Hidden Gems Camps Staff
Cole Teal
Cole Teal is a member of Chesterton High School’s class of 2014 and Williams College’s class of 2018. At Williams, he helped lead the varsity basketball team to an NCAA DIII Final Four in 2017 and a NESCAC Championship in 2018. While attending Williams, Cole secured internships with the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Rockets.
Following graduation, he worked as a Basketball Operations Associate for the Delaware Blue Coats. In the offseason, Cole worked as an intern for Pure Sweat (a company run by NBA trainer Drew Hanlen), volunteered for the NBA Combine, and joined the support staff of the USA Basketball 18u Junior National Team minicamp.
The following season, Cole worked as a Basketball Operations Associate for the Windy City Bulls. During the Bulls’ extended offseason, Cole decided to return to his roots and take on a volunteer coaching role for Chesterton High School.
Ryan Hartman
Ryan Hartman is the owner of rhb Player Development and has experience working with players of the amateur and professional (overseas and NBA) background! Ryan has worked hard over the years to reach the level that he is currently at and has aided tons of players reach their personal career goals when it comes to the game of basketball!
Ryan also serves on Prairie Ridge High Schools coaching staff as a head varsity assistant. While simultaneously volunteering his time to be a part of the Windy City Bulls basketball operations staff!
Ryan is a former varsity player, who was able to continue his playing career after high school at Concordia University Chicago and was also a walk-on at Northern Michigan University where he then served as a Graduate Assistant for two seasons.
We are lucky to have a coach of Ryans statue at Hidden Gems camps !
AJ Patty
AJ Patty played his high school basketball at the prestigious St. Joseph High School in Westchester experiencing a large amount of success while there, being a 4 year varsity player! During his high school years AJ also played elite AAU basketball while playing for the Illinois Wolves (UA Program), a highly respected traveling team.
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After a standout career at St. Joesph HS , AJ went to Junior College Powerhouse Vincennes in Indiana before attending Murray State University and finishing his collegiate career at Minnesota State.
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Since finishing college AJ has spent time coaching and focusing on player development. AJ currently serves on the coaching staff at Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, IL where he has spent the last two years spreading his knowledge.
Lynn Mitchem
Lynn was a four-year letter winner at Butler University, in Indiana. He finished his collegiate career as the Bulldogs' third all-time leading scorer with 1,798 points. He is also 1st in the career for field goals made, 3rd for career rebounds and 7th for career field goal percentage.
A three-time First team All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference honoree, two-time Associated press First team member and the Butler student-athlete of the year in 1983, Mitchem led the Bulldogs in scoring during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
Following his standout collegiate career, Mitchem was drafted by the NBA's Indiana Pacers. After experiencing a brief professional career overseas in Bahrain, Mitchem landed his first collegiate coaching post in 1985 as he served as a graduate assistant coach at Purdue University for one season under the legendary Gene Keady. He then went on to an assistant position at Nebraska, a job he held from 1986-1992. At Nebraska, Mitchem assisted in recruiting one of the nation's top 10 recruiting classes in 1991, while helping turn the Cornhuskers into a perennial top 20 team and a regular contender for the Big Eight title. Mitchem was instrumental in recruiting a pair of NBA first round draft picks to Nebraska during his time there-Rich King, who was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 1991 and Eric Piatowski, who was chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1994.
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In 1992, Mitchem joined the Washington State basketball staff as an assistant coach while also serving as the program's recruiting coordinator. In 1993, he returned to the Midwest to serve as an assistant at Ball State for one season before joining Ken Burmeister's staff at Loyola for four years.
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A 1983 graduate of Butler, Mitchem earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in special education. He is a member of both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Black Coaches Association.
Aaron Simpson
Aaron was Illinois' leading scorer in the IHSA 2012 season at North Chicago. During that same year, Aaron finished third in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting behind Jabari Parker of Simeon, and Fred VanVleet of Auburn, permenatly becoming an Illinois basketball legened.
Aaron played for Dickey Simpkins for Team NLP one of the top teams in the state during that time on the AAU circuit. After Aaron finished his high school career he went on to play Jucco ball at Lincoln Community College.
While at Lincoln Community College, Aaron earned freshman of the year award, third team NJCAA DII All-American honors and first team All-Mid-West Athletic Conference recognition. Aaron led the Lynx with 23.0 points per game to rank No. 16 in the NJCAA DII statistical ranking. The following year earned a scholarship to play at DePaul University. Where he went on to play in 30 games with starts in 20 games. He ranked among BIG EAST leaders in three-point field goal percentage (4th - .407).
Aaron is currently a Varsity Asst. Coach at North Chicago community High and a trainer for his own company “SimpsonElite”.
Jim Fields
Jim Fields started his coaching career with Downers Grove North as a volunteer assistant. Since then, he has also worked at St. Laurence and Conant. In the grassroots world, Coach Fields worked with the Chicago Lockdown for 7 Years, gained experience working with the Downers Grove Wolfpack, Breakaway Basketball and also works with Under Armour Basketball on events.
Having Jim on staff helps us tremendously in a multitude of ways and we are grateful to have him as part of our team! Our gem campers will be able to learn a great deal from his impressive background!
RJ Dilay
RJ Dilay graduated from Niles West High School where he played basketball as a 3-year varsity player and volleyball. After high school, RJ went on to play basketball collegiately at Dominican University where he earned his degree in Accounting. Upon graduation, he played in the Philippines for 2 seasons where in 2015, he led his team in 3-point shooting percentage and 3-point FG’s made which was a season that also included a finals appearance.
Currently, RJ is coaching in his first season at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, IL and has been working as a Finance Manager for Allstate Insurance Company for 5 years. Prior to coaching at St. Ignatius, he was at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, IL for 4 years. Aside of coaching high school basketball, RJ has coached several other teams and worked various basketball events such as: Pangos All-American Camps, NBA and G-League Combines, Jr. NBA events, Ignite Hoops and All in Athletics