EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Evergreen Park Community High School is proud to announce that George Shimko has been named the next head coach of its girls basketball program. Shimko comes to EPCHS with 30 years of coaching experience, having recently led the girls basketball programs at Queen of Peace and St. Laurence high schools.
“I am grateful to Evergreen Park Athletic Director, Jim Soldan, for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of the girls’ basketball program,” Shimko said. “I am excited to carry on the rich tradition of Evergreen Park Mustangs basketball.”
Before he began coaching, Shimko played college basketball at Northeastern Illinois University and Saint Xavier University, and also enjoyed a lengthy career overseas.
A St. Rita High School alum, Shimko later served as athletic director and head girls basketball at Queen of Peace High School in Burbank from 2013-2017. At Queen of Peace, Shimko rebuilt the basketball program in four years, taking a 2-28 team to 28-4, the best mark in school history. Queen of Peace also won back-to-back IHSA Class 3A regional titles under Shimko in 2016 and 2017, and Shimko was named the Regional News and IBCA Coach of the Year in 2017.
Shimko then established the first-ever girls basketball program at St. Laurence after the school turned coed in 2017. In six seasons, he built three full levels of girls basketball teams and guided the Vikings to a 94-80 varsity record and an IHSA Class 3A regional title in 2018.
Shimko is also the founder and owner of the George Shimko Basketball School, which was created in 1994. The youth basketball program for boys and girls, ages 5-8, reaches about 3,500 players each year who participate in fundamental programs, week-long camps and club teams for players in 3rd through 12th grade.
He also designed and implemented the first youth basketball program for the Chicago Bulls, where as general manager he created the Chicago Bulls Basketball School, weeklong summer camps, overnight camps and the first ever youth basketball facility in Lisle, IL.