Routt Catholic boys coach Will Whalen resigns after 11 seasons
Will Whalen stepped away after 11 seasons and a school-record 30-win run, leaving Routt Catholic to replace two veteran coaches after its first sectional title.
Routt Catholic’s boys basketball program lost its longtime anchor just weeks after the most successful season in school history. Will Whalen resigned after 11 seasons, closing a run that ended with a school-record 30 wins and the Rockets’ first-ever sectional title.
Whalen said coaching had taken a physical and mental toll, and he wanted more time to spend with his grandson in Minnesota. He grew up a Routt Rocket, which makes the move feel less like a cold exit than the end of a homegrown era for one of the most visible small-school programs in the Jacksonville area.
Routt finished 30-5 in 2025-26, and the Illinois High School Association lists the Rockets at 30-5 in Class 1A. MaxPreps shows back-to-back high-win seasons under Whalen, with Routt going 29-5 in 2024-25 and 30-5 this winter. The Rockets’ postseason included that first sectional championship in March and a trip to the JHS Bowl super-sectional, where they fell to Goreville 60-43 on March 9, 2026. That made Whalen’s departure a follow-up to the best boys basketball season in school history, not a reset from a rebuilding year.
Over 11 seasons at Routt, Whalen compiled 238 victories. His combined coaching total across grade school and high school reached 465 wins, a measure of how long he has been part of local basketball circles in Morgan County and beyond. The 30-win season also stood as a school record, setting a high bar for whoever takes over next.
The transition will not stop with Whalen. Assistant coach Jeff Abell is also stepping down because of his duties as Winchester school superintendent, leaving Routt to replace two experienced leaders at once. For returning players, that affects offseason planning, player development and the structure around a program that just proved it could play deep into March.
The next coach inherits more than an opening. He takes over a team coming off a sectional title, a 30-win season and the expectations that now come with both.
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