Bob Hallberg, women’s head basketball coach and athletic director, will be inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Sept. 19. This latest hardware will add to an already illustrious career for Coach Hallberg.
Hallberg will be inducted along with 19 other men including Bo Jackson, Paul Hornung, Otis Wilson, John Calipari and Jennie Finch. Last year Tom O’Malley, Cougar men’s head basketball coach, was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
“We are both recognized as long time Chicagoans, the fact that we are both lifelong Southside Chicago residents shows significance. Unless you are a pro athlete, I think people in the Hall of Fame have to recognize you for something above and beyond. I think that longevity and the fact that we both coached in the Chicago area for numerous years helped. The major accomplishment is that we are recognized as being very loyal Chicagoland coaches” said Hallberg.
Both Hallberg and O’Malley have had tremendous careers at SXU and they have plenty of time to add more accomplishments and honors to their careers. At one point in time though, coach Hallberg was learning that coaching was in his blood.
“I was always organizing even as a child, I lived across the street from a school yard and we would play sports all day long. Since there was no parental involvement, I was always put into a leadership role of putting sides together and putting a team together from our neighborhood,” said Hallberg.
“There was no reason to stay in the house, there was no computers, I phones, or video games and all we had was four television channels which were very boring. After you got done watching Garfield Goose on television, there was nothing else to do. I always had a knack for organizing teams and getting people to sign up and ask for two bucks or so for entry fee,” said Hallberg.
Coach Hallberg got his first taste of coaching at a very young age and became known as a player coach early on. Hallberg started coaching while he was still in college.
“My brother Jack and I started volunteer coaching at Saint Leo grammar school and we coached football, basketball and baseball. I was only 18 years old and my brother was 20 and we were coaching people who were 14 years old,” said Hallberg.
“I’m in pretty good company, it is a prestigious group and it humbles you because you think who Bob Hallberg is in relationship to these other guys who are much more famous. It is an honor for me to be among some pretty famous company, said Hallberg.
This is indeed a prestigious honor that Coach Bob Hallberg will be receiving, but there is still one honor that he would like to achieve. Winning an award for NAIA national coach of the year would be an award that Hallberg would like to add to his collection.
“I’m in every possible Hall of Fame that I can be in because of all the schools I’ve played at, I’m in the Illinois basketball coach’s Hall of Fame, the Saint Xavier Hall of Fame and the UIC Hall of Fame. I think one honor that I would like would be to be national coach of the year in the entire NAIA, that is something that I have not achieved yet that would be quite an honor for me,” said Hallberg.
The Hall of Fame will happen at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero and it will take place on Sept. 19. Individual tickets are $125 and proceeds benefit the Father John Smyth Standing Tall Foundation. Congratulations Coach Hallberg!