Boys Basketball
In 1971, a Decatur sports editor called Oak Lawn’s Jim Bocinsky a “dandy outcourt shooter.”
In 1974, Sports Illustrated called him “cool.”
In 2021, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association will call him a Hall of Famer.
Bocinsky, who helped unranked Oak Lawn reach the state championship game, where the Spartans lost 52-50 to powerhouse Thornridge, was named to the IBCA Hall of Fame for the 2021 class.
At age 67, the Arlington Heights resident was still playing basketball in Des Plaines before the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. He had bittersweet feelings about the honor, given it came in a year when the high school season was halted before champions could be crowned and hasn’t returned yet.
“It seems like a trivial thing,” he said. “I’m obviously grateful for this, but with the times being what they are, this is unbelievable. I can’t get it out of my head … what if this pandemic happened my senior year? I feel so bad for all of these kids.”
Bocinsky played in a different era. Dunks were not allowed. There was no 3-point line. But there still was drama, and the Spartans made history.
The nail-biting loss to the Falcons was the last state championship game played in the single-class system. It also was the only time two south suburban teams squared off for first place in the 111-year history of the tournament.
Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes said he loves basketball history and enjoys meeting players from that era when Len Scaduto was the coach.
Rhodes said Bocinsky, C.J. Kupec, Mark Swiecicki and Don Wesselhoff are some of the players who come back for alumni and fundraising events.
“One thing that is apparent at every alumni game is the level of respect and admiration guys from that era still hold for Bo,” Rhodes said. “It’s almost deferential. And that competitive spirit still burns with him. The man can still hoop.”
Rhodes also enjoys seeing the mixture of generations.
“I think it’s really powerful for the kids in our community to watch and interact with the guys that came before them,” he said. “Bo and many of the other guys always make it a point to rub elbows with them, talk to them a bit, offer them some encouragement and imbue some of that pride and regard they still hold for the school and the program.”
In high school, Bocinsky also picked up attention from the media. During the state championship game against Thornridge, he scored 15 points. That prompted Decatur Review sports editor Bob Fallstrom to refer to him as the “dandy outcourt shooter.”
After graduating from Oak Lawn, Bocinsky headed to DePaul, playing for legendary coach Ray Meyer. In the 1974-75 Sports Illustrated college basketball preview, the Demons were ranked No. 13 in the nation.
The team capsule featured the anecdote, “Cool Jim Bocinsky sometimes concludes practice with a little game of one-on-one against girlfriend Lynn Metz, a DePaul cheerleader.”
Bocinsky married Metz, who was inducted into the DePaul Hall of Fame for gymnastics. They have three grown children. Lynn is a retired teacher, while Jim works as a general manager of finance for All-Star Trading in Oak Brook.
After DePaul, he played basketball with the Joliet-based Marathon Oil team, a national power that was coached by Glen Sergent. The team traveled all over the world and frequently played exhibition games against college teams.
After the team changed names to the Joliet Christian Youth Center, Bocinsky helped the group win national championships in 1978 and 1979.
One of his teammates was former Lewis University standout Frank Kaminsky Jr., whose son, also named Frank, plays in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns.
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