Dec. 01--Trinity girls basketball coach Eddie Stritzel and three assistants resigned Monday, the coach confirmed to the Tribune.
Stritzel's resignation came the day before both the end of his 30-day suspension for IHSA violations and the No. 2 Blazers' showdown with No. 1 Montini.
"I handed in my resignation today, and the matter has been resolved at Trinity," Stritzel said.
Assistants Jeff Krason, Dave Roselund and Nicole Rivera resigned in support of Stritzel, who was 236-51 in nine seasons at the River Forest all-girls school. Stritzel's daughter Annie, a highly touted freshman playing on the varsity team, is expected to remain with the Blazers.
Interim coach Mike Valente accepted the head coach job, which was offered to him Monday afternoon by principal Noreen Powers and athletic director Rachel Meiner. Valente, who has led the team to a 4-1 record, told the team of the news after Monday's practice.
"This came out of the blue," said Valente, the head coach at Queen of Peace for two seasons ending in 2014. "I will continue to help with the team and with the program. We will try to carry on the Trinity tradition.
"Nothing has changed what the girls were planning to do since Day 1. Our goal is to win the state championship. I don't think I've had time to digest this now. I've been thinking about Montini."
Stritzel was suspended for the first 30 days of the 2015-16 season due to self-imposed sanctions by school. The IHSA completed an investigation of Trinity's program in late October, confirming impermissible contact between Stritzel and a since-graduated player and her parents. The contact violated IHSA by-law 3.070, which concerns recruiting.
The Blazers won eight regionals and two sectionals under Stritzel. Last season's 27-5 team upset No. 1 Young 37-36 in a Class 4A sectional final -- handing the Dolphins their first home loss in 11 years -- before falling 72-68 to Homewood-Flossmoor in a supersectional. Trinity returned most of its key players from that team while adding Annie Stritzel, who already has scholarship offers from DePaul and Milwaukee.
Valente doesn't expect Annie Stritzel to be adversely affected by her father's resignation.
"She's such a talented basketball player and she's a great young lady," Valente said. "She is mature beyond her years. I think she knows this has nothing to do with her or about her as a person."
Montini coach Jason Nichols, the head coach at Trinity from 2000-01 to 2002-03, called the situation unfortunate.
"Those kids know Eddie as their coach, and I feel really bad for his daughter and the kids on the team," Nichols said. "I feel bad for Eddie. He can't coach his daughter. The timing is unusual because he's supposed to come back [Tuesday]. The whole thing is odd. It's awkward, unusual and unfortunate and unimaginable."
Rivera, one of the three assistants to resign, has known Stritzel since she was in sixth grade. The former Fenwick player served as his assistant for eight years.
"It's unfortunate" Rivera said. "We've been here so long building a program at Trinity. Out of loyalty to coach Stritzel, the rest of the staff decided to resign."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune. George Wilcox contributed to this report.
