CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS ELIJAH DILDY

WEB SPORTS CHICAGO | home

KING HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2006

MORE PHOTOS CLICK

YET ANOTHER DILDY SEEKS BASKETBALL SUCCESS

(Chicago, Il) The Dildy name is synonymous with Chicago basketball. Coaches and players abound with that last name and many are success stories. 19 year old King High School graduate Elijah Dildy hopes to be the latest. The son of highly respected Kennedy-King coach Garland Dildy, young Elijah right now is caught in the cross hairs of a educational and athletic predicament: He missed qualifying by 3 points for an almost sure-thing division 1 scholarship due to a S.A.T. score near miss and must now go to prep school to qualify. Choices among several would be to play for his dad a couple years and attend Kennedy-King College, or perhaps attend the highly vaunted program at the Boys To Men Academy. "Loren Jackson is a great coach to me," the 5'3" 160 lb. point guard said recently in the sweltering old gym of Kennedy-King, referring to the head coach of Boys To Men. "He's good at teaching the basics and the fundamentals."

Teaching defensive fundamentals is something Dildy can do right now for other players, as he is a monster presence WITHOUT the ball. The highly skilled craft of defense and why it should be a coveted art at all times is lost on many of today’s players, but not Dildy. "When it comes to that I'm a coach-on-the-court," this All-City player each of his four years at King High School stated with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "I'm very serious when it comes to defense, as serious defense pays off and wins games." Both father and son know that defensive intuition and instincts must be taught at an young age and first, and both respect how vital this is. It shows in Dildy's game, which is physical and aggressive. Dildy decision making ability places him in his opponents face at soon as he can fly from one of them to the next, all the while very athletic arms and legs stay quite active as he hones in on a stop, steal, or block.

Elijah's dad brims with paternal pride as he speaks of his son's progress, both on the court and off. "He is a tremendous, tremendous son," the Kennedy-King head coach stated. "Whatever it is he decides to do; if it's to come play for me or go to (Boys To Men) or a prep school we're going to be very supportive of him. He's gonna work himself out of it(referring to the A.C.T. test issue) and he has a bright future in terms of basketball." Coach Dildy knows what's best for his son of course as well as his game. He'd love the shot at coaching his kid as nobody knows his as well as he does. "He's a coaches son so that's why he is a excellent decision maker," said Dildy, who has coached his son in numerous leagues for 16 years. "He knows how I like to see the game played and I would consider that a big advantage if I coached him here(at Kennedy-King)". The coach also knows what opportunities his son, who averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds a game last year, has to work on. "Even though he loves to take on a challenge, his three point shooting can be worked on as well as his all around streak shooting generally."

Look for Elijah Dildy to be an even more accomplished and exciting point guard than he already is. As professional play is still a few years off, this dedicated, disciplined, and polite young man is on the right path to a big payoff, even though that path unexpectedly veered a bit off course. Young Dildy learned a valuable lesson and one can see he is the better for it. Dad Dildy, the head coach, is doing what good coaches do: Using a first-hand experience and turning it around to an advantage so as to help teach other young players. "Elijah would of had some D1 opportunities right now if he qualified on his S.A.T.," he stated as he properly showed his son as an inspiration to others. "We'd like to encourage all kids that they need to work harder in high school and prepare themselves a little better so they are not two or three points away from missing a division one scholarship."

Michael Kosman


	WEB SPORTS CHICAGO \| home CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS STEVE JONES \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS LAVELL HARRIS \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS MIKE THOMAS \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS ELIJAH DILDY \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS CHARLES HAWKINS \| CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS BRANDON SIMS CHICAGO HOOP HOPEFULS ELIJAH DILDY KING HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2006 MORE PHOTOS CLICK YET ANOTHER DILDY SEEKS BASKETBALL SUCCESS (Chicago, Il) The Dildy name is synonymous with Chicago basketball. Coaches and players abound with that last name and many are success stories. 19 year old King High School graduate Elijah Dildy hopes to be the latest. The son of highly respected Kennedy-King coach Garland Dildy, young Elijah right now is caught in the cross hairs of a educational and athletic predicament: He missed qualifying by 3 points for an almost sure-thing division 1 scholarship due to a S.A.T. score near miss and must now go to prep school to qualify. Choices among several would be to play for his dad a couple years and attend Kennedy-King College, or perhaps attend the highly vaunted program at the Boys To Men Academy. "Loren Jackson is a great coach to me," the 5'3" 160 lb. point guard said recently in the sweltering old gym of Kennedy-King, referring to the head coach of Boys To Men. "He's good at teaching the basics and the fundamentals." Teaching defensive fundamentals is something Dildy can do right now for other players, as he is a monster presence WITHOUT the ball. The highly skilled craft of defense and why it should be a coveted art at all times is lost on many of today’s players, but not Dildy. "When it comes to that I'm a coach-on-the-court," this All-City player each of his four years at King High School stated with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "I'm very serious when it comes to defense, as serious defense pays off and wins games." Both father and son know that defensive intuition and instincts must be taught at an young age and first, and both respect how vital this is. It shows in Dildy's game, which is physical and aggressive. Dildy decision making ability places him in his opponents face at soon as he can fly from one of them to the next, all the while very athletic arms and legs stay quite active as he hones in on a stop, steal, or block. Elijah's dad brims with paternal pride as he speaks of his son's progress, both on the court and off. "He is a tremendous, tremendous son," the Kennedy-King head coach stated. "Whatever it is he decides to do; if it's to come play for me or go to (Boys To Men) or a prep school we're going to be very supportive of him. He's gonna work himself out of it(referring to the A.C.T. test issue) and he has a bright future in terms of basketball." Coach Dildy knows what's best for his son of course as well as his game. He'd love the shot at coaching his kid as nobody knows his as well as he does. "He's a coaches son so that's why he is a excellent decision maker," said Dildy, who has coached his son in numerous leagues for 16 years. "He knows how I like to see the game played and I would consider that a big advantage if I coached him here(at Kennedy-King)". The coach also knows what opportunities his son, who averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds a game last year, has to work on. "Even though he loves to take on a challenge, his three point shooting can be worked on as well as his all around streak shooting generally." Look for Elijah Dildy to be an even more accomplished and exciting point guard than he already is. As professional play is still a few years off, this dedicated, disciplined, and polite young man is on the right path to a big payoff, even though that path unexpectedly veered a bit off course. Young Dildy learned a valuable lesson and one can see he is the better for it. Dad Dildy, the head coach, is doing what good coaches do: Using a first-hand experience and turning it around to an advantage so as to help teach other young players. "Elijah would of had some D1 opportunities right now if he qualified on his S.A.T.," he stated as he properly showed his son as an inspiration to others. "We'd like to encourage all kids that they need to work harder in high school and prepare themselves a little better so they are not two or three points away from missing a division one scholarship." Michael Kosman