{"id":99780,"date":"2022-03-18T14:11:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=99780"},"modified":"2022-03-18T14:11:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:11:52","slug":"david-powers-legendary-fenwick-coaching-career-comes-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/david-powers-legendary-fenwick-coaching-career-comes-to-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"David Power\u2019s legendary Fenwick coaching career comes to an end"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alyssa Muir<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Fenwick High School girls basketball coach David Power watched the seconds tick off the clock during his team\u2019s season-ending loss to Nazareth Academy on Feb. 28. But unlike every other year, this wasn\u2019t just a close to a season but to Power\u2019s legendary 45-year career.<\/p>\n

Power, who spent 29 of those 45 years at Fenwick, retires as the school\u2019s only girls basketball coach ever. He won more than 1,000 games and three state championships.<\/p>\n

Power announced his retirement Nov. 1, prior to the beginning of his final season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had to finish up some time, so I thought this year would be as good as any,\u201d Power said. \u201cWe had a group of seniors that have been with me for a while, some since fourth or fifth grade, and I felt that we had a really good chance to make it downstate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fenwick Friars were a game away from returning to state but ultimately fell to Nazareth in the Super-Sectionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me it was like any other season,\u201d Power said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it hits you until it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Power won his 1,000th game three games into his final season. (Alyssa Muir\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fenwick\u2019s first<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1992, Fenwick transitioned from an all-boys high school to a coeducational school. Power, who had spent the previous 10 years coaching at Immaculate Heart of Mary High School, a suburban Westchester school that has since closed, jumped at the chance to \u201ctackle a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

His first team at Fenwick had all freshmen players. They won just one game \u2014against the Illinois Math & Science Academy in Aurora.<\/p>\n

But Power slowly built the program and eventually secured its first state championship in 2001. The Friars won another six seasons later, this time with Power\u2019s daughter Erin on the team.<\/p>\n

And while Fenwick\u2019s reputation was one of the draws for former Friar Tricia Liston, who played college basketball at Duke University and was eventually drafted No. 12 in the 2014 WNBA draft, Power was the biggest one.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I always wanted to play for him,\u201d Liston said. \u201cMy older sisters played for him. I played for a travel team that he helped coach. I couldn\u2019t wait to go to Fenwick so I could officially play for him in a competitive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same could be said for former players Brittanny Johnson, who played for Power before moving on to Boston College, and Devereaux Peters, another player who eventually made it to the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t sold on Fenwick as a school, but I went because I trusted (Power),\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd I made the right choice because from that time to now he\u2019s always had my back. He\u2019s never not shown up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peters had a similar story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know much about Fenwick outside of basketball before I went, but it came to that crossroads where I knew I needed to go there if I wanted to take basketball seriously,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n

\"banner\"
In honor of Power\u2019s 1,000th win, he was awarded a banner with the names of every player he coached at Immaculate Heart of Mary and Fenwick inscribed. (Alyssa Muir\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The transition won\u2019t be easy for Power.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I find myself thinking like \u2018I need to order the shirts for summer camp\u2019 and then it\u2019s \u2018Oh, yeah, that\u2019s right\u2014I\u2019m not doing that anymore,\u2019\u201d Power said. \u201cIt\u2019s little things like that because I\u2019m a creature of habit\u201445 years and you get used to doing certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be equally difficult for people close to the program to adjust to the team without Power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think of Fenwick girls basketball, obviously the first thing that comes to mind is Coach Power and what he did for the program,\u201d Liston said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take some time to get used to. If you use Fenwick girls basketball in a sentence, you can bet that Coach Power\u2019s name will be in that sentence too.\u201d<\/p>\n