For those of you with tickets to the Sky-L.A. Sparks exhibition game Thursday at the Sears Centre, there’s going to be a bit of a letdown but for a good reason. Naperville native and Sparks rookie Candace Parker, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, isn’t coming. Instead, she’s staying in Knoxville, Tenn. where she will participate in graduation ceremonies on Friday at the University of Tennessee. Sky fans will have a chance to see Parker in her first pro game on June 3, when the Sparks come back to Chicago and play the Sky at the UIC Pavilion.

Leslie Schock played her high school basketball at Elgin, where she led the Maroons to a couple of supersectional appearances and a state final appearance in 1996 against Stevenson. In college, Schock played at Northwestern and was a four-year starter, playing in the NCAA tournament as a freshman.
Now, she brings her experience to the Palatine girls basketball team and hopes to teach the Pirates what she's learned in her career.
Schock replaced Ron Theberge on Wednesday after coaching the JV and freshman teams since her arrival at Palatine in 2003. Schock was also a girls lacrosse coach at Palatine for two years and she teaches history.

Tom Dineen gave me a call Friday and announced his replacement at Buffalo Grove. It is his longtime assistant Pat Dudle, who has been on staff for the past eight years under Dineen and is also the girls soccer coach at BG.
"It is a good choice," Dineen said. "We were grooming him for this and we knew this day was coming."
Dineen announced last year that the 2007-08 season would be his last. The Bison finished third in the Class 4A state tournament.
But Dineen, who was also BG's boys golf coach, said if the right job comes up in the future he would consider coaching again.
"The school made it clear that I'm done," Dineen said. "Some people have called me, but I'll probably sit out next year. I don't want to coach just for the sake of coaching. It has to be the right situation."

Hinsdale South coach Brenda Whitesell announced her retirement Friday after coaching at the Darien school for 27 years. Whitesell has spent 31 years total as a coach.
Whitesell played her college ball at Indiana State and played in two WNIT's.
She coached the Hornets to 15 20-win seasons and ends her career with a 544-301 record.
In a statement, Whitesell said she will retire from teaching in 2010 and will probably assist Hinsdale South's new coach or help out in another athletic program at the school.

Kiara Conner of Class 4A state champion Whitney Young has given an oral comittment to play basketball at Binghamton University.

DePaul coach Doug Bruno picked up another local product when Marist senior forward Maureen Mulchrone gave Bruno a verbal committment Tuesday night.
Mulchrone, a 6-0 all-state selection, came back from a torn ACL in December and led the RedHawks to the Hillcrest tournament title in December and then the Class 4A Final Four earlier this month. Marist finished fourth in the state tournament.

Joliet Catholic coach John Barkoski resigned this week and the Angels are looking for a new head coach. Stay tuned....

You had to know that Buffalo Grove coach Tom Dineen’s last game would be emotional. In the Bison’s third-place game, a 66-50 win over Marist, Dineen and his three Bison assistant coaches were decked out in black suits and not their usual sweaters. You had the feeling it was a special occasion.
BG’s offense went nuts in the first quarter and the Bison were up 24-5. At one point, BG was ahead by 30. As each player was taken out of the game and subbed out, Redbird Arena became more and more emotional.
The final horn sounded and both teams filed into the tunnel for the postgame press conference. It had finally hit Dineen. He stood outside the entrace to the locker rooms and composed himself (or tried to) as photographers snapped his reaction to the final game of a 29-year career. It seemed the more he tried to compose himself, the more upset he became and he had to release the tears.
The press conference was even more wrenching. There wasn’t a tearless eye in the room, even among writers. Dineen tried to keep his trademark dry wit intact. “I’m officially unemployed,” he said. But as he started to thank us, the media, and his players the sobs became louder and the tears just rolled out.
One can only wonder what it would have been like in this arena had the Bison been to the title game and won. I’m sure they would have blown the roof off of this place.
Dineen is truly one of the good ones.

Jazmine Little, a 5-4 freshman from Addison Trail, won the Class 4A three-point contest Friday night. Little edged out St. Charles North sophomore Kiley Hackbarth in a tiebreaker 6-3. Little will compete in Saturday’s Queen of the Hill competition.

In the second 3A semifinal from Redbird arena today, Freeport (the Pretzels--gotta use the nickname) beat Montini 41-35 and will face Marshall in the title game Saturday at 12:45.
Montini will play Quincy Notre Dame at 11 a.m. for third place.

Pontiac's Ashley Timmerman won the 3A three-point shooting contest with 10 treys Friday afternoon at Redbird Arena.
Timmerman advances to the Queen of the Hill competition on Saturday against the 1A, 2A and 4A winners. The 4A contest will be held Friday at 8 in between 4A semifinal games.
Katie Broadway of Bethalto Civic Memorial was second with 9 threes in the 3A contest and two were tied with 8.

Word among Public League officials and administrators I talked to at the Class 3A girls state semifinals Friday, was that the Illinois High School Association is investigating comments allegedly made by Johnsburg supporters during the Marshall-Johnsburg supersectional game at Loyola University Monday night. Young principal Dr. Joyce Kenner, who is also a member of the IHSA’s Board of Directors, said she sent a letter to Johnsburg’s principal telling him of a phrase that the Johnsburg student section allegedly said during the Marshall game. IHSA assistant executive director Beth Sauser said the IHSA is investigating the matter.