Adam Schonauer named Mahomet-Seymour’s next boys’ basketball coach
By FRED KRONER
The most important element of a job interview can vary from situation to situation.
For some people involved with the hiring process, it can revolve around credentials and work ethic.
Others will look at the resume and the past record of success.
Still, others will consider how a person presents themselves, their confidence, and their personality.
Mahomet-Seymour administrators could add another item into the mix.
Words.
Not just the words spoken by the candidate during the actual interview, but the ones spoken by others, not in the presence of the candidate.
Those criteria helped M-S settle on Lincoln native Adam Schonauer as the school’s next boys’ basketball head coach.
“The thing that sealed the deal was when we talked to people whose opinions we valued and all they could talk about was the positive experience their kids had, even if they weren’t the star of the team,” M-S athletic director Matt Hensley said.
“We tell people we can help them become better coaches or better teachers, but we can’t help them to love kids.”
Schonauer, who has four children of his own with wife Laura, was officially approved as the Bulldogs’ boys’ basketball coach on Monday (June 12) in a special Board of Education meeting.
He was one of three finalists who were interviewed for the job.
“He is a good young coach,” Hensley said. “He has good knowledge of the game, his kids play the game hard, and they play the right way.”
In his first full-time job out of Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Schonauer worked at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School for 16 years. He moved his way up from an assistant’s position in boys’ basketball (four years with the freshmen and four with the junior varsity) to the head coaching job for his final nine seasons.
His career record at Class 2A PBL (enrollment 463) was 150-97, including four 20-win seasons and four regional championship teams (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020).
Schonauer wasn’t actively seeking positions at other schools, but when Ryan Bosch resigned at Mahomet-Seymour, he knew it was a school where he wanted to apply.
Ticking off a list of draws to the northwestern Champaign County community, Schonauer said, “the facilities, the prior success, the growth in the community (the high school is projected to have in excess of 1,000 students during the 2023-24 school year) and the good youth program that is in place.”
Added Schonauer: “When I saw the opening, I texted my wife right away. She knew I had an interest in Mahomet-Seymour.”
It wasn’t long before the feeling was mutual even though his only losing season with the Panthers (4-25) was his final one at the Ford County school.
With virtually all of the 2022-23 M-S assistants remaining on staff (except for Eric Andracke), Schonauer has immersed himself into a program that already had a summer league and a summer tournament (at Lincoln) scheduled.
He likes what he has seen.
“The kids have been great, and their attitudes have been great,” Schonauer said. “They have been respectful and very open to the ideas I would like to implement.
“Having most of the high school staff back has helped me (in the transition).”
A 2002 Lincoln High School graduate, Schonauer comes from a school where his former head coach (Neil Alexander) is still the school’s head coach. The Railsplitters have been noted for playing a full-court ball-press defense.
“I’m a big believer of the ball-press,” Schonauer said. “We played that about 90 percent of the time I was at Lincoln.
“They’ve had success (at M-S) with man-to-man and we will continue that and look to play both defenses.”
Whatever defense the Bulldogs align in, Schonauer will have the same expectations.
“We’ll pressure people, have five guys pressuring people, and take away the three-point shot,” he said.
Offensively, he plans to feature a quick-tempo game.
“I’m a believer in transition, playing with pace and not allowing the defense to get set,“ Schonauer said. “We’ll look for early scoring opportunities (in a possession).”
When that plan of attack is not possible, Schonauer added, “We’ll try to get to the rim and kick it out for threes.”
From the limited chances he has had to observe his future players, Schonauer said he likes the returning nucleus.
“We’ll spread the floor and have multiple threats,” he said. “We’ll have good ballhandlers and willing passers and a tremendous athlete in the middle (Trey Peters, an incoming 6-foot-5 junior).
“We can be a dangerous team offensively.”
Schonauer will be teaching a combination of physical education, driver’s education and health classes. He had experience in all three of those areas – as well as in weight training – while at PBL.
Though the 2023-24 high school schedule is not finalized, M-S will again compete in the Lincoln Thanksgiving-week tournament. The tourney will begin on Monday, Nov. 20. There are indications that the first game of the season for the Bulldogs will be against the host Railsplitters.
Alexander has been the school’s head coach for 33 years and has an overall record of 776-245, including 87-30 during Schonauer’s four years.
He is someone, Schonauer said, “I have a ton of respect for. My high school experience was top-level and he (Anderson) was a big influence on me as a player and as a coach as far as how to coach in practice and how to handle the game.”
Come Game Night, however, Schonauer will have one objective.
“We’ll go to win,” he said, “but we’ll shake hands afterwards. I’ll be one of his first former players to coach against him.”
The majority of the key players from M-S’ 14-17 regional championship team in 2023 have graduated.
Gone are five of the top six scorers, four of the top five rebounders and six of the top eight leaders for minutes played.
Peters was third on the team in scoring last season (8.3 per-game average) and second in rebounds with 145. He and incoming senior Finn Randolph ranked second and fourth, respectively, on the team in minutes played.
Of the team’s top five three-point marksmen from last year, only Randolph (with 17 three-pointers) was not a senior.
Lincoln and M-S have both been Apollo Conference members the past six seasons, but the Railsplitters ended their affiliation with the league when the 2022-23 school year ended and will be heading to the Central State Eight.
M-S, however, will play Lincoln in a regular-season game, which will also be on the Railsplitters’ court on Dec. 15.
Schonauer said he will “not be directly involved,” with the M-S junior high boys’ basketball program, but likes the staff that is in place at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels.
“They have a good grasp of what they want to do,” he said.
From his perspective, it’s not imperative that the junior high coaches duplicate the system that the high school coaches will employ.
“I am more concerned with player development at that level,” Schonauer said. “If the kids have a good foundation of skills, we can implement anything at the high school level.”
Schonauer’s first home game at Mahomet-Seymour is scheduled for Thursday (Nov. 30) against Mattoon.
Adam and Laura Schonauer have three daughters and one son. The oldest daughter, Kendal, will be entering seventh grade. Son Jordan is going into fourth grade, daughter Morgan will be starting second grade, and daughter Tori is 4 years old.
