Five-year plans don’t always end with high fives.

When Adam McCloud interviewed for Cary-Grove’s head varsity boys basketball coaching job with then-athletic director Jim Altendorf and then-principal Jay Sargeant in 2016, he articulated a plan.

“They said, ‘How long are you going to do it?’ ” McCloud said. “I said, ‘I will give you five years, and then we’ll reevaluate.’ I said, ‘If we have not changed the culture and turned this into a program that we feel is competitive every night, then I won’t do it.’ I never wanted to be one of those guys who did it, but didn’t do it well.”

McCloud did it well – five years times two.

High fives.

The C-G alumnus officially submitted his resignation as head coach this week, citing the desire to spend more time with his family: wife Alexis, son Connor, 13, and daughter Abby, 9.

McCloud’s 173 wins are the most by any coach in the program’s history, and his .592 winning percentage during his 10-year run also ranks first. His 2019-20 team won 31 games and advanced to the sectional final before the IHSA season ended abruptly because of COVID-19.

This past season, the Trojans won the Fox Valley Conference championship for the first time since 2020 with a 17-1 record and finished 28-5 overall. They lost to host Crystal Lake South in a Class 3A regional final.

“Coach McCloud has been great,” senior guard Brady Bauer said after the team’s season-ending loss. “He has a lot of passion for the game. You can tell he loves what he does. He’s definitely a guy I can count on, even off the basketball court. It’s sad to see him go.”

McCloud, 42, replaced Ralph Schuetzle after spending the previous season as the Trojans’ sophomore boys coach. He was a varsity assistant under Schuetzle for three seasons before that and coached three years at Vernon Hills under Matt McCarty before coming to C-G.

In his fourth season as head coach, McCloud led his team to a Class 4A regional title and a 31-3 record after the Trojans won 21 games the previous season. Led by forward Adam Bauer and point guard AJ Berndt, both of whom will graduate this year, the Trojans won 47 games the past two seasons.

McCloud passed Schuetzle and Dave Otto (168 wins each) for most wins at the school when the Trojans beat visiting Hampshire 60-47 on Feb. 10.

McCloud graduated in 2002 from C-G, where he was a quarterback for coach Bruce Kay. He teaches special education at the high school.

“I’ve had unbelievable relationships with kids who have become young men,” said McCloud, noting he will attend the wedding of C-G’s all-time leading scorer Beau Frericks this summer. “I was blessed to be at Cary-Grove. They took a chance on me. I feel like we accomplished a lot and left the program in a really good spot.”

Besides serving as the varsity boys coach for the past 10 years, McCloud has been coaching his son’s travel basketball team for the past four years. He’s also running indoor baseball practice.

“This was a long winter,” McCloud said with a laugh. “Thank God we had some success on the basketball court, so it made it a little easier for me.”

McCloud now turns his attention to being more involved as a husband and dad. That means continuing to help with Connor’s teams and driving Abby to and from dance practice. The support of Alexis, who teaches at Palatine High School, has been invaluable to him.

“For my wife to be a basketball mom and have younger kids [at the time] and me being gone all the time, and for her to allow me to chase that passion that I had [to be a varsity head coach] was pretty selfless of her,” McCloud said. “I just feel it’s time for me to be around more.”