Gene Pingatore still can’t quite believe that in November he’ll be among the inductees into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. “I am totally honored and extremely humbled,” he says. “When you think about it, I’m a high school coach. And here I go to the hall of fame with all my heroes who are there — Joe DiMaggio, Rocky Marciano. It just boggles my mind.”

Except that Pingatore is not just a high school coach. He’s the winningest boys’ basketball coach in Illinois history and has earned a long list of recognitions and awards in his nearly 60-year career, including Student Sports Magazine National Coach of the Year in 1999 and induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Catholic League Hall of Fame.