Tom Lilly will retire at Cedar Rapids Xavier following this season

CEDAR RAPIDS — Tom Lilly’s 40th season as girls’ basketball coach will be his last.

Lilly confirmed his decision Wednesday at a small press conference at Xavier High School, a day after he told his team.

“This has been on my docket since last spring,” Lilly said. “My wife (Elizabeth) is in her second year of retirement. She has friends that know people that die when they turn 70.”

Lilly will turn 70 next March.

“The decision was ultimately mine,” he said.

The decision was shared with the team in the Xavier parking lot, after they returned from Davenport Assumption. And it’s a decision that didn’t come without some mourning.

“I teach kids about life span, and how there is a series of losses,” Lilly said. “One is the loss of a job, and the identity to who you are.”

Ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, Xavier won its opener, 67-16, pushing Lilly’s career record to 625-297, including 436-195 at Xavier.

“I told them that there was going to be a press conference (Wednesday),” Lilly said. “There was some shock there. I just told them, ‘Let’s go be the best we can possibly be.’ I don’t want them feeling like they have to go win one for The Gipper.”

Lilly also will retire from teaching at the close of the current school year, though he renewed his certification through 2030 and could serve as a substitute.

His psychology classroom is in the southwest corner of the second floor at Xavier. His room is next to those of varsity football coach Duane Schulte and veteran teacher Mike Goldsmith.

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“We’re kind of the old guard there,” Schulte said. “There’s a bench outside our classrooms there. All three will sit out there sometimes and figure out the problems of the world.”

Lilly has served as a freshman football coach for Schulte for every fall at Xavier, except for one.

“He shows just as much passion for freshman football as he does for varsity girls’ basketball,” Schulte said. “I think he’s going to keep coaching freshman football, so that’s a blessing for our football staff.

“With Tom, the word that comes to mind is ‘legend.’ As a coach, as a teacher, he’s just a legend.”

Chris McCarville, president of Xavier Catholic Schools, had another phrase that came to mind: “Without a doubt, a Xavier icon.

“We are forever grateful for the countless hours (Lilly) has devoted to our students and Catholic education, both on the court and in the classroom.”

A 1973 graduate of Cedar Rapids Regis, and from Wartburg College in 1977, Lilly began his head-coaching career at Cedar Rapids Regis in 1985, and has been Xavier’s only coach since its birth in 1998.

“He embraced (the Regis/LaSalle merger),” said Tom Keating, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association and former Xavier principal. “He saw it as a new opportunity, and I think a lot of people were influenced by Tom to embrace the new school.

“To me, he’ll always be in the in the upper echelon of coaches, and that’s any sport. I’ve watched him teach both PE and psychology, and his connection with kids ... that’s what really sets him apart. People see the gruff Tom Lilly on the bench, and they don’t see the Tom Lilly that interacts with kids in the gym, or the classroom, or the hallways, or the lunchroom.

“He is a champion for young people.”

Lilly took his second Xavier team to state, in 2000. He led the Saints to state championships in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2022.

The 2007 team beat Spirit Lake in the final. Spirit Lake was coached at the time by B.J. Mayer, now athletics director at Iowa City West.

“When I came to (coach at West), Tom sent me a message, ‘If there’s anything you need, please let me know,’” Mayer said. “That, to me, spoke volumes to me about the kind of guy he is.

“He comes across as the tough guy, but he’ll do anything for kids, and he’ll do anything for the good of basketball.”

Lilly has coached 17 state-tournament teams.

“You look back 40 years, and I’ve been blessed with some good, coachable kids and supportive parents,” he said. “And I’ve been blessed to have (assistant coach Stephanie) Potts next to me for the last 31 years.”

Lilly’s final team will feature the best player Xavier has produced, senior Libby Fandel.

“I’ve had a great time playing for him,” said Fandel, who has signed with Kansas. “He’s willing to try new things. Every year, playing for him, I’ve been able to get better. That’s important when you want to play at the next level.”

Xavier’s next game is Tuesday at home against Center Point-Urbana.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com