Homewood-Flossmoor High School boys basketball rocked the local hoops community with a new hire this week. Jamere Dismukes will take over as head coach of the Vikings months after accepting the same position at Rich Township.
“When you look at H-F, the platform is laid and everything you need to be successful in athletics and athletic resources, academics and environment, you can’t really beat those three. I think H-F has all three,” Dismukes said.
Former coach Marc Condotti stepped down after winning five regional titles over his eight seasons leading the program.
Dismukes is considered one of the up-and-coming names in the Chicagoland coaching ranks. He was named the Rich Township head coach in the spring. A 2009 Rich East graduate, he hadn’t yet coached a game for the Raptors.
“It was one of the toughest decisions in my young head coaching career. I weighed on it a lot. It was very emotional. The conversations with admins, students and parents were emotional,” he said. “I have a lot of ties to that community, and I love that community. This decision was for the future, not just the now but the future. It was a tough decision, but I do believe I made the best one.”
Dismukes coached at Rich East until that program ended when the district consolidated in 2019 from three schools to two. He then coached at Hyde Park.
He said Homewood-Flossmoor administrators and athletic officials said everything he wanted to hear in regards to what the school and community can do to support the type of basketball program he wants to create.
“In the position of a head coach, support is everything,” he said. “They talked about that a lot, not only with resources but also with being on my side and supporting the decisions that I make on the court and off the court. I think having support and resources like that can make any job successful.”
Dismukes said he spoke to some of the current Vikings players after his hire was made official by the school board. Offseason conditioning will start Sept. 26.
Once games begin, fans can expect to see a team that emphasizes pushing the pace on both ends, Dismukes said. He wants to play fast.
“I think fans will be happy and excited to see a new style we’re going to bring,” he said. “It’s pressuring defensively up the court and putting a lot of pressure on the other team’s defense in transition, playing fast and free.”
The rest of the coaching staff is still being worked out. Dismukes has two potential assistants in mind and is working out the details. One consideration in that regard, he said, is being the right type of person to lead teenagers.
Dismukes values education. He recently got his master’s degree and aims to eventually get his PhD.
“I think it’ll be a really good staff that’ll add a lot of energy to the community, to the basketball program at H-F. It’ll also add a lot of male mentors that I think these kids obviously need,” Dismukes said. “Being a well-rounded student athlete is more important than just playing basketball. How you do anything is how you do everything.”