Garrett Callahan and some of his former high school teammates already gave back to the area basketball scene once before, holding a youth clinic at Seneca High School.
Now finished with his playing career at South Dakota State University, Callahan is back in the area, working at athletic apparel retailer Boombah in Morris. The leading scorer from Seneca High School's 2006 Class A state championship team has brought the spirit of sharing his basketball knowledge with him.
Callahan is founder and head coach of the Illinois Ambush, a fledgling travel boys basketball team. Twice a week, the team practices at local high schools in preparation for a tournament schedule that begins today when the team appears at the Illinois Raptors Showcase in Plainfield. Currently consisting of 17-and-under and 16-and-under teams, the Ambush will travel to weekend tournaments throughout Illinois and even one in Iowa by the end of May.
Starting a squad
Like many standout players in high-school basketball, Callahan played Amateur Athletic Union basketball to sharpen his skills. He played for a Champaign-based team called Ft. Sooy as a Seneca Grade School eighth-grader and a high-school freshman. Later he joined the Illinois Wolves of suburban Chicago. It was an experience that Callahan still values but one which required a hefty amount of traveling.
"When I first wanted to play (AAU basketball) myself, I would have to go all the way to Champaign or the suburbs to do it," he said. "These kids were in the same position. There were no other options closer to here before now. I think we can help them. I know it helped me. I became a better basketball player and I think we can help them do the same thing."
The youngest of Callahan's four brothers, Conlan, recently completed his freshman season at SHS, where he played for the varsity team. Conlan's desire to improve by the start of his sophomore year helped spark the formation of the Ambush.
"My brother and a bunch of other guys his age were looking for an AAU team to play on," Garrett Callahan said. "They didn't have a whole lot of options without having to travel. I thought about it and said, 'What the heck?' I decided to start one up for them."
Well before Conlan Callahan became a high-schooler, his older brother realized the value that a travel basketball team for older, serious players could have in greater Grundy County.
"It was always in the back of my mind, that something like this was needed in this area," Garrett said. There have been various travel teams but as far as I know nothing like this. I went through it myself and there was a lot of travel that was required to go play somewhere else. I thought we'd try giving these kids something closer to home and see what happens."
Plenty of help
Though Callahan is relatively new to coaching, his basketball resume includes four years as an NCAA Division I player and four years as a varsity player in high school. Apart from coaching youths briefly at SHS, Callahan gained experience this winter, when he served as coach of the freshman boys team at Plano High School. His coaching style is still in development and is influenced by those who coached him.
"I think it will be like a blend of everything I've picked up over the years," Callahan said. "Obviously I'll use some of the ideas I learned from (former SHS coach) Doug Evans, but also from what I experienced with Scott Nagy at SDSU."
More ideas will come from Callahan's stable of assistants. Older brother Brennan Callahan, veteran assistant coach Mike Lutz and SHS teammate Robert Rexroade are helping Callahan out. Brennan was on Evans' staff for a few years during Garrett's playing career. Lutz is a former boys assistant at Joliet Township High School and a girls assistant at Morris Community High School. Rexroade played at Millikin University and ran the SHS youth camp with Garrett Callahan.
"It's just a blend of coaching styles and ideas, not just from myself but from the guys helping me out," Garrett said. "Lutty has helped coach at Joliet Township. Brennan's the same way — he helped coach us (at Seneca High). Robert has obviously had his own experience playing down at Millikin. It's kind of a mix of styles and ideas, to be honest."
Brennan Callahan says his brother is fully ready for the challenge of coaching his own team.
"I think Garrett is a great leader," Brennan said. "As far as knowledge of basketball goes, he's been playing for a while, including playing at the Division I level. Because of that, he pretty much knows everything he needs to know about developing these kids. This gives them the opportunity to get all the small things in their game right, basically."
Rexroade thinks Garrett Callahan's collegiate background makes him an ideal candidate for the position.
"He's real good. The kids respond well to him," Rexroade said. "With him playing Division I basketball, I think that really helps. If they want to get to that level and do what he did themselves, they know they need to pay attention and listen to him."
Team goals
Not only does playing on the Ambush give the players the chance to learn from a Division I player in Callahan, it also could help them achieve their own dreams of playing in college.
"I think it's a good opportunity to get the kids the kind of exposure they wouldn't normally get," Brennan Callahan said. "If not for this, 90 percent of these kids probably wouldn't even see any college coaches. Division I coaches wouldn't even hear about most of them."
Like Callahan, Rexroade is an AAU veteran, having played for the Chi-Town Mixers as a sophomore and junior at SHS. He hopes the Ambush has a similar impact on its members as the Mixers had on him.
"I just think it's a real good thing," Rexroade said. "When I was in high school, I played on a traveling basketball team. It really helped me elevate my game to where I wanted it to be. I wanted to give these kids the same opportunity I had — to play against different players than the ones they face all the time."
Various scandals have plagued a small minority of AAU teams over the years. Though the Ambush is not yet AAU certified — it may be in the future — Callahan is aware of the negative perception some people have of organized travel basketball.
"It has a little different feel to it because of that," he said. "I do think that enough people around here know me pretty well and know Robert and my brother and Lutty and that we have a good enough reputation for people to give us the benefit of the doubt that none of that will go on. I know that it does go on. I've seen it, even though I haven't experienced it myself. I don't think it will really effect me or what we're trying to do because it won't apply to us."
Callahan said that the purpose of the team does not involve any kind of personal game for him or his assistant coaches.
"I'd like to make it clear that we're a non-profit team. It's not about money, and it's not about anything for us coaches," he said. "This is for the kids. I think by doing this, we can help them improve, and that's really what it's all about."
Down the road
The first edition of the Ambush consists of two 10-player rosters of local players and others as far away as Minonk, Peru, Pontiac and Serena. Locally, Nick Peters from Coal City and Jake Hogan and Ben Ortiz from Morris are on the 16-and-under team. Seneca players Conlan Callahan, Logan Pifer and Peyton Schrag are joined by Cori Williams of Morris on the 17-and-under team.
Tryouts and cuts were held earlier this spring and the teams are unlikely to change soon.
"We have (20) guys," Callahan said. "This summer, we might lose some guys if they're involved with other sports and their schedules won't allow them to play with us. If that happens, we might have an open tryout at that point. For right now, we're pretty much set in stone."
Even so, having all 20 players at every practice or every tournament is difficult. Many are involved with other activities and sports during the school year.
"Five or six of our guys are in baseball now," Callahan said. "I've got one or two in track. So they're not able to show up for every game. All I ask is that they at least call and let me know ahead of time. I'm flexible. I played baseball (in high school) myself. People missing practice is going to happen."
The team's tournament schedule will also talk an extended break once May is over.
"June is out of the question," Callahan said. "That's a time for high-school basketball, and our kids need to be with their high-school teams at that time. We'll pick it back up in July and then most likely not go into August because of football."
After that, the team plans to hit the tournament trail hard.
"The July schedule isn't out because we are not sure where we will go," Callahan said. "I am thinking of taking the team in July to South Dakota, Wisconsin and a couple other places to get some other coaches looking at them.
Current sponsors of the Ambush include Substrate Technology, Ortiz Eye Associates and Meyer Farms. The organization is seeking more sponsors to help defray the costs of getting to and entering tournaments.
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