Paul Samano stepped into the role of Head Coach of the Boys Basketball Team only weeks before the preseason in 2019. Under his leadership, the team have had a historic start to the season with their 12-4 record and are looking to continue their historic 11-game win streak on February 7 against Latin.

Samano grew up in Ravenswood, Chicago, where he attended Loyola Academy. He was a swimmer during his childhood but has been playing basketball all his life, starting in third grade and playing actively until recently. “I wanted to play basketball, but I was very small,” Samano said. “I was a great swimmer though.”

Although basketball was not his main sport, Samano played it as much as he could. “I grew up with a bunch of basketball players who played in college, and we played every day,” Samano said. One of the people he played with was Eric Davis, sixth man of the Houston Cougars men’s basketball team that made it to the NCAA Finals. Samano also played with the 18th overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Dave Corzine. “I watched Dave play at DePaul when I was in high school,” Samano said. “He used to hang around with us, and we played a lot of good basketball.”

Samano’s first coaching job was at the FXW Grammar School 25 years ago. He began by coaching his son’s team in fifth grade as an assistant coach, improved the program, and is still actively involved there now. According to Samano, FXW has become one of the strongest Grammar School basketball programs in Chicago. “I love basketball, but what I really love is teaching, and teaching a process, watching kids grow, get better, make better decisions, and become good, not only good basketball players but good citizens,” Samano said. “The kids I began my coaching career with are now 34 or 35 years old. It really became a passion for me.”

Samano first began coaching at Parker during the 2016-17 season as the Assistant Varsity Coach. He is now coaching the current seniors who were freshmen during his first season as coach. “Our Senior class has a lot of talent and has worked really hard for four years,” Samano said. 

He attributes this year’s success to the basketball IQ of the players. Samano has seen tremendous improvement in the players in his four years coaching them. “But they also struggle well,” Samano said. “They worked hard for three years learning how not to lose, which is really the secret to winning. And this year it’s all coming together.” Samano has high hopes for the end of this season and sees a bright future with lots of talented underclassmen on the team this year.

Under the leadership of Samano, the team have been changing the game plan this season. Under the previous head coach, Kevin Snyder, the team worked a lot on shooting. Samano notes shooting as one of the team’s strengths and is now working on attacking the ball, fastbreaks, and playing quicker all around. “Now we have a multifaceted attack that has really developed in the last year.” Samano said. “The chemistry on the court this year is unparalleled as well.”

The team culture is changing along with the game plan this year. “We are greater than one or two players, we really have eight or nine guys who could start, so there is no jealousy of the starting players because everyone knows they are contributing,” Samano said. 

The bench is making an impact on the culture of the team as well. “The biggest skill needed in basketball is communication on or off the court,” Samano said. “The bench gives energy to the kids on the court giving encouragement. There’s more to being on a team than just playing time and these guys know that.” 

This energy can be seen during games as the bench players are constantly cheering and hyping the team up. “Our team is a family,” varsity player junior Bodie Florsheim said. “Whether I’m on the court or on the bench, I give my teammates 110 percent.”

Samano commends the seniors’ leadership this year. The moment Samano knew the season had a different tone was the first practice when the captains took the freshmen aside for a talk separately from the coaching staff. Samano sees the captains lead by example daily on and off the court. “When the seniors were freshmen, upperclassmen didn’t have a welcoming nature, and the captains were determined to change that,” Samano said. “I’ve seen Oliver talk to a junior player after a really tough practice where they were really going at each other and take the time to talk to him after about how to get better and it struck me that that was pure leadership.” When the seniors are taken out at games, they cheer just as hard as the bench. 

Samano thinks the team have really bought into the principle that the group is greater than any one player. “Coach Paul is a good communicator,” Manilow said. “He allows me as a point guard to voice my opinion which allows us to flow ideas from bench players to starters to the coaches in the smoothest possible way so we can fix any problems we have.”

Samano’s goal for this season is to win the Independent School League and to make it as far in the bigger state tournament as the team can. “Beyond stats and titles, my main goal is for the seniors to have the best year they can and for some to play in college,” Samano said. “I also want the underclassmen to gain experience so we can establish a winning culture. And that means more to me than just winning games or the championship. It means having a great experience. The skills you learn in sports carry forward in your life and is about a lot more than sports.”