Lyndon, Illinois, is a small village in Whiteside County, barely a 15-mile drive southwest from Sterling and hugging the Rock River.
Agriculture powers the economy of “The Crow Capitol of the World,” where the population hovered around 650 during the 1950s and ’60s.
Until the end of that time frame, the local kids attended hometown Lyndon High School, which is where farm boy and future Sauk Valley legend Russ Damhoff found himself. Before he graduated, however, consolidation created what is known now as Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico CUSD #3.
“Back in those days,” recalls Damhoff, a 1970 alum of Prophetstown High School, “everybody was a multi-sport athlete. For me, it was football, and then basketball, and then track. That was just what everybody did back then instead of specializing like they do now.”
He headed next to Illinois State University.
“I played a little bit of football down there,” he says, “and I almost finished, but then I decided I was going to work construction for a while. I did that for a few years and, you know, did crazy stuff that young people do – race motocross, those types of things.”
Countless sports seasons came and went as Damhoff began to wish he had completed his degree.
NIU’s Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education provided that lane. He earned his bachelor’s in 1985 and his master’s in 1992.
One year after finishing that B.S.Ed. and his student-teaching at Rockford East High School, Damhoff became head coach of the Sauk Valley Community College men’s basketball team.
More than four decades later, his name has become a permanent fixture of the hoops program – his cursive signature emblazoned in large letters on the “Russ Damhoff Court” gym floor.
Sauk Valley officials unveiled the humbling tribute Nov. 1 before the first men’s game of the season.
“When the call came, I was surprised and I thought, ‘No, I don’t deserve this.’ They convinced me that I did, and so I accepted. It was a great honor,” says Damhoff, who led the Skyhawks for 31 years, compiled a 592-392 record and received Region IV Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and 2016.
“They thought I deserved it for all the years I’d put in, and all the effort I’d put in, and you know, it feels good when somebody thinks you deserve something like that, even though, like I said, I’m not sure I do, but I couldn’t turn it down,” he adds.
“Just to have the recognition – a number of great players and former coaches came back – was a fun evening and exciting, and I’m honored to have my name on the floor. If it’s for a year, I’m satisfied. If it’s for 10 years, I’m satisfied. I keep telling Coach Sharp, ‘You’ve got to win something so you can get your name to replace mine.’ ”
BASKETBALL BECAME A career for Damhoff for a reason that makes him laugh now.
“I love football, but it gets too cold outside to coach football. I always knew I wanted to be a basketball coach, and that’s what drove me back to school,” he says.
“Working construction, I would tell my wife once a week, ‘I miss coaching. I want to coach.’ And she’d say, ‘Well, go coach,’ ” he adds. “One day, I came home and said, ‘I quit. I’m going back to school.’ I think it surprised her, but she supported me.”
NIU faculty supported him as well, he says, as did then-NIU men’s basketball coach John McDougal, who allowed Damhoff to observe team practices and “was a big part of me getting the chance at Sauk Valley.” Former NBA player Kenny Battle was still a Huskie then, “so it was exciting.”
Inside Anderson Hall – just hearing that name brings a smile to his face – he appreciated his professors, his coursework and his second chance.
“They treated me awful well. They really did. They got me back on track and, of course, by that time I was mature. I was serious about my education,” he says. “At that time, they all said the P.E. field is overflowing with people, but that’s the one area I had passion for – coaching, physical education, exercise – so I just stuck with my strength and it ended up paying off.”
Meanwhile, he adds, “I was given an opportunity. People cared about you. The courses were tough, especially after a gap in education. But when you give up a job to go back to school, you’re pretty focused. You put in the time. The instructors at Northern went above and beyond to make you successful. I couldn’t have picked a better place to go back to finish my degree.”
Although Damhoff was open to teaching at any level, he mostly wanted to coach, and when Sauk Valley hired him, part of his position was teaching a couple courses each year. Those included coaching theory as well as activities classes, including basketball and weightlifting.
“Those were fun,” he says, “and gave me a connection with a student body.”
Building connection also helped decades of Damhoff’s teams to succeed on the court.
“You have to trust your teammates but also know your skills, your strengths,” he says. “For us to be good, we had to gel as a team. We had to use our strengths as a team for one player. It might be defense for another player. It might be rebounding for another player. You have to have a couple players who can score in different ways. Hopefully, you have balance inside and out.”
Reaching that level takes time.
“I lost my ego my first year,” he says. “We went three-and-27 my first year, and that’s probably the best thing to ever happen to me. The second year, we were 20-and-12, and the third year we were 28-4, and we got it going.”
DAMHOFF’S TENURE IN DIXON also saw him become Sauk Valley’s athletics director, a role in which he launched programs in baseball, softball and cross country and raised standards for all teams.
After 31 years, he retired. That was 2017.
“I knew it was time. It takes a high energy level,” he says. “At the time, there was a player who played for me for two years by the name of AJ Sharp, and we convinced him, ‘Hey, you have to apply for this,’ and I said, ‘If you get it, I’ll help you.’ ”
Spoiler alert: Sharp, who graduated in 2016 and filled the assistant role during the next season, did become Coach Sharp. And, sure enough, he welcomed his former skipper onto the bench as they traded titles.
Eight years later, they’re still together.
“He’s put up with me for nine years and, obviously, we know each other well. We trust each other,” Damhoff says. “It’s kept me in the program. It’s kept my passion. It’s kept my competitiveness. I want to see him be successful, and it’s been an enjoyable relationship. Who knows how long it will last, but I’ve enjoyed every day of it.”
Retire again? Not yet, Damhoff says: “It’s the old saying: ‘One year at a time.’ ”
“We’ll look at next year and see if I’ve got the energy and to see if my wife wants to let me do it again,” he says, “and if AJ wants to go a different direction, I’ll understand that, too. Every day’s been fun, and if next year happens, I’m going to accept it and enjoy it.”
Jackie Damhoff is likely to say yes, he adds with a laugh.
“I’ve been blessed with 40 years, and my wife would probably rather spend our winters in Mesa or someplace. I think she’s only missed a few games that she didn’t stat at. Now she misses some road games,” he says.
“But I couldn’t ask for a better coach’s wife. If we lose, she’s mad, so that works out well for my personality. I don’t think I could take it if I came home and she said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I come home and he says, ‘Why didn’t you spread it? Why didn’t you go four corners?’ She’s been committed and she’ll complain once in a while – it’s 0 degrees today, and we had a game last night, but she was there and she was stat-ing. It’s been a fun run.”
