Glory Days with Frank 'The Wizard' Mattucci

There were rumors going around the building. After a 10-year run as girls basketball head coach at , Phil Raffaelli wanted out of his post. That news reached the AP European History department. Teaching that subject was a young employee named Frank Mattucci. The year was 1990.

His resume looked pretty good. After all, in a four-year stint at Luther North, he had guided that Class A squad to a 102-14 record.

“We never got out of the sectional,” Mattucci said. “I still had a lot to learn. But I got the job at Stevenson. I really didn’t think it would be on par with my teams at Luther North.”

Put it this way — from 1993 to 1996, Mattucci’s Stevenson squads won 97 games and lost just four. On his updated resume were two state championships. Mattucci’s 15-year run as head coach of Stevenson ended after the 2006 season. His clubs won 353 games and dropped only 134 for a startling winning percentage of .725. His teams won 30 or more games in five different seasons.

“I still get questions about him everywhere I go,” Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said. “During his reign at Stevenson, it was the premier program in the state.”

The players who went through this program are some of the best ever. This group included the gifted sisters Tauja and Tamika Catchings, Katie Coleman, Danielle Mall and Jenni Dani. However, this defensive-minded wizard of a coach seemed to get the most out of his players.

“We did things the Mattucci Way,” Mattucci said. “I knew we had a nice foundation coming in. But I never thought we would be as good as we were so quickly.”

The Mattucci Way included a stifling defense which seemingly was something new at the time.

Ikenn studied basketball under Mattucci for eight seasons and took some of his teachings to his job at Grayslake Central. His first team at Central reached the supersectional.

“Frank never missed anything,” Ikenn said. “It was a focus on all details. Some fans saw him yelling on the sideline. But Frank was a great motivator. He had the loyalty of his players.”

The 1992-93 season brought in a school record of 26 wins. And that was just the beginning. The next season, the Patriots won 30 straight games only to be upset by rival Libertyville.

“That was a bitter loss,” Mattucci said.

The best was still yet to come. In back-to-back seasons, Stevenson went home as state champions. The first title came over Mother McAuley. The season after, Stevenson stopped Elgin for the championship.

“It was a hell of a run,” Mattucci said. “We brought a lot of excitement to the school. Our motto was pride, hustle and dedication.”

This was not a state power that beat up on just local teams. This Wizard of Defense scheduled several games out of state with national powers and handled those squads as well.

When the great class of Catchings and Coleman moved on, it looked like the great Stevenson run was over. Twelve of his players graduated and the 1997 team got off to a poor start. A late-season rally moved the Pats up to the sixth seed in the Libertyville Sectional. However, Lake Zurich was loaded at the top seed.

“A lot of people forget about that,” Ikenn said. “They went into the playoffs with a losing record and he got them to the supersectional.”

Mattucci’s ’97 club knocked off the powerhouse Lake Zurich to win the sectional.

“I was really proud of that group,” Mattucci said.

Stevenson wasn’t through making it to the state tournament. During the 2000-01 season, the Pats made it downstate. Trailing 21-9 early, the Pats knotted the contest on a Kelly Hamilton jumper at 25-25. New Trier held off Stevenson 44-38.

“I took early retirement,” Mattucci said. “I realized when I stepped down it was fun again to grade papers. It was wonderful to be teaching without coaching.”

Most recently Mattucci was on the bench of the Zion-Benton squad. He was an assistant on a team that finished second in the state in the winter. And no doubt he taught that squad how to play stifling defense.