Polite moves up to head basketball coach at United Township

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By Jon Gremmels | Monday, June 16, 2008 |

United Township High School head basketball coach Marc D. Polite. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

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Marc Polite grew up dreaming of becoming a basketball coach someday, hoping it would be at his alma mater, United Township High School. But when Polite left Florida Gulf Coast University last year and returned to United Township, coaching basketball wasn’t the reason.

“What really brought me back was my (future) wife (LaShonda),” said Polite, who was married a month ago. “I was there, and she was here.”

His fairy-tale story became complete Tuesday when Polite, 30, was introduced as United Township’s boys varsity basketball coach.

“This job has always been a dream of mine,” he said.

“Marc Polite is the right guy in the right place at the right time,” UT athletic director Mike Tracey said, reading a prepared statement.

Polite didn’t expect it to happen — at least not so quickly — when he came back. He more or less fell into the job as sophomore coach on Steve Yount’s staff. Then, when Yount announced earlier this month that he was stepping down after six seasons, Polite emerged as the top candidate to replace him.

“To be honest, there’s something to be said for being patient,” Polite said. “It’s kind of shocking that it has happened the way it has. It’s an unbelievable opportunity that’s ahead of me.”

Polite was a four-year varsity player for the Panthers, earning all-Western Big Six Conference honors in 1994 and 1995. He continued his career at Eastern Illinois, earning all-Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer honors twice and ranks 16th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,283 points.

After he graduated, Polite served as an assistant at Eastern Illinois, Danville High School and Florida Gulf Coast University until returning to UT last year.

Tracey, who taught at UT when Polite was a student there, said: “I knew he was a quality guy. (Former UT coach) Scott Olson loved Marc, and that’s pretty high praise.”

Polite has a unique perspective of his new team, having seen last year’s varsity players and coached those on the sophomore team. The varsity finished 18-11 last year and was co-champion in the Western Big Six with an 8-2 record.

“I don’t think we’ll have to rebuild, just retool,” he said.

He will inherit one of the top players in the area in All-Metro Kannon Burrage. Also back is returning starter Shaquille Lowery and several reserves who saw action: Markus Brems, Jordan Johanson and twins Demetrius and Demetriyone Singleton.

“What will dictate our style is our personnel,” he said. “We will guard people, though, and play with passion.”

That shouldn’t be unexpected, though, because passion and coaching United Township go together for Polite.

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com.