From ground up, Jeff Oller builds girls basketball winner at McGivney

GLEN CARBON – Jeff Oller came out of one of Illinois high school basketball’s most respected factories.

He played at Lincoln under legendary coach Neil Alexander, graduating in 2006 with more than just a deep affection for the Railers’ trademark 1-2-2 press.

“Also, the important things in that program, with commitment, dedication, toughness,” Oller said. “How you’re supposed to play the game and how you’re supposed to work with teammates is something I really picked up from my time at Lincoln.”

And Oller has made it a priority to instill those basketball attributes as the only coach the Father McGivney Griffins girls program has known. He is short of the 1,000-plus victories his high school coach has posted, but Oller hit the 200-wins milestone in a 28-7 season that earns him recognition as the 2026 Telegraph Small-Schools Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

“I think we kind of surpassed expectations, from a lot of people, coming into the year,” Oller said of his 10th season as Griffins coach. “It was a fun and successful year. We had a really good mix of seniors and talented underclassmen that made for a really fun team.”

The 28 victories rank No. 2 in the 10-year history of McGivney girls basketball and the Griffins won the program’s third regional championship by taking down Hillsboro in a Class 2A regional at Litchfield. McGivney would beat Carlinville in a sectional semifinal before a season-ending loss to Pleasant Plains in the title game of the North Mac Sectional in Virden.

Eight Griffins played in at least 30 games, with all six of the roster’s seniors included in that group. 

“It was a committed class, they worked hard in the offseason,” Oller said of his seniors. “They all got along, which is helpful. They played well together and it was a balanced team. I don’t think you ever knew who the leading scorer was going to be each night.”

No Griffin averaged more than 10 points per game, with senior Zoe Oller leading the team at 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Freshman Elle Willenborg (8.7 ppg), senior Alexa Jones (7.9 ppg) and sophomore Layla Tobin (7.4 ppg) offered offensive options behind Zoe Oller.

“That made for a tough scout,” Jeff Oller said of his team’s balance, “but it also says a lot about how the girls played with each other.”

The Griffins’ best basketball came after Christmas, with McGivney going 17-2 in January and February before falling to Plains in the sectional.

“Shooting was kind of a strength throughout the year, but the second half of the season is where our defense kind of turned on and made us a more balanced team,” Oller said. “There are nights when the ball is not going to be going in the basket and what do you do in those situations? Our girls did a great job of improving on the defensive end, especially in that second half of the season.”

Oller left Lincoln to attend Illinois College in Jacksonville, with life bringing him south after graduation. He lives with his wife Danielle, son Archie and daughter Danielle in Glen Carbon. 

“Saw a job opening down this way and ended up in the Catholic school system,” said Oller, a K-8 Catholic school product in Lincoln who became a teacher, coach and athletics director at K-8 St. Boniface in Edwardsville.

With McGivney growing its opening enrollment of 19 in 2012 before moving to its permanent home in Glen Carbon with 125 students in 2015, Oller was called up from feeder system at St. Boniface to start the girls basketball program at McGivney.

Also McGivney’s AD, Oller has been a constant presence in the school’s rise in athletic prominence. Girls basketball has been among the standard bearers, with Oller’s 10 seasons producing a 201-96 record with three regional championships and one sectional plaque.

“Whenever we first started, with how small we were and our struggles in the athletic program at the time, it was tough,” said Oller, a two-time Telegraph Coach of the Year after first earning the honor in 2020. “But a lot of people really care here at Father McGivney -- not just in athletics, but about our school as a whole – and it’s been awesome to be kind of on the ground floor and seeing it grow. It’s built some pride.”

That pride has also delivered growth. Last season was the first that Griffins girls basketball was bumped up to Class 2A. McGivney’s 2026-27 IHSA enrollment is 339, making it bigger than Breese Mater Dei’s 300 and just behind Belleville Althoff (350) and Alton Marquette (390) among Catholic high schools in the Metro East.

“When I first started, it was hard to see it getting this big,” Oller said. “But you could feel it coming with the momentum the last five or six years, for sure.”

The surge of students came later, but the tools for success with his Griffins girls basketball program were available from the start for Oller.

“That’s absolutely important,” Oller said. “You have to have your administration behind you, your community behind you, a lot of stakeholders that want the school to succeed in all areas. If you don’t have that, it’s pretty tough. And we’ve had a very supportive school community.”

After going 7-17 in a debut season in 2017 and moving to 10-15 in Year 2, McGivney girls basketball has posted seven consecutive 20-win seasons – excluding a 10-2 mark in a covid-shortened schedule in 2021 – under Oller.

McGivney has looked to cap each class at 100 students, with the overall enrollment not to exceed 400, so the Griffins project to settle in at Class 2A in the four-class sports. Oller was preparing for class upgrade well before it became official.

“We felt like it was coming, with the growth of our school, sooner rather than later,” Oller said. “We started adjusting schedules, trying to get more challenging teams on the schedule, and preparing kids at a younger age with our feeder schools has been a big part of it. I feel like our program is ready for 2A, not just with girls basketball, but our other four-class sports.”