been dropped yet.
“It’s late Friday night, so I haven’t called anyone yet,” Savage said. “We’re just gonna see how things go. We’ll continue to communicate with our lawyer and take it from there.”
Hinsdale South hasn’t released a statement at any point. A school-district spokesperson said the district doesn’t comment on legal matters.
