Published on January 27, 2026 2:02 pm
Last Updated on January 27, 2026 2:04 pm
BY KURT BECKER
As the 90th National Trail Conference Boys’ Basketball Tournament gets underway this evening (Tuesday) at Altamont High School, there will be a combination of both new names and familiar faces among the coaching ranks guiding the 10 participating teams. Here are a few highlights with regard to the coaches who will be roaming the sidelines…
*When Cody Drone enters the gym with his sixth-seeded Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg team for the 8 p.m. showdown with No. 3 Dieterich, it will mark the first time in 52 years that an Altamont Community High School graduate has served as a head coach in the tournament. The last was Marlin (Pete) Heiden (ACHS 1966), who coached Brownstown in the tournament from 1971 through 1974. Drone, who graduated from Altamont in 2012, served as an assistant on the Altamont staff under Coach John Niebrugge during the tournament in 2016. Justin Roedl (ACHS 1996) will also take part in this year’s tournament, as the head coach of top-seeded Cumberland.
*Speaking of Niebrugge, the Altamont coach notes that he missed a game at the NTC Tournament a few years ago, with Altamont grad Trenton Kull serving as interim coach in his absence. Under the rules of the Illinois High School Association, however, Niebrugge was still considered the coach of record for the contest.
*All told, there have been approximately 25 alums of the National Trail Conference who have returned to participate as a head coach in the NTC Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
*There are 17 coaches who have won the tournament in their first attempt, the most recent being Jeff Staser (Dieterich) in 2013. Coaches scheduled to participate in the tournament for the first time in this year’s lineup include Drone and Roedl, as well as Landon Zurliene (South Central).
*In an unusual twist of history, Effingham St. Anthony coach Harry Forrester, who guided the Bulldogs in each tournament from 1950 through 1954, returned several years later to serve as an IHSA official for the event. Ironically, Forrester whistled St. Anthony coach John Keller for a technical foul in the championship contest in 1971, a game in which St. Anthony fell to archrival Teutopolis, 81-70.
*Quote of the day comes from Niebrugge, who was asked if he has ever coached against one of his former players. Niebrugge deadpanned, “I would like to think I’m not that old.”