First-year Morton College women's basketball coach John Bongiorno has a track record of doing his best work starting with a blank canvas.
When Kendall College introduced athletics in the late 1990s, Bongiorno was brought on as an assistant coach in the program's second season. Kendall started 1-11 before Bongiorno was elevated to head coach in midseason. A few months later, the small liberal arts school in Evanston celebrated an amazing turnaround with a conference championship. Bongiorno carted off Coach of the Year honors in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Flash forward to 2016 when Bongiorno was given the task of assembling a team at Skyway rival College of Lake County. The Lancers didn't field a team the year before.
Year one was a six-win season. The following season, the Lancers got out of the gate with eight straight wins to earn the program's first NJCAA national ranking. A rash of injuries left the Lancers with the required five players to field a team as Lake County finished the 2018-19 campaign at 15-16, but it was one more win than the previous four seasons combined.
The next year was even better with a 19-12 mark that included a Region IV road playoff win at Carl Sandburg. However, COVID struck in 2020 and a majority of athletic programs hit the pause button.
He faces a similar situation at Morton College with no returning players from last season's squad. So what will you get if you play for the Panthers under Bongiorno?
"I'm the kind of coach who likes to build relationships with the players," Bongiorno said. "If a player sees they care about you, they'll respect you. I enjoy coaching. I enjoy the day-to-day interactions with the game of basketball.
"The style of play I like to coach is up-tempo and play solid defense. While I like to get up and down, I will adapt to the talent I have."
Bongiorno has a working knowledge of the Skyway Conference and Region IV women's basketball, having also coached at Harper College.
"I know the league – there's quality teams," Bongiorno said. "It's one of the things that attracted me to this position. The scholarships we have should entice kids wanting to come here and play. Right now, we're going out and selling ourselves as a great place to play."
Bongiorno brings a diverse coaching background to Morton College. In addition to his college background, Bongiorno has coached high school boys basketball at Immaculate Conception (now IC College Prep), Maine West and Francis Parker. He won two regional crowns at Parker in 2011 and '13. He's also coached girls tennis at Maine West and women's bowling at Dominican University.
"John comes to us with college coaching experience at Lake County and Harper," Morton College athletic director Lee Milano said. "He's a proven recruiter. The program is in good hands moving forward."
