Jim Hlafka

Jim Hlafka, a 1952 graduate of Gillespie High School, is well known around the state of Illinois for his efforts on the basketball court and on the sidelines.  Hlafka, a skinny six-foot three-inch player, cracked the varsity starting lineup midway through his sophomore year.  The Miners would go 20-9 that season.  During his junior and senior years, the Miners would go 54-7 and win back-to-back regional titles.  After high school, Jim went onto to play one year at St. Louis University and one year at Eastern Illinois University.  After Eastern Illinois, Hlafka was hired to teach and coach at Bunker Hill in 1959. He would continue in that role for forty years (1959-2002).  He sits as the 14^th winningest coach in Illinois with a record of 754-347. Hlafka was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1983.