Jeff Gerdeman is back in a familiar seat on St. Francis' basketball bench.

Gerdeman, assistant coach the past two seasons, has been promoted for his third stint as Spartans' head girls basketball coach.

Gerdeman, a 1987 St. Francis graduate and Director of IT at the Wheaton school for nearly 20 years, previously coached the Spartans' program from 1998-2002 and 2009-2011.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to lead the program again," Gerdeman said. "I'm excited primarily because I have assembled a great staff and have a solid core of athletes. That's the biggest thing."

Led by Gerdeman, St. Francis won three straight regional championships from 1999-2002 and posted a 22-7 record in the 1998-1999 season. Gerdeman, one of seven siblings to attend St. Francis, also has spent three seasons with the school's baseball program and one with the boys basketball program.

“His sports knowledge, care for our students, and attention to detail make him a great choice for the program," St. Francis Athletic Director Dan Hardwick said. “I am very excited for our student-athletes and basketball community."

Gerdeman's staff will include Kate Michel, a member of the 1992 St. Francis state team and head coach from 2002-2004, Greg Webb, entering his 15th year with the program, and special assistant Mike Harper, who led the St. Francis boys basketball program from 1983-2005.

Gerdeman said a priority is to build the program's numbers back up. The Spartans are down to two levels, and would like to get back to three.

His first team will have a strong nucleus back with point guard Kate Chaparro, going into her fourth varsity season, fellow guard Maggie Culver and rising junior Katie De Craene.

"We have good talent coming up," Gerdeman said. "We don't really have a weak class. We have a good group of incoming freshmen as well."

Gerdeman, whose had the job for all of a week, has been doing his planning for the summer. But, like every other coach in Illinois, he is waiting on the IHSA to issue guidelines for the resumption of sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Once the IHSA makes a decision then the school will make a decision," Gerdeman said. "We're trying to put together a strength and conditioning program and workout program to do at home. We've been out of school two weeks and there is a bunch of girls itching to do something. The girls know the system. The positive thing is it gives us time to fine tune our plan so when we do get back on the court we're ready to rock and roll."