Jim Sexton felt at home at Evergreen Park, but the call of the Catholic League was too much for him to ignore.
Sexton, who was recently announced as the head basketball coach at St. Rita, is excited about getting back to his roots.
“I grew up in the league,” Sexton said. “I played at Brother Rice, coached at St. Laurence. There’s just kind of a different level of crowd support and different things that go into the games, where you really feel — to steal off football a little bit — that Friday night lights feel.
“Every game on a Friday night is the biggest thing going on in the world at those schools. That really drew me back in.”
Sexton replaces Ross Burt, who went 8-51 over two seasons as St. Rita struggled through a massive rebuild following several high-profile transfers, losing three high-major college players in Morez Johnson, Nojus Indrusaitis and James Brown before Burt inherited the team.
Sexton said some St. Rita alumni tried to talk him into applying for the job two years ago before Burt was hired. But his son, Nolan, was heading into his senior season at Evergreen Park.
Sexton stuck with Evergreen Park, and in Nolan’s senior season in 2023-24, the Mustangs went 22-11 and won the program’s first regional championship in 50 years.
“Obviously, it was a good decision to stay at Evergreen Park and let those guys stay together and it was a great experience, winning a regional and everything,” Sexton said. “The opportunity to coach Nolan was very special.”
This time, when Sexton heard from St. Rita again, the timing was much better.
So, he’s leaving the school that he said is “literally 50 yards” from his house — and the town where his father, James, was the longtime mayor — to head to the Catholic school four miles down the road.
“It was very tough to leave Evergreen,” Sexton said. “We had a nice run there and there are great people there and leaving your hometown school is tough, but I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Catholic League.
“I think we’ve got some nice building blocks and we’re going to get it rolling.”
St. Laurence coach Jim Sexton eyes the clock against St. Francis de Sales during a Catholic League game on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
St. Rita president John Donahue is confident that his school found the right man to lead the turnaround.
“We are thrilled to welcome coach Sexton to St. Rita,” Donahue said in a press release. “His experience and dedication to the basketball community is exactly what the St. Rita basketball program needs. We know he will make an impact here.”
Of course, turnarounds have been Sexton’s specialty.
He went 75-63 over five seasons at Evergreen Park, including that historic regional championship. The Mustangs finished over .500 in three of those seasons after hitting that mark only three times in the previous 17.
Before that, Sexton finished 62-34 over three seasons at St. Laurence, winning two regional titles. The program won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the late 1970s.
Sexton knows there is work to do at St. Rita, and he’s ready to jump in.
“I think the biggest thing is to just to find the right guys who are going to stick around and not only have basketball ability but also fit into the St. Rita culture, on and off the court,” he said. “It takes some time and it’s a bit of a subtle thing, but I think just getting out there and finding the right kids is the biggest thing.
“I think we can get out there and do that and keep the program more steady than those huge highs and lows that have happened recently.”
Sexton intends to bring a fast-paced brand of basketball back to the Catholic League, leaning on pressure defense and 3-point shooting.
“It might take us a little bit to get there, but the plan is to get it rolling pretty quickly and get us back to where we’re playing in those big games every Friday night,” Sexton said.
