Gordie Gillespie, a Chicago native who starred in college basketball for DePaul coach Ray Meyer, arrived in Joliet in 1950 and since then brought this community to sports heights never imagined. Here are the positions he held, and some of the awards bestowed upon him.

POSITIONS HELD

• Head Basketball Coach. Lewis College, 1950-1965

• Head Baseball Coach, Lewis College, 1953-1976

• Director of Athletics, Lewis College, 1956-1976

• Head Football Coach, Joliet Catholic High School, 1959-1985

• Director of Athletics, College of St. Francis, 1976-1986

• Head Women’s Basketball Coach, College of St. Francis, 1976-1977

• Head Baseball Coach College of St. Francis, 1976-1995

• Head Football Coach, College of St. Francis, 1986-1993

• Athletic Chairman, College of St. Francis, 1986-1995

• Head Baseball Coach, University of St. Francis, 2006-2011

• Head Baseball Coach, Ripon College (Wisconsin), 1996-2005

AWARDS

• January 1966 – Named the 1965 NAIA Baseball Coach of the Year

• January 1972 – Named the 1971 NAIA Baseball Coach of the Year

• January 1973 – Named the 1972 NAIA Baseball Coach of the Year

• June 1973 – Inducted into the NAIA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame

• February 1978 – Inducted into the DePaul University Athletic Hall of Fame

• August 1979 – Inducted into the National Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame

• January 1980 – Inducted into the Lewis University Athletic Hall of Fame

• September 1980 – Received the DePaul University Distinguished Alumni Award

• February 1982 – Received the 1982 Frank Leahy Prep Coach of the Year by the Notre Dame Club of Chicago

• October 1983 – Received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

• February 1984 – Inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame

• April 1984 – Inducted into the Illinois High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame

• April 1986 – Inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame Became the first coach in history to be named to three Illinois Coaches’ Halls of Fame

• August 1986 – Inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame

• September 1986 – Enshrined into the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame “Walk of Champions” at King’s Island, Ohio

• January 1987 – Received the Meritorious Service Award for his contributions to baseball in the United States from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)

• June 1989 – Inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame

• January 1991 – Inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame

• January 1991 – Received the Lefty Gomez Award for dedication, service and contributions to the game of baseball

• June 1991 – Inducted into the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame

• November 1991 – Selected as the Head Football Coach for the All-Time Illinois High School Football Team as named by the Chicago Tribune

• June 1992 – Inducted into the College of St. Francis Hall of Fame

• January 1994 – Named as the 1993 NAIA Baseball Coach of the Year

• November 1995 – Inducted into the Joliet/Will County Project Pride “Hall of Pride”

• March 1998 – Named NAIA Coach of the Century by Collegiate Baseball

• February 2000 – Named Wisconsin High School Baseball “Man of the Year” by the Wisconsin High School Baseball Coaches Association

• June 2003 – Inaugural inductee into the Joliet Area Sports Hall of Fame

• February 2005 – Inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame

• July 2009 – Inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame

• January 2010 – Received the Distinguished Service Award from the United States Sports Academy

• June 2014 – Inducted into the Joliet Catholic Academy Hall of Champions