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It was a whirlwind week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve for Zack Sharkey.
The junior guard was named to the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic all-tournament team as Marian Catholic took second and stunned unbeaten Brother Rice in the semifinals.
In the middle of it all, Sharkey received a text and a phone call with his first college offer. It came out of the blue from NCAA Division II Cal State San Marcos.
“I didn’t know anything about them — no sir,” Sharkey said. “I did a little research on them, and it’s the first year for the coaching staff.
“It seems like they have a great coaching staff and a great campus. I’m very excited to keep in contact with them.”
The California school, which has Thornridge graduate and ex-Governors State assistant Walt Fisher III on its coaching staff, got an eyeful from the 6-foot-3 Sharkey to close out 2023.
Sharkey and his teammates were down by 14 points Friday with 1:51 left against Brother Rice, which was ranked No. 1 in the Southland and opened the season with a 15-0 record. The Spartans won 75-74 in overtime.
In the final 1:26 of the third quarter, Sharkey scored six points to help Marian close the gap to 51-45. He had six more points the rest of the way, finishing with 26 points to go with four assists and four rebounds.
Teammate James Bullock Jr. added 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
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Defending Class 2A state champion DePaul Prep ended the run for the Spartans with a 57-35 decision in Saturday’s championship game. DePaul (15-0) has not allowed more than 50 points in a game this season.
Despite the setback, Sharkey was happy with the tournament for Marian Catholic (10-4).
“It was amazing,” he said. “We won some important games to go 3-0 from the start. It was a great week for myself and the team.”
Sharkey figures to pick up more college attention as he continues to show a variety of talent in his game.
“He’s a high-character kid with an excellent basketball IQ,” Marian coach Rick Romeli said. “He’s been one of the leaders getting the other guys on the same page with what we’re doing system-wise on offense and defense.
“He’s special on the offensive end. He can put it in the basket. He’s working on his all-around game and defensively. He’s picked it up lately, which has kind of helped us win some of these big games. I’m excited to see his game grow beyond the scoring.”
Bullock appreciates Sharkey’s talents as well as his motivational skills.
“When I get down on myself, he always comes to me and tells me to keep my head up,” Bullock said of Sharkey. “We’ve been close ever since he came to Marian.”
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Daily Southtown
Sharkey makes a long commute each day from Lowell, Indiana, to get to Chicago Heights but has a huge tie to the south suburbs.
His father, Gordon, was a scoring and rebounding machine and also was a pitcher for Bloom Trail in the early 1990s. He was a huge influence on Zack, getting his son to enjoy basketball right away.
“Once I got a ball in my hands, I fell in love with the sport,” Zack said. “It’s a place to get away, in my opinion, and once you fall in love with it from that standpoint, you just keep going.
“You see the results and you want to keep going.”
The Spartans have had their ups and downs this season but do have two big wins — the comeback over Brother Rice and a 71-60 win over Marist on Dec. 8 when the RedHawks were 7-0.
“Once we see the rankings and where teams are ranked, we have that fire and spark under us,” Sharkey said. “Right now, we’re focusing on having that spark under us at all times.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.