Western Illinois University head men’s basketball coach Chad Boudreau announced a pair of additions to his coaching staff for the upcoming season as well as promoting a trio current staffers.
Both Chris Hill and John Clancy join the Leatherneck program as assistant coaches while Kamrein Street and Kris Glover move up to fill assistant coaching roles and Kyle Heikkinen moves up to Associate Head Coach.
Kyle Heikkinen | Associate Head Coach
Heikkinen, who is entering his fourth season at Western Illinois University, was promoted to associate head coach by Chad Boudreau on June 1, 2023. He began his stint at WIU ahead of the 2020-21 season under the school’s previous regime.
During his time in Macomb (IL), he was a member of the winningest first-year staff in Leatherneck history. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they were able to assemble the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history. Three of those student athletes eventually went on to be selected to the All-Summit League Team.
Heikkinen has helped guide the Leathernecks to the most season wins, conference wins and longest winning streak in a decade; capped off by post-season invitational tournament invites in 2022 & 2023.
Some other crowning achievements during his time at Western Illinois:
- More than doubled overall wins and conference wins from year-one to year-two
- Part of largest single game comeback in school history
- First time in school history to sweep all four Dakota Schools in a single season at home
- Buy-Game wins at University of Nebraska (B1G) and Illinois State University (MVC)
- Largest attendance at home (Western Hall) in one decade
Before joining the Leathernecks, he was on staff at Highland Community College with Coach Boudreau, where for three seasons, he was responsible for recruiting, opponent scouting, film breakdown, academic monitoring, fundraising, team travel coordination, and the organization and administration of summer basketball camps.
Highland won the three straight Arrowhead Conference Championships, the NJCAA District 10 title in 2018 as well as the Region IV championship in 2018 and 2020. 13 student-athletes attained NCAA Division I scholarships under the pair’s tutelage.
His collegiate coaching journey began at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (2013-17), where he helped put together one of the best four-year runs in school history, headlined by a 2014 NCAA Division III national championship title.
The program won 90 games that included three 21+ win seasons and three NCAA tournament appearances. In 2015, UW-Whitewater won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament and regular-season titles while setting the school record for conference wins in a single season (15).
Prior to his stop at Whitewater, Heikkinen spent five seasons with the Fort Atkinson High School boys’ basketball and football programs.
Outside of coaching, Heikkinen has worked for ESPN Wisconsin, Rivals.com and 247Sports. As a member of Rivals.com, he spent three years (2007-2010) as a recruiting analyst covering high school basketball and football across the Midwest. During his most recent stop with 247Sports from 2010-2013, Heikkinen was named Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Badger247.com, covering athletics for the University of Wisconsin.
The Fort Atkinson (WI) native graduated from Wisconsin-Whitewater with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.
He resides in Macomb with his wife (Jess) and daughter (Emma Jo).
John Clancy | Assistant Coach
Before being named as an assistant for the Leathernecks, Clancy served as head coach for Triton College, a position he was named to in July of 2021.
In Clancy’s two seasons as head coach, the Trojans went 52-13, including making it to the NJCAA D.1 Championship semifinals in the 2021-22 season.
Under the direction of Clancy, Triton posted its highest national ranking in the NJCAA Poll to #7 and NJCAA media poll #5 since its transition to Division I four years ago. Coach Clancy earned Region IV Coach of the Year honors as well as being awarded the IBCA Junior College Coach of the Year.
The 2021-22 team had six NCAA Division I signees, one NAIA signee & one NCAA D.3 signee while reaching the NJCAA D.1 Final 4 in Hutchinson, and finishing 30-6. The 2022-23 Triton Trojans began the year preseason #7 in the nation and finished #14 in the final poll going 23-7. The team sent seven players to NCAA D.1 level, one to D.2, one NAIA signee.
Prior to being named head coach at Triton, Coach Clancy spent one season at NJCAA powerhouse John A. Logan as an assistant under Coach Kyle Smithpeters (now assistant at Mizzou). In his one season at Logan, Clancy helped the Volunteers to the No. 1 preseason ranking in the country as well as a GRAC and Region 24 regular season and tournament championships. John A. Logan earned the #4 overall seed in the National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas and were knocked out in the Sweet 16 finishing their season 18-5.
Prior to Logan, he spent one season at Triton in 2019-20 as an assistant. In his one season at Triton, he helped the Trojans to a 26-7 overall record and a final national ranking of No. 21 while helping send six players from Triton to NCAA Division I schools including Leatherneck star Quinlan Bennett.
Before his JUCO stops at Logan and Triton, Clancy spent four years on staff at Southern Illinois University. During his tenure at SIU, the Salukis went 76-54 finishing T-fourth, third, second and third in the Missouri Valley Conference including winning 20 or more games twice in four years. Known for his development of players as well as his connections in the Chicagoland area, state of Illinois, and in the Midwest, he has proven the ability to attract top tier talent to the SIU/Logan/Triton programs both nationally & internationally.
