Tracy LeSure
Men's Basketball (1976-1978)
Two-time All-Skyway Conference Basketball selection
Pastor, mentor, role model in the Aurora area for more than two decades
Key member of two-time Skyway Conference Champion basketball teams
There is an old adage in sports that says ‘defense wins championships.’ Over the years many of Waubonsee’s athletic teams have proven that philosophy to be true. As a matter of fact the Chiefs’ men’s basketball team won the Skyway Conference title in both 1977 and 1978 in large part because of they had a defensive stopper. His name was Tracy LeSure.
LeSure graduated in 1976 from Aurora East High School, where he was an All-Upstate Eight Conference performer his senior year for the Tomcats. Waubonsee coaches Ray Lumpp and Grayal Gilkey recognized LeSure’s defensive prowess and assigned him to guard the opposing team’s best scorer, game in and game out. Even when there was a size mismatch in the opponent’s favor, it often did not matter. For instance, just after Harper College’s 6’5” star player set a record with 44 points the previous game, the 6’0 LeSure held him to just six when they played Waubonsee.
Subsequently, LeSure was named All-Skyway both years at Waubonsee. He also led the Chiefs in assists and finished third in the conference in that category. Despite focusing most of his energy on the defensive end of the floor, he did manage to score a career high of 32 points in one game. “The next day in practice, Coach Ray reminded me that we had other guys on the team to shoot the ball,” LeSure recalls chuckling.
Continuing his penchant for providing assists and protection, LeSure began a career of service to others after his playing days at Waubonsee. For the last two decades he has been a pastor, serving as the Senior Pastor at Tabernacle of Praise in Aurora for most of that time. LeSure has impacted many lives as he has mentored both young men and women in the Aurora area, becoming a father figure and positive role model for those in need. He was also a Volunteer Chaplain at the Kane County Jail for five years, and has been an advisor for Aurora’s Women of GLOW, a women’s ministry that aides people of all ages and ethnicities. Not surprisingly, LeSure has also served as a basketball coach over the years. He has been an assistant coach at Aurora East High School, a volunteer coach for the Aurora YMCA, and worked as a coach and teacher’s aide at Fox Technical School in North Aurora.
LeSure and his wife Dorothy have been married 30 years, and have three grown sons, Tyrica, Brandon and Aaron. They are also the proud grandparents of six grandchildren, twins Jeramiah and Aaliyah, twins Aaron and Aiden, and Henry and Tashauna. Currently the Senior Pastor at Tabernacle of Praise in Batavia, the Montgomery resident continues to serve his community and beyond. Later this year he will be traveling to the west African nation of Ghana, where he will be serving on a short-term mission trip.