Glenbard West basketball is in unfamiliar territory. At no time in its history has Hilltoppers basketball clearly been front and center in the high school basketball world.
Coach Jason Opoka has had to deal with the transition from “very good” to “elite” over the past month, which has to be surreal –– even in the best of circumstances –– considering it’s a relatively unknown basketball powerhouse in Glen Ellyn.
Glenbard West is nationally ranked –– in basketball.
They’re 26-1, selling out gyms and arenas as the No. 1 team in the state. The hype is real, even after losing for the first time at the buzzer to California’s star-studded Sierra Canyon team Saturday night before a sold out crowd at Wintrust Arena.
This team has evolved into the most heavily-hyped suburban team since Jalen Brunson led Stevenson to unprecedented heights over a three-year run from 2013-2015.
There is no question a group of seniors, several who have been playing together for years, are at the forefront of bringing all the headlines and attention to this basketball program. They’re the attraction, both with their individual talents and how they play together.
The star, 6-10 Braden Huff, is headed to powerhouse Gonzaga. Any time you put “Gonzaga recruit” in a sentence it’s attention-grabbing and means something to the outside basketball world.
While Huff and fellow seniors Caden Pierce, Bobby Durkin, Ryan Renfro and Paxton Warden are the appeal, Opoka is the one who built the stage for these players to shine and bask in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A little over two years ago Opoka, then in his first year as head coach, quickly realized he had something special. With sophomores leading the way in that 2019-20 season, the coach knew the trajectory of this team. And it pointed towards being exceptional.
After missing out on the experience of a March run last year due to Covid –– or playing in any true, meaningful games –– Opoka was determined to ramp up the schedule and the memorable opportunities for his team.
“It was a disadvantage for us last year playing only conference games and not even being able to participate in the end-of-the-season Chipotle Classic,” said Opoka. “So at that time it was a goal of mine, as a coach, to make that next season a memorable experience. We wanted to make sure we were going to challenge ourselves while making long-lasting memories for the kids in our program.”
One of the first steps was the tough decision of shutting down its own holiday tournament at Christmas. Glenbard West has hosted a holiday tournament for years, though the round-robin affair has traditionally been soft in competition and lacked any buzz at all.
The Hilltoppers made the move to the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York.
“We thought getting out of our own tournament would best benefit us in preparing for what we needed most –– more competition,” said Opoka. “We felt it was an upgrade in our schedule and what was best for Glenbard West basketball, to continue to try and build a tradition of Glenbard West basketball.”
Opoka will get a little testy when mentioning “Glenbard West is a football school.” He supports the school’s football excellence and any success the school that he’s been at since 2008 enjoys. But hearing over and over again “It’s a football school” when you’re the head basketball coach?
“I’m so sick of hearing it,” said Opoka of the football school narrative. “For us, to get where we want to be, we have to change the mindset that this can be a basketball school. I am going to do everything in my power to challenge 7th and 8th graders, to challenge our freshmen and sophomores to be in the position of a Braden Huff or a Caden Pierce. I am going to use them as role models for the program, to show this is what they can be doing, playing on ESPN like we just did.”
That included providing a platform for this team to showcase the program while also best preparing for the state tournament. Putting together the type of schedule top teams typically play was one of the important building blocks for this team and its success.
While the West Suburban Silver is traditionally one of the better basketball conferences in the Chicago area with Oak Park, Lyons and an upstart team here and there, Opoka knew he wanted and needed way more. He jumped at the chance to play high-profile teams in shootouts and non-conference games. He wanted his team to experience playing in different environments and against various styles of play.
Glenbard West went to the Ridgewood Shootout in early December to play highly-ranked Glenbrook South. The Hilltoppers faced Hillcrest in the Team Rose Classic at Mt. Carmel and the likes of Leo and Rolling Meadows at the York Holiday Tournament.
There were non-conference games scheduled with coach Gene Heidkamp’s Benet team, the Jaden Schutt-led Yorkville Christian and a Larkin team that has won 24 games.
Opoka took advantage of an invite to play in the When Sides Collide Shootout and faced perennial power Young before a standing-room-only raucous crowd.
“My first initial thought is if you are the best, why not play the best?” said Opoka of putting together one of the toughest schedules in the state. “If we get the opportunity to compete and fight through adversity, why wouldn’t we put ourselves in that position? The other thing is we aren’t scared of anybody.”
So if the set schedule, which is by far the best the program has ever put together, wasn’t quite enough, Opoka added two massive heavyweights on the back end.
The addition of national powerhouse Sierra Canyon and the state’s biggest name in prep basketball, Simeon, was an example of Opoka practicing what he preaches.
Remember, this was a team that was going to be prepared for March with the schedule it faced through before the calendar even turned to February. But it was also a team that soared past 20 wins without a loss by mid-January with a realistic goal of making history as a potential undefeated state champ.
“In my mind it’s, ‘Heck, yeah! This is going to make us better,’” said Opoka of the late schedule additions. “Playing Simeon is 100 percent going to make us better. Playing Sierra Canyon definitely made us better. If those opportunities come about I’m not going to pass on them. If I feel my team is strong enough and my players are tough enough, then I’m going to put them in the best situation to be successful.”
Other programs have put together daunting schedules in the past. Simeon and Young consistently face the best schedules in the state, playing rugged city slates while traveling the country. That’s nothing new.
The aforementioned Stevenson team played Chaminade and Jayson Tatum in West Virginia, faced prep school giant Findlay Prep in the HoopHall Classic and played Simeon in the City-Suburban Showdown.
But this is Glenbard West.
Opoka says he and his coaching staff are “very proud” of what the Hilltoppers have accomplished thus far. The players have clearly bought in, playing disciplined, unselfish basketball while still managing to surpass the expectations of a preseason No. 1 ranking.
However, there is way more work to be done. First, there are a trio of conference games and one more marquee regular-season game with Simeon. Then it’s on to the most important work.
“Our overall goal, our team’s goal, our players’ goal, has not been touched yet,” said Opoka. “And that can only be touched when we start our process of those seven games in the state tournament.”