Clancy’s coaching career began in 2009, when at age 25, he became one of the youngest head coaches in the state of Illinois at Wheeling High School. He has also made coaching stops at St. Viator High School and Elk Grove High School. His professional resume also includes working as a skills trainer in the Chicago area with high school, collegiate and professional basketball players.
Clancy also served as an assistant coach for Niles North High School in Skokie. The team went 27-5 overall, 10-0 in conference play, and was ranked No. 12 in the state in 2013. In 2015, Niles North finished 21-9.
As a collegiate player, Clancy was the team captain as a freshman at Concordia University in Chicago. He was named to the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference All-Tournament and All-conference teams. Clancy was first in assists and steals and second in scoring and rebounds for Concordia University.
At Buffalo Grove High School, Clancy was a three-year varsity starter and made the All-State honorable mention team as well as All-Conference and All-Area teams. Clancy finished as a runner-up for the Mid-Suburban League Player of the Year, and his 19 assists in a single game is a Buffalo Grove school record. As a senior, Clancy averaged 15.2 points per game, 7.1 assists per game, 4.2 rebounds per game and 1.9 steals per game.
Clancy received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and his master’s degree in educational administration and leadership from Concordia University-Chicago in River Forest.
Chris Hill | Assistant Coach
Hill previously served as assistant coach at The Citadel, joining the staff in the summer of 2022.
Hill, a native of Chicago, played for Leatherneck head coach Chad Boudreau while Boudreau was an assistant at Wisconsin-Milwaukee during the 2005-2006 season. Hill also served as the Wisconsin-Milwaukee academic advisor in 2011-12 and video coordinator for the next two seasons before becoming Director of Basketball Operations in 2014-15 and assistant coach in 2015-16 while Boudreau as on staff at UW-Milwaukee.
His time with Milwaukee helped produced three 20-win seasons, including a 21-win campaign in 2013-14 en route to the Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. Their 13-game improvement was the best in the nation. In 2011-12, Milwaukee received a bid to the 2012 College Basketball Insider Tournament following 20 wins. His final season in 2015-16 saw Milwaukee again amass 20 wins and a school-first win against the University of Wisconsin.
Hill served for three years as a student services advocate teacher in the Shorewood School District and as head varsity boys basketball coach at Shorewood High School from 2016-19. He returned to the college ranks as an assistant coach with NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for two seasons and his most recent stop as an assistant at NCAA Division II University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Hill was a member of the Milwaukee men’s basketball team from 2001-06, helping the Panthers make three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2005, and capture three Horizon League regular season and tournament championships. He played 116 games during his collegiate career, and Milwaukee won 108 games during his five-year stint with the program. Hill graduated from Milwaukee with degrees in sociology and criminal justice.
Hill also continued to play professionally in Europe from 2006-10 in Romania, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
Chris is married to the former Katie Vancura and the couple has three daughters, Mia, Hayden, and Ryann.
Kamrein Street | Assistant Coach
Western Illinois alumni (’21) Kamrein Street is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach for the Leathernecks, after spending the last two as the Director of Basketball Operations.
During his time as the Director of Basketball Operations, Street assisted on and off the floor aiding WIU to back to back 16-win seasons. This included a top four finish in the Summit League (22-23) as well as a postseason tournament berth in 2022.
Some other crowing achieves during his time at Western Illinois:
- More than doubled overall wins and conference wins from year-one to year-two
- Part of largest single game comeback in school history
- First time in school history to sweep all four Dakota Schools in a single season at home
- Buy-Game wins at University of Nebraska (B1G) and Illinois State University (MVC)
- Largest attendance at home (Western Hall) in one decade
Prior to his time as the Director of Basketball Operations, Street was a Graduate Assistant for the Leathernecks from 2019 to 2021. During his time as a Graduate Assistant, he served as the Director of Basketball Operations and was the Academic Coordinator for Head Coaches Billy Wright and Rob Jeter.
Before Western Illinois, Street served as an Assistant Coach at South Suburban College (2018-2019) for Head Coach John Pigatti. The Bulldogs finished the season 28-4 while having 2 First Team All-Americans (Rhyss Lewis and Christ Johnson). South Suburban had the longest winning streak in all of college basketball (21 consecutive wins) as well as 2 consecutive months of being ranked #1 in the Country in NJCAA.
Street played four years of college basketball at Lincoln Christian University (2018) obtaining a Bachelors in Business Administration. He also holds a Master’s in Sports Management from Western Illinois (2021).
He resides in Macomb.
Kris Glover | Assistant Coach / Director of Player Personnel
Kris Glover enters his third year with the Western Illinois men’s basketball team in 2023-24. He most recently graduated from Western Illinois University with a masters of business administration in 2023. Before Western Illinois, Golver graduated from the University of Missouri in May 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in parks recreation sport and tourism with an emphasis in sport management. During his time in college, Glover was a two-year manager for Xavier University’s men’s basketball team before transferring to Missouri, where he worked as a manager for two seasons.
Glover’s responsibilities include assisting the coaching staff in limited on-court activities during practice, advance scouting, and video production.
