(This story will be updated.)
Hopefully, Mike Gaffney still owns his purple and gold shirts.
The longtime Sacred Heart-Griffin girls basketball assistant coach, who stepped down when Steve Klunick retired in 2024, is back. And this time, he’s in charge of the Cyclones’ girls basketball team.
SHG athletic director Bob Brenneisen confirmed on Saturday that the school has tabbed Gaffney to take over for Dave Andrews, who struggled in his second season with a 7-23 record (and 4-6 in the Central State Eight Conference) after a .500 first season, going 17-17 in 2024-25.
SHG went 21-12 in Klunick’s final season, 2023-24. Gaffney was an assistant for all of Klunick’s 11 seasons. Klunick, the longest-tenured coach in program history, was 227-93 and won three Girls City Tournament championships and a fourth-place finish in the 2019 Class 3A girls state basketball tournament.
“Some of the parents and some of the kids and just other people (were) telling me, ‘You should get back into this and do it,’” Gaffney said on Sunday. “There were things about coaching I definitely missed and so I just thought, well, why not?”
Gaffney began coaching his daughter’s fourth-grade team in 2003, and that’s where he met Klunick. Gaffney’s Predators’ team was playing at The Gym, which was owned by Klunick. The two formed a quick bond over basketball.
While Gaffney said he doesn’t think Klunick has any plans to return to coaching, he says he will still bend Klunick’s ear from time to time and look to him if he needs advice.
“I was there 11 years and every year we had a winning record; we averaged over 20 wins a year. You’ll see the influence of Steve Klunick on our teams,” Gaffney said. “I’d be a fool to have been with him for 11 years and not see what worked in the past and use it.
“We have all the same drills in practice. Will we run the same offense? No, but you’ll definitely see the old SHG, especially on the defensive end. Steve was a really good defensive coach, so you’ll definitely see the old SHG in our game this year.”
Gaffney said he still has two assistant coaching spots to fill, but last year’s assistant, Laura Gebhards, will stay on the staff.
Gaffney retired from his job with the state of Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services in 2020, so he’s able to focus on basketball full-time.
“I’m ready to get going,” Gaffney said. “I feel we can get this turned around pretty quickly. I’ve been watching video of all the kids and the games, and I think there’s some good young talent, I think the upperclassmen are good (and) I really expect us to have a good year this year and get this turned around.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: SHG girls basketball picks former assistant coach Mike Gaffney to lead
Reporting by Ryan Mahan, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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