How Evanston’s basketball players prepared for next season – Evanston RoundTable

It wasn’t all three-point jump shots and reinforcing team defensive principles.

A renewed focus on developing strength in the weight room proved the Evanston Township High School Wildkits are tired of being pushed around physically by the Central Suburban League – and they’re determined to do something about it.

Even a casual fan would have noticed that, to a man, the potential varsity players who
competed in a 30-game schedule over the past month did a better job of playing through contact than they have over the past couple of seasons. The summer scenario features games where the officials take a “no concussion, no foul” stance and the whistle almost never blows.

The Wildkits didn’t just survive in those conditions – they thrived.

In high-profile shootouts at Batavia, Riverside-Brookfield and Ridgewood, Evanston won 10 of 13 games while featuring a lineup that includes two returning starters from a year ago, brothers Theo Rocca and Vito Rocca, a couple of transfers in point guard Kaidan Chatham (Niles North) and 6-foot-6 forward George Richardson (DePaul Prep), plus freshman guard Ben Ojala.

In a league where only the strong survive, the Kits are poised to power their way back to the top of the CSL South division standings under head coach Mike Ellis and under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Mark Feldner, who supervises training for all of the school’s boys and girls athletic programs.

Early birds

Feldner’s in the Arrington Fitness Center from dawn until dusk Mondays through Fridays, and this year the hopefuls in the basketball program are joining him as a group for early bird workouts that begin at 6:30 a.m.

Ever since taking over the program in 2010, Ellis has instituted mandatory lifting for all of his players. But since COVID impacted player development, some have found reasons not to show up in the weight room on a regular basis to take advantage of the opportunity to work hard and get better.