Earlier this month, Fenwick girls basketball alum Katie O’Grady (now Cunningham) received word that she will be inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame. The ceremony takes place at CEFCU Arena, Illinois State University in Normal on May 3.
“It was really great and a nice surprise,” she said in a phone interview with Wednesday Journal.
O’Grady was a four-year varsity player at Fenwick from 1996 through 2000. Her 2,536 career points rank second in program history behind Tricia Liston. During her four seasons, the Friars won four consecutive East Suburban Catholic Conference championships, sharing the first two with Benet Academy and winning the final two outright, while compiling a record of 102-30. She made the All-ESCC Team all four years and was voted the conference’s Most Valuable Player three consecutive times. She also made the IBCA All-State Team her final three seasons, getting Class 3A/4A First Team honors in 2000 and Third Team honors in 1998 and 1999.
Raised on Chicago’s Northwest Side in the Jefferson Park and Portage Park neighborhoods, O’Grady, who attended elementary school at St. Robert Bellarmine, has fond memories of her Fenwick days.
“Oh God, there are so many,” she said. “We had a lot of battles against Benet; those were always really fun games to play. We beat Marshall my senior year. And just the day in, day out practicing with my teammates; coach [Dave] Power made it a lot of fun.”
In O’Grady’s senior season of 1999-2000, Fenwick advanced downstate for the first time, finishing third in the IHSA Class AA state tournament with a 35-3 record. In her final high school game, O’Grady poured in 27 points to lead the Friars to a 63-44 victory over Galesburg in the third-place game.
“We were going for first place,” O’Grady said. “It didn’t work out, but getting third place was good for the team and program at the time.”
Power, who is already in the IBCA Hall of Fame, calls O’Grady one of Fenwick’s all- time great players.
“Katie was captain of the first Fenwick team to go d ownstate,” he said. “What’s great about her is that she never cared about points, she just cared about her teammates and winning. Some kids can suck the air out of a team like a balloon. But some can blow it up in a positive way, and that’s what Katie always did. She was such fun to coach.”
O’Grady, who played collegiately at Marquette University, credits her success to Power as well as her teammates.
“Coach Power had an offensive mind for basketball that’s enviable,” she said. “With his plays and my teammates’ ability to get me the ball when I was open, that’s how [the-then school record for career points] happened. It was a great environment to be around, and coach Power was great. I learned a lot about the game from him; he’s such a wonderful person who’s always there for you.”
While thrilled with the impending Hall of Fame induction, it comes at a challenging time for O’Grady, who is mourning the recent loss of her father.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” she said, “but I know he’ll be there in spirit. He was my biggest supporter and he really loved girls’ and women’s basketball.”
She appreciates what the sport has meant to her.
“I never expected to make the Hall of Fame,” O’Grady said. “I just love the game of basketball; it’s such a fun sport to play. There’s nothing like knowing that you’re going to have a game that day, the energy that you feel. But no, I didn’t think it would translate into this. It’s a really nice feeling.”
“It’s such a deserving honor for her to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Power said. “She’s a fun-loving girl, and it’s because of her success that a lot more players started coming to Fenwick. Katie was the beginning of our great run of success (16 consecutive ESCC titles and two AA state titles in 2001 and 2007 respectively). I’m so happy for her.”