Oh, how Doug Toussaint would have loved it all, every basket, every win, every net cut down.

His large family helped bring heat to McHenry County basketball all winter, with a dash of Summer included.

While twins Summer and Skye Toussaint led Johnsburg’s girls team to an undefeated regular season and a Class 2A sectional-final berth, their Uncle Mike coached Johnsburg’s boys team to a spot in a Class 2A supersectional. No McHenry County team advanced farther in the state tournament.

Doug Toussaint [the twins’ grandfather and Mike’s father] died in June 2011 at age 68. Not long afterward, Mike stepped down as Johnsburg’s girls basketball coach to take over Johnsburg’s boys program.

“He told me, ‘Don’t ever leave the girls program because you got a great thing going,’ ” said Toussaint, who was named the Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009. “I told him on his deathbed that I was going to the boys.”

Fifteen years later, Mike Toussaint is the 2026 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Coach of the Year for the first time in his long coaching career. A full-time accountant, the former Johnsburg (Class of 1986) and Elmhurst University basketball player led the Skyhawks to their first sectional title since 2003.

A senior group featuring Jayce Schmitt, the KRC’s co-player of the year, Ashton Stern, Jarrel Albea and Danny Loud, along with juniors Josh Kaunas and Trey Toussaint (Mike’s nephew), helped the Skyhawks win 24 games, their most since 2010.

Mike Toussaint talked to the Northwest Herald about his team’s season, juggling two careers (account and coach) and the Toussaint clan.

Mike and Cindy have two children (Zach was an all-conference football player for Johnsburg, and Kayla was an All-Area basketball player). Mike’s brother Eric, his assistant coach, and wife Jessi have four children, including Zach, Johnsburg’s all-time leading basketball scorer, and Trey. Baby brother Brad and Brianne have three daughters, including Summer, the 2026 Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year, and Skye.

After your team’s loss to Peoria Manual in the Class 2A Sterling Supersectional, you said you and your staff didn’t see this season coming at the start of the season. What was the turning point?

Toussaint: We did a book study this year. The book is called “Next Play” by Alan Stein [Jr.], so we emphasized all year “next play.” After the Woodstock game [which denied the Skyhawks the Kishwaukee River Conference title], it was like, “We move on. There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s next game.” I think maybe it just kicked us. [The players] wanted to cut down the nets for winning the conference championship. We had goals. I think that “next play” attitude helped us to get to where we got.

What’s the challenge in coaching family members, whether your own kids or your nieces or nephews?

Toussaint: I don’t think it’s any harder. I just treat them like a regular player. Maybe I yell at Trey a little bit more than I do another player, just because I feel like I can. It’s probably not fair to him. ... I think it’s a blessing to be able to coach family. When [son] Brett played for me [2011-12], he was probably my eighth or ninth man, and I hear about it still to this day. He plays in his men’s league on Wednesday nights, and he’s like, ‘Dad, I scored 30 tonight. You never played me.’

You’ve been an accountant your entire professional career, including the past 15 years with Jessup Manufacturing in McHenry. How have you navigated that profession while being a head varsity high school coach?

Toussaint: It is hard. I’ve just been blessed that my employers have always been very encouraging with it. At work, they call me “Coach.” Even our owner, Rob Jessup, calls me “Coach.” They like that I do it. And then it’s nice that the [Johnsburg] School District has given me freedom. I’m lucky with our gym situation. I can practice late. We’ll practice 6:30 to 8:30 [p.m.]. It’s a sacrifice to my players. It’s been 32 years of coaching, and my players have always been really flexible. The parents have always been really flexible, and the district and my employers have always been really flexible.

Your nieces Summer and Skye led Johnsburg’s girls basketball team to an undefeated regular season, and your boys team won a sectional title. How fun was the winter for the Toussaint families?

Toussaint: We’re a really close family. We all support each other and love each other and go to all of the games. Any girls games that I could get to, me and my whole family would go. My kids would go. My grandkids would go. My wife would go. And then my games, my brother Brad would be there, and my brother Eric is coaching with me. And Eric’s wife, Jessi, does our book. It truly is a family affair. My dad was able to watch my girls teams that were really good. He’s the one who got us all into basketball. Every time I’d see something that happened with Zach or the twins, and even when Brett was all-conference in football, I just know that he’s up there looking down on us. Our tightness as a family is a tribute to him.

Do you have a mantra when it comes to coaching?

Toussaint: I just think it’s connections. It’s family. I think that’s what made us so successful this year. [The players] loved each other on the court, off the court. They connected with the coaches. I called my assistant coaches Josh Hauser and Mason Sobiesk [this week] to congratulate them. They did so much. Being a full-time accountant, I am leaning heavily on the people around me. Josh and Mason went above and beyond this year with scout, watching film, putting game plans together. You’re as good as the people you surround yourself with, and I have been really fortunate throughout my 30 years or whatever of coaching varsity to have had the staffs that I have had. We stick together, and I think that continuity really helps. And it’s got to be a little bit of fun. We got our keys to the game, and every game my last key is, “Have fun.” If we’re not having fun, I don’t know why we’re doing it.