The only coach to take a Todd Beamer basketball team to the Class 4A state tournament is no longer with the program. Brent Brilhante has resigned as the Titans’ boys basketball coach.
The 31-year-old Decatur High School grad coached Beamer for the last two seasons. He was the third head coach of the program during Beamer’s seven-year existance.
“This is due to circumstances that were out of my control in my opinion,” Brilhante said, declining to elaborate. “It wasn’t something that I wanted to do.”
Brilhante turned in his resignation to Beamer officials on March 11, but didn’t publicize the decision.
“This was my choice 100 percent,” Brilhante said. “This was a very tough choice. I thought I was going to be there for a long, long time. But that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”
Brilhante worked as an assistant at Decatur for six seasons under Kevin Olson before getting the job at Beamer before the 2008-09 season. Brilhante played at the state basketball tournament as a Gator. He graduated in 1997.
“I had a great time coaching with Kevin Olson and wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t a great opportunity,” Brilhante said.
During his first season at Beamer, Brilhante took the Titans to their first-ever state tournament by winning three-straight games at the West Central District Tournament.
This year, Beamer finished one game short of qualifying for its second state tournament. The Titans lost to eventual state champion Kentwood in a winner-to-state, loser-out district game. His two-year record was 31-21, including 17 wins this season.
Brilante is a para-educator at Beamer and is also the head boys tennis coach at the school. He will continue in that duty when the season starts again at the West Central District Tournament in May.
He hopes to coach again next basketball season either as a head coach or an assistant.
“I still want to coach,” Brilhante said. “That’s what I love to do. I worked in sales and made a lot more money, but quit doing that because I wanted to coach basketball. It’s what I want to do.”
