Karl Costello

Assistant Dean

Head Varsity Basketball Coach

A Message from Karl Costello

My tenure as the Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Loyola Academy (1988 - 1996) was a phenomenal experience for me personally and professionally.  There were many reasons why, but for purposes of this recollection, I must say that the #1 reason my experience at Loyola was so enjoyable and fulfilling was the young men it was my privilege to coach and mentor.  Among so many of these fine student-athletes that my staff and I had the honor to coach and work with, the Class of 1992 particularly stands out.​

Why?

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 1.  Love of Competition and Dedication to a Common Purpose.  

​If my memory serves me correctly, I think one strength of the 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 Varsity Basketball Teams was that 50% of the student-athletes on these teams were multi-sport.  The multi-sport student-athletes in ‘’90-’91 were Peter Patton, Jamie Baisley, Chris Carrigan, Peter Marino, Mark Franz, Tom Reardon and Andy Carolan and in ‘91-’92 Patton, Baisley and Carolan were joined by Ryan Gallagher, Mike Menyhart, Matt Schabes, Beau Desherow and Pat Clifford.  
 
I didn’t think I realized then how fortunate we were to have so many multi-sport student-athletes on these teams.  We competed in the Chicago Catholic League, arguably the most competitive and highest level of interscholastic athletics in the entire Chicago area.  I was blessed with dedicated young men who were eager to test their natural ability, skills and competitive attitude in an intensely competitive league during TWO OR MORE SEASONS!!  Peter Patton epitomized this love of competition and dedication to a common purpose as he competed at the varsity level during his Sophomore, Junior and Senior season in THREE Sports!!!

2.  Overachieving: Making the Most of Your God-Given Talents.  

As the coach, this characteristic, shared by all the team members and lead by the Class of ‘92, was the most enjoyable.  Practices were focused, competitive and intense.  Besides having a number of very talented student-athletes (Chris Priebe ‘90; Feaster ‘91; Patton ‘92; Baisley ‘92; Casper ‘92; David Anderson ‘92; Desherow ‘93; Aaron Horne ‘94; Silas Betten ‘94; Brian Johnson ‘96 all played intercollegiate athletics) the key component in having a consistent practice effort were players that loved the game/loved the opportunity to compete (even in practice) and exhibited a relentless work ethic week-in-week-out.  While players like Patton, Feaster, Yale Rieck and Mike Casper were put in the spotlight by the press, it was the core work in practice and steady personal improvement Anthony Gray, Peter Marino, Rich Degraff, Billy Gillespie, Chan Lim, Mark Franz, David Anderson, Chris Carrigan, Tom Reardon, Foti Dorizas, Mike Menyhart and Pat Clifford delivered daily that enabled our teams to improve throughout the season. 
 
The ‘90-’91 Varsity captured an IHSA Regional Title before falling to Gordon Tech in the Niles West Sectional.  The ‘91-’92 Varsity shared the CCL North title with Mt. Carmel.

3.  Leadership

We flat-out had some exceptional leaders.  Of course, Feaster, Rieck, Patton, Casper, Desherow demonstrated exceptional leadership.  That is an important element within any team - that the talented student-athletes demonstrate excellent leadership. But the leadership demonstrated by Joe Taylor, Mark Franz, Andy Carolan and Chris Carrigan (‘90-’91) and Taylor, Carolan, Matt Schabes, Mike Menyhart, Ryan Gallagher, Chad Moskal and Pat Clifford (‘91’-’92) was essential in supporting the entire team.  
 
Class of ‘92 members Joe Taylor and Andy Carolan stood out in this area. The maturity these young men demonstrated as leaders to make proper choices, not only in the locker room, during bus rides, in practice, but more importantly in school and the community were attributes that definitely contributed to the overall success of the program.
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In conclusion, I would be remiss not to restate how very fortunate I was during my career as the Loyola Academy Varsity Boys Basketball Coach to coach exceptional young men.  No matter what the circumstances might bring our way, these student-athletes exemplified students first (I can not recall a single academic eligibility issue during my tenure) and projected behavior that was exemplary to the Ramblers Boys Basketball Program, Loyola Academy and the entire LA School Community.

 I think I am most proud of the fact that many of my former players are still involved with their alma mater, helping to teach and mentor current Ramblers in the Loyola Athletic Program. I retired in June 2015 as the Athletic Director at Niles North High School, ending an extremely enjoyable and fulfilling career as an educator.  At that time, I think Mike Casper, Ryan Gallagher, and Greg Taylor were still involved as assistant coaches at Loyola Academy.  Beau Desherow is still a Dean of Students and Assistant Coach.  I know Peter Patton was still volunteering as a basketball trainer/coach and Jamie Baisley has been very involved at the Board level.
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I am extremely proud that Peter Patton, Jamie Baisley, Robert Feaster, Aaron Horne and Beau Desherow have all been inducted into the Loyola Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.  Peter is now on the staff of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Shooting Coach) and Jamie has parlayed an amazing business career into starting a non-proft organization (LaunchU) dedicated to pairing young professionals with high achieving urban scholars for the purpose of mentoring these high school scholars about college life and future career opportunities.  And these snippets about Peter and Jamie, I am convinced, are just a small part of a larger story that illustrates perfectly and proudly, that the Class of 1992 members of the ‘90-’91 and ‘91-’92 LA Basketball Teams have been, and still are, “Men For Others” within their families, their places of worship and their communities at large.

Yes, I think it is appropriate to state that the Class of 1992 definitely stands out among the fine classes it was my pleasure to work with as the Head Coach of the Ramblers Basketball Teams from 1988-1996.

Special thanks to Karl for sharing this wonderful message!