ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University Director of Athletics Dr. John Planek announced on Wednesday (Dec. 11) the second class of the Lewis Academy of Coaches. The nine-member class will be honored as part of Alumni Day during halftime of the men's basketball game against Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, January 25th at 3 p.m.

This year's class include Jerry Tokars (Class of 1955), John Schimanski (Class of 1972), Jaime Garcia, Jr. (Class of 1973), Michael Flaherty (Class of 1973), William Leeberg (Class of 1974), Michael Manderino (Class of 1977), George DiMatteo (Class of 1976), Debra (Deacon) DiMatteo (Class of 1977) and Brienne (Ruschke) Isaacson (Class of 2003).

Tokars began his coaching career as an assistant at De La Salle High School in 1956. He served as an assistant for five seasons before becoming head coach in 1961 and remained in that job until 1983. In 1977 he led De La Salle to a third place finish in the state. He then coached for several years at Richards High School in Oak Lawn turning around a struggling program, winning 52 games in three years. He coached briefly at Moraine Valley Community College and from there went to Leo Catholic High School in the early 2000s before finishing his coaching career as an assistant at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School.  Tokars is in several halls of fame, including those of De La Salle, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and the Chicago Catholic League.

Schimanski served as the head baseball coach at Joliet Catholic High School from 1979-1988, during that time his team's record was 323-101. His 1982 team won 53 games, a record that still stands. He won conference baseball championships in 1980, 81, 82 and 88. His 1980, '81 and '88 teams were Illinois High School Association state finalists. His team won the 1983 summer state baseball championship. He was named the IHSA Coach of the Year in 1981 and '88. 18 of his players signed professional contracts and five made it to the major leagues. Schimanski also spent 12 years as head baseball coach at Wheeler High School where he went 218-136. In 22 overall seasons as a baseball coach he posted a record of 541-237. He is in the Lewis Athletics Hall of Fame and the Brother Rice High School Hall of Fame.

Garcia began his coaching career at Providence High School leading them to two state championships, four quarterfinal appearances and a 350-112 record. He moved on to coach in the Chicago White Sox minor league system from 1988-1996 with the Gulf Coast League White Sox (1988-91), the South Bend White Sox (in 1992-93), South Bend Silver Hawks in 1994 and Prince William Cannons in 1995-96. He managed the GCL White Sox in 1991 guiding them to a 30-29 record. He also coached in the Milwaukee Brewers system with the Beloit Snappers in 1997, the Texas Rangers farm system in 1998-99. Garcia was with the Kansas City Royals organization from 2000-02. He was with the Charleston Alley Cats in 2000 and served as the Royals' Latin American pitching coordinator in 2001-02. He coached for the Cincinnati Reds system next, with the 2003 Dayton Dragons and the GCL Reds from 2004-06. Garcia was assistant pitching coordinator for the Houston Astros from 2007-10. He was the Astros minor league pitching coordinator in 2011 before becoming pitching coach for the GCL Astros in 2012. Garcia moved to the Detroit Tigers chain as pitching coach of the Erie SeaWolves in 2013 and 2014.

Flaherty began his coaching career as an assistant at St. Rita High School in Chicago. From there, he moved on to Mendel Catholic High School, guiding the Rangers' basketball team to six regional titles, including a second place finish in the state tournament in 1982. Flaherty coached at Thornridge for 22 seasons where he guided the Falcons to four consecutive conference titles from 1988 to 1992, including an Elite Eight finish in the IHSA State Tournament in 1989. He spent the last 10 years of his coaching career at Mount Carmel where he was named the Chicago Catholic League South Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season. Flaherty finished his 40-year coaching career with 760 wins.

