Larry Lennartz
Men's Basketball (1967-1969)
First men's basketball team captain and point guard
Waubonsee's first Athlete of the Year
Went on to a successful high school basketball coaching career
Larry Lennartz was one of Waubonsee’s first sports stars. As team captain and point guard of the first men’s basketball team in 1967-1968, he led a team that played its home games at East Aurora High School.
A former basketball standout at St. Charles High School, Lennartz was recruited to come to Waubonsee to continue his playing career. Following his second year at Waubonsee, he went to George Williams College on a full scholarship to play basketball.
Lennartz is also an academic success story. Before he came to Waubonsee, he was an average student who did not intend on continuing his education. However, he earned his associate degree from Waubonsee and his bachelor’s degree from George Williams College, where he graduated with honors. His love of education and coaching led him to pursue both as a career.
Lennartz began his teaching and coaching career at Lockport Middle School before moving on to coach the boys’ varsity program at Mt. Carroll High School in far northwestern Illinois. The school — now defunct — did not have a strong program or reputation for success. By Lennartz’ third year, the team went undefeated (25-0) during the regular season before losing their first game in the playoffs. The next two seasons were similarly successful as Mt. Carroll won 20 games each year. Lennartz left Mt. Carroll at the end of the 1979 academic year with an overall 81-41 record, a 66 percent winning percentage.
In 1979, Lennartz took a position teaching health classes and coaching the boys’ varsity basketball team at Waukegan East High School. Over his 10-year stay there, he led the team to five regional championships and a 133-114 overall record. Lennartz was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in the late 1980s. He died in 1989.