Boys basketball: Woodstock names Huntley assistant Ryan Starnes as head coach

Ryan Starnes felt like it was time.

After serving as a longtime boys basketball assistant with Huntley, Starnes knew his time with the Red Raiders prepared him to take over a program and put his stamp on it.

He’ll get his chance to do so as the new head coach at Woodstock.

“I’m [chomping] at the bit to start, to get in there and get to know these guys and the staff and get rolling,” Starnes said.

Starnes replaces Al Baker, who coached the Blue Streaks for 14 seasons. The Woodstock School District 200 board approved Starnes’ hiring at its meeting Tuesday.

The new Blue Streaks coach began his coaching career at Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills, where he currently teaches. He moved to Marengo for a season before he spent 13 seasons coaching at different levels within the Huntley program. Starnes served as a varsity assistant the past four seasons.

“We are excited to welcome Ryan to Woodstock High School,” principal Art Vallicelli said in a news release. “Ryan has worked under two great coaches and comes highly recommended as someone who makes amazing connections with kids and brings a great basketball pedigree to the Blue Streaks program.”

Starnes said he learned a lot during his time under Huntley coaches Marty Manning and Will Benson. He handled a lot of responsibilities as an assistant under Benson, including creating scouting reports and practice plans. Starnes helped Benson incorporate it all for the program.

Huntley won a Class 4A regional title in 2020 with a 27-7 record. They finished the pandemic-shortened 2021 season 10-4 before going 27-6 this past winter and falling to Rockford East in a regional final.

“We went through some tough years at Huntley, and we kind of have in the last few years built it up,” Starnes said. “That’s a credit to the staff and the kids. Change in some attitudes and change in some behaviors. I look forward to the challenges to come [at] Woodstock...”

Starnes is excited about building his program. He’s in the process of looking at different tournaments and shootouts he wants the Blue Streaks to compete in this upcoming season and is finalizing his coaching staff.

Starnes said he is looking forward to the summer, when he wants to build relationships with his new players.

“It’s very exciting,” Starnes said. “To have your own staple on something is important, but I also know it takes more than one person to build a program. Everything from the feeder programs to the middle school, to lower level coaches, it takes a lot of people to have a successful program. I learned that very much at Huntley and hopefully we can build that at Woodstock, for sure.”