Eddie Ahearn excels with the ball in his hands.
The starting quarterback of the Parkway South football team and the reigning Pitcher of the Year in the Suburban Red conference, Ahearn enjoys having the game’s outcome resting at his fingertips.
But on the basketball court, Ahearn’s excellence without the ball has placed his fingerprints inside the Parkway South record books. The 6-foot-3 senior recently collected his 500th career rebound and is the all-time leading rebounder for the Patriots.
“It means a lot,” Ahearn said of his rebounding record. “It shows that doing the dirty work pays off.”
Ahearn has led Parkway South in rebounds per game all four years. A model of consistency, he has corralled between five and 11 rebounds in 40 of his last 50 games.
“He’s a guy who is really good at knowing how to position his body for rebounds,” Parkway South coach Ryan McArthy said. “He’s not the biggest, he’s not the most athletic, but he has a pair of shoulders on him and knows how to use his body.”
Body positioning combined with an insatiable desire to pursue the ball as it comes off the rim, allowed him to surpass Kevin Pohle (2010) and John Rahoy (1986) atop the school’s rebounding leaderboard midway through his senior season.
“When I was young, my mom always told me to use my body and box out. I just try to get as low as I can and push people out,” Ahearn said.
Ahearn also holds the Patriots’ record for charges drawn and ranks second in deflections, a statistic that former New York Knicks coach and current NBA broadcaster Hubie Brown directly correlates to winning percentage.
“I try to bring the energy and the grit,” Ahearn said.
This season, Ahearn’s excellence without the ball has been paralleled by his creativity with the ball. His assortment of spin moves and head fakes have made him a dynamic scorer in the paint, leading the Patriots with 11.6 points per game.
With four regular season games remaining, Ahearn stands 87 points away from reaching the 1,000-point milestone.
“We’ve had to rely on him to do more outside his comfort zone,” McArthy said. “In the past, South had some guards that could give him more open looks. He’s had to take initiative this year on finding different ways to score for us.”
A memorable basket occurred in the final seconds against Lutheran South on Jan. 17. Trailing by one point, Ahearn drained the game-winning, turnaround jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining to propel the Patriots to a 47-46 victory.
“About five seconds before, I took the exact same shot and missed it,” Ahearn said. “One of my teammates said during a timeout, ‘Let’s run it again.’ I got the ball in the same spot, turned around and made it.”
Ahearn credits the relationship with his teammates for his rapid growth throughout all sports during his high school career.
As a sophomore starting quarterback on the Parkway South football team, Ahearn tossed five touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions. In his final two seasons, he accrued 29 total touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions.
“Sophomore year was tough, not my best of years, but I had supportive guys around me that pushed me to get better. The whole team got better, and I just came along with them,” Ahearn said.
As a four-year starter in both baseball and basketball, he credits supportive upperclassmen with helping him negotiate the pressure of playing a varsity sport at a young age.
“It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I had seniors that helped in my development,” Ahearn said. “Now I’m trying to be the senior that helps younger guys become better players.”
One suggestion he offers younger teammates is to play multiple sports.
“Playing three sports helps your athleticism in each of them – hand-eye coordination, different muscles used,” Ahearn said. “Basketball made me more explosive for baseball, baseball helped my arm for football and vice-versa.”
As for now, Ahearn will continue being a model for “doing the dirty work” as the Parkway South basketball team (9-13) looks to finish the regular season with momentum and attempts to win its first postseason game since the 2018-19 season.
“No one is selfish, we all move without the ball. We just have to get some things together defensively and we’ll be fine,” Ahearn said.
And if the Patriots can force their opponents to miss shots, there is a good chance the 6-foot-3 Ahearn will be there to clean the glass, no matter the height disadvantage.
“I just try to play as hard as I can and show my teammates that we can play with anyone,” he said.