Leeberg coached for 34 years at Montini Catholic. He served as head coach for 31 seasons and three years as an assistant where he compiled a record of 732-288 for a .718 winning percentage. The Broncos won 12 conference titles, 11 regional titles, came in second place at the 2005 IHSA Class A state tournament and a third place finish at the 2002 IHSA state tournament. More than 400 players competed for Leeberg with 31 of those going on to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship. He won numerous outstanding coaching awards from the SCC Conference and the State. He is a member of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Manderino took his first coaching post as an assistant at Mendel Catholic High School where he served for eight seasons, including the 1981-82 campaign when they took second in the IHSA Class AA state tournament. In 1984, Manderino was elevated to head coach at Mendel. His 1991 and 1994 teams both advanced to the IHSA Class A state tournament. The 1994 team also won the Chicago Catholic League title. His success carried over to Leo High School as he won the Catholic League crown in each of his three seasons there beginning in 1997-98. His inaugural team at Leo advanced to the Class A state tournament where it took fourth place. After departing Leo in 2000, Manderino served as an assistant coach at South Suburban College for four seasons before taking over the Prairie State College men's basketball team in 2004-05. He's been at Prairie State for the past 16 years and his 19-12 finish in 2007-08 marks his best showing with the Pioneers. Along with basketball, Manderino has also been a successful high school baseball coach. He was the head coach at Mendel from 1977 until 1997. Manderino took over the head coaching duties at Thornridge High School in 1998 and continues to coach there in addition to teaching in the school's special education department. For his coaching accomplishments, Manderino was named as the Catholic League's Basketball Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2000 and the Baseball Coach of the Year in 1985. In 2001 and 2008, the Northwest Indiana Times chose Manderino as its baseball Coach of the Year.

George DiMatteo began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Western Illinois baseball team. He was hired as Aurora University's head baseball coach in 1979 and held that position until being named assistant baseball coach at Lewis in 1983. He became the Flyers head softball coach in 1984. During his illustrious 31-year softball coaching career he accumulated a career record of 1,032-539-6 for a .656 winning percentage. His 1,032 victories is currently 11th all-time in Division II softball history. In all three NCAA Divisions, DiMatteo stands 33rd all-time. During his tenure at Lewis, his teams advanced to 13 NCAA Division II regional tournaments, won 10 GLVC titles and captured the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship once. 12 of DiMatteo's teams were ranked in the final NFCA national poll, the Flyers were ranked second in the 2001 final poll, the highest the program has ever been ranked. He guided the 2001 team to the NCAA Division II championship game where it finished runner-up to Nebraska-Omaha. That season the program won a school record 55 games. In 2000, he and his assistant coach Keith Grenke were selected National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year after the Flyers reached the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history. He was also named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 1994.

Deb (Deacon) DiMatteo, a pioneer of Lewis women's athletic teams in 1973, spent 26 years coaching collegiate athletics with stops at MacMurray College, Benedictine College and College of DuPage. She retired from coaching in 2004. As a volleyball coach, she compiled an overall record of 510-138. Her team's earned 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 1981-93 and she took Benedictine to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament in 1988. She compiled a 660-270 overall record as a softball coach which included seven consecutive appearances in the NJCAA World Series and four National Championships (1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004). DiMatteo was named the NJCAA Softball Coach of the Year in at DuPage in 2000, 2001 and 2004. She is a member of the NJCAA Coaches, Benedictine and Lewis Hall of Fames, DiMatteo coached 97 All-Americans in volleyball and softball at Benedictine and DuPage.

Isaacson has been the volleyball coach at Naperville Central for the past 13 seasons where she has led her team to an impressive record of 282-56. She coached her team to state championships in 2005 and 2007. Prior to becoming a Redhawk, Isaacson spent three seasons at Wheaton Warrenville South High School where she assisted the Tigers on their 42-0 State Championship in 2001. She has spent the past 20 years as a successful coach and administrator for Junior Olympic clubs. Isaacson has qualified many teams for Junior Olympics and won a bronze medal with her 2001 17-1 boys team. She played for Lewis in 2001 and 2002 after transferring from Western Michigan. Her 4.12 kills per set in 2001 still ranks fourth all-time in school history in a single season. Isaacson was a First Team All-GLVC selection in 2001.