Hinsdale South won its home opener Tuesday and Brendan Savage was there. The senior wasn’t in uniform, but he took on the role of water boy. He sat behind the bench, handed out cups of water and gave high fives.
There was a fairly large student section on hand for an early-season, weeknight game. About half of the students were wearing shirts that read, “We want Savage.”
Those students may get their wish Friday.
Tuesday morning, Erin Savage learned that her son Brendan was back on the Hinsdale South basketball team as a result of a federal lawsuit she filed last week. The Hinsdale Township School Board made the decision in a meeting Monday night.
The school district didn’t give her any guarantee that Brendan would receive playing time.
“How stupid would it be to have Brendan sitting there on the bench?” Erin Savage said. “They haven’t said anything about that but are hoping he will play.”
Savage sued the school district and several employees when Brendan was cut from the team after tryouts. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 22 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. It alleged that Hinsdale South boys basketball coach Michael Belcaster cut Brendan after tryouts this fall in retaliation for the family filing a complaint, alleging verbal abuse and bullying, against the previous coach, Michael Moretti.
Belcaster was the sophomore coach under Moretti last season.
“I’ve never filed a lawsuit before,” Savage told the Sun-Times on Monday. “Our six kids have been involved in approximately 31 varsity sports at the high school. I’ve never complained about a coach. But we’ve also never encountered [someone] who thinks he can do whatever he wants. That was [Moretti].”
The lawsuit hasn’t been dropped yet.
“If they put him on the team and never play him it is the same retaliation,” Savage’s lawyer Steven Glink said. “But for now it is great news. I’m very happy for the boy and his parents and I applaud the board for doing the right thing.”
Belcaster, a first-year head coach, didn’t decline to answer questions about Savage after the win against Glenbard South on Tuesday. He acted like he couldn’t hear them.
The first question to Belcaster was about Friday’s game. His answer: “We are going to get out and we’re gonna scout [Downers Grove South] a little bit more tomorrow. I’ve already been watching film for weeks ahead. That’s sort of what I do. So we’re going to take the best play and try to get a win together.”
Then I asked Belcaster if Savage would be in the rotation Friday and what the plan was for working him back into the team.
Belcaster cupped his hand around his ear and leaned forward. I asked the question again. He repeated the motion. Then another reporter asked how Savage’s integration to the team would go. Belcaster said he couldn’t hear anything and walked away.
Hinsdale South hasn’t released a statement on the matter. A school district spokesperson said the district doesn’t comment on legal matters.
“Brendan texted [Belcaster] at like four or five and said he’d like to sit on the bench and support the team,” Erin Savage said. “[Belcaster] never responded.”
Savage said the plan is for Brendan to attend practice Wednesday.
“He’s allowed to,” Savage said. “All you can do is hope that they figure it out.”
