A Proviso West graduate, Joe Spagnolo didn't need much of a road map to find work, going back to where he spent his high school days.  The Lombard, Illinois resident has been a staple at the Hillside high school for the past 23 years as coach, official, athletic administrator and Information Technology System Analyst.

Spagnolo coached five different sports at his alma mater and coached athletes there that would later play in the NFL, the NBA and in Minor League Baseball.   Spagnolo's coaching tenure saw him as head coach of the 1992 freshman football team that won the school’s only conference championship on any level in that sport in school history and established an all-time record for wins.  He was head coach on the 1997 undefeated conference champion basketball team, an assistant coach on the 1996 state sectional championship basketball team and an assistant coach for the 1992 state regional champion baseball team.  He also coached a two-time individual state qualifier in track and field's 300 meter intermediate hurdles in 2001 and 2002.

Spagnolo returned to his post as Executive Director of the prestigious Proviso West Holiday Tournament this past year after being Director from 1981-98.  The event has been traditionally noted as one of the nation's top tournament's of its type. This past year's tournament established all-time attendance records in the 45-year history of Christmas classic event.  The tournament website, www.pwhoops.com, which was developed by Spagnolo, received over a quarter of a million hits in its first three months of existence.   The website saw visitors from 15 different countries tuning in to live streaming video of game coverage..  Joe was named to the Holiday Tournament's All-Time All Tournament Team in 2000 which includes Illinois prep legends Isiah Thomas, Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers and Mark Aguirre. 

Among some of the other travels on the Spagnolo express included being the public address announcer for a nearly a decade in track and field for the Illinois High School Association state meet (a position he started in as a senior in high school), announcing the 1980 NCAA Track and Field Meet and being the public address announcer for  the Grand Prix Track and Field Championships.  Spagnolo was Historian of the West Suburban Conference, league statistician for seven different conferences in the Chicagoland area, and was a sideline official for the Illinois High School State Basketball Tournaments, which included being the head timer in the triple overtime 1990 state championship game.

Now out of active coaching, Spagnolo has filled his winters as a successful varsity boys basketball official in the greater Chicago area working in eight different conferences.  He has been a registered athletic official for the past 25 years and umpired the entire 2003 Williamsport Senior League State Baseball Tournament in Illinois.   He also celebrated his 100th NCAA Tournament game this past March in Dayton.

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