Tommy Stokke long held hopes to move up the coaching ladder to become a head coach, but he also did not want to force himself into a job for the sake of the position.

He feels fortunate at his first opportunity.

Stokke, a 2009 Minooka graduate who has coached from middle school to varsity assistant, boys and girls both, in that district and at Joliet West, has been hired as the head girls basketball coach at Yorkville.

Stokke replaces Kim Wensits, who stepped down after nine seasons as coach.

“I have a strong appreciation for what Kim does and what she did. It was a job I never expected to be opened,” Stokke said. “When I saw the opening, I reached out right away. Super lucky that my first chance is at a place with a strong foundation with a lot of things in place.”

Stokke, a content manager for Vox Media’s SB Nation who lives in Plainfield with his wife and 1-year-old daughter, first cut his teeth coaching boys basketball at Channahon Junior High for two years. He then coached eighth grade girls for six, where his teams went to state three consecutive years. He coached Madelyn Kiper, who went on to star at Minooka and is headed to Kent State.

From there he was a JV coach and varsity assistant at Joliet West, varsity assistant at Minooka and moved to freshman boys at Minooka on Brett Hespell’s staff.

“I knew the Yorkville JV job was open, but I didn’t know the varsity was open until Brett reached out to me and said they were looking,” Stokke said. “I was surprised. I follow the conference close.

“There were jobs that opened up and I interviewed for where it was ‘Hey, it’s a varsity job.’ That wasn’t the case with Yorkville. Yorkville fits what I would be excited about.”

It also fit Stokke’s goal to move back to coaching girls basketball.

“I’ve found an appreciation for girls basketball and how it’s growing,” Stokke said. “It’s getting it’s proper due now. It was underserved before. I’ve taken a liking to the game and what you can do in it.”

Yorkville athletic director Luke Engelhardt, who was himself girls basketball coach for six years prior to Wensits’ time, saw in Stokke a coach very excited and eager to take on the challenge of becoming a head coach.

“Whoever was getting the job already has a foundation in place, a good community that supports girls basketball. What I wanted was someone that would attract kids to being a part of the program,” Engelhardt said.

“Girls basketball is a tough sport. It’s a sport that a lot of schools are having trouble getting kids to stay involved. We needed someone to bring enthusiasm, to bring a level of excitement, to build a culture that kids want to be a part of. He has that type of personality.”

Stokke has hit the ground running.

Hired for less than two weeks, Stokke’s first day was the teachers’ last day at Yorkville. Engelhardt recalled Stokke being the last person in the building, acquainting himself with coaches.

“You can tell hard work won’t be a problem with him,” Engelhardt said. “Basketball in particular, you got to put the time in. He will focus on relationships, that is evident.”

Stokke is grateful that Engelhardt believed in his vision for the program, and was open-minded to believe in a coach who is not a teacher, and has a lengthier coaching background in middle school than high school.

“I feel like I’ve been ready,” Stokke said. “I’m grateful that he was able to believe in that.”

Stokke also appreciates having a resource in the building like Wensits, and an AD that cares about the program. Yorkville’s freshman group was undefeated in conference this past season and Stokke is also excited about the eighth-grade group.

“What I say to everyone is I want to make sure I am building my system around the players,” Stokke said. “Too many coaches say this is my system no matter what the situation.

“Ideally I want to play fast, I want to make it a full-court game, especially a place like Yorkville where we will have athletes.”