Thursday, July 19, 2018

Bloomfield Hills has their new Volleyball Coach.

Written Thursday July 19th at 10:50 PM

The Bloomfield Hills Blackhawks have their new volleyball coach and it's a familiar face in Oakland County.

The Blackhawks named Larry Wyatt the new coach replacing Bob Hurdle whom was their first head coach as a merged school. Bloomfield Hills merged schools between Andover and Lahser back in 2013.

Wyatt comes to Bloomfield Hills from Royal Oak Shrine. Royal Oak Shrine wasn't the greatest of volleyball powers but he does inherent a team that has a ton of experience and talent.

The Blackhawks have Alexa Rousseau, Brooke Bosart, Alvia Slazinski, Lily Formanek, Maggie Walters, Kaitlyn Roman, Noelle Siewek, and Annie Hoag. Rousseau is the team's top player coming back.

Bloomfield Hills also plays in one of the toughest divisions in the State in the Red with powerhouse teams like Clarkston, Lake Orion, Oxford, Stoney Creek, Troy, Seaholm, and Adams. They will also have to deal with Troy once district play starts but what will help is they will have home court.

Thoughts.

This looks like a desperate hire to me, I'm curious how Wyatt will do with this team and if the players can buy into his system. If not there could be some trouble.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

Here is the Soundcloud about the story.
https://soundcloud.com/user-539915961/oaa-now-07-24-18

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Groves has their new Boys Basketball Coach.

Written Wednesday July 11th at 10:00 PM

The Falcons and Athletic Director Tom Flynn have made a big time splash in the Boys Basketball coaching ranks.

Groves named Benny White as the team's next head coach replacing Mark West. West took an assistant coaching job at Detroit Henry Ford Community College in the spring after the season.

White has been around the basketball ranks a long time.

White has coached in both high school and college. He coached at Detroit Martin Luther King from 1995-2010 posting a 201-89 record with the Crusaders. White was named to the Detroit Public Schools Coaches Hall Of Fame in 2007 and would become the Michigan Regional Coach of the Year in 2010.

White whom graduated from Detroit Northern in 1972 is well known for his college ranks. He played at Michigan State under coach Jud Heathcote from 1973-1976. White became involved in coaching when he became a graduate assistant in 1977. He would leave Michigan State and become a part time assistant at Wayne State in 1978. The following year he became a graduate assistant at Detroit Mercy in 1979.

White became an assistant at Albion from 1986-1989 and would become an assistant at San Jose State in 1989 and served two seasons. White would then return to Detroit Mercy under coach Perry Watson as an assistant from 1993-1995 before taking the Detroit Martin Luther King coaching job in 1995.

In 2011, White was an assistant at Eastern Michigan and served in that capacity until 2017. He was also a scout for the Detroit Pistons from 2006-2009 and was the director of various youth camps ran by legendary NBA players.

Thoughts.

This is clearly a win now move and would certainly please the Groves community. White brings a ton of experience and is a proven winner around the basketball world. Groves went 9-11 and lost to Farmington in the district finals. The Falcons have Daniel Lee returning along with a freshman group that went 10-4 in the league last season.

Groves will play in the White this season which will have Adams, Stoney Creek, Rochester, Farmington, Troy Athens, Southfield Arts and Tech and Avondale. The Falcons will be in a district in which they will host with Seaholm, Birmingham Brother Rice, Royal Oak, and Berkley.

The question for Groves will be is will White be there long term??? that will be the question.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Falcons this season with White at the helm.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

Here is the Soundcloud that has the story.
https://soundcloud.com/user-539915961/oaa-now-07-24-18

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Avondale has their new Girls Basketball Coach.

Written Tuesday July 10th at 10:10 PM

The Avondale Yellow Jackets have their new Girls Basketball Coach.

The Yellow Jackets have named Bob Lees as the team's next head coach replacing Phil Dawson whom resigned in the spring.

Lees comes over from Troy after being an assistant coach for the Colts boys basketball team under legendary coach Gary Fralick. Lees will transition over from boys basketball to girls basketball.

Lees will bring a scrappy like type of play which is very similar to Fralick's system. He will have some talent to work with when he gets to Avondale. Lees will have Olivia Russell, Keiori Lee, and Keziah Buggs to work with for the Yellow Jackets.

Avondale went 16-3 under Dawson and shared the Blue with Farmington last season. This season the Yellow Jackets went up to the White and will compete with the likes of Oxford, Adams, Lake Orion, West Bloomfield, Troy, Troy Athens, and Farmington. Avondale will be in a district with Waterford Mott, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, and North Farmington at West Bloomfield.

Thoughts.

This is an interesting hire for Avondale. Lees is a good basketball coach but as mentioned going from the boys game to the girls game will have it's challenges.

The transitioning from the boys to the girls game is not always the easiest, your going to have to experience some growing pains. Mike Griffin whom coaches at Lake Orion is a perfect example coming from the boys game to the girls game can have it's ups and downs. Lees will have to go through that same learning curve that Griffin went through last season.

Lees will also have to get on the same page with his players and his players the same way with their new coach.

We shall see what happens.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

Here is the Soundcloud that includes this story.
https://soundcloud.com/user-539915961/oaa-now-07-24-18

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I have highest function of autism (Asperger Syndrome.) I'm a huge Dallas Stars fan. I like to play and watch football, especially when the Dragons play on Friday nights. I am a 2006 alum and used to play football for the Dragons. I ran track, I ran the 100, 200, 400 meter dashes along with shot-put and discus. During my time in Orion I was a manager for Junior Varsity Boys Basketball team. I'm the volleyball, girls basketball, and football announcer for the team and do the book on the road for girls basketball. I do the clock for volleyball in the fall along with girls basketball in the winter and announce some boys basketball games as well. In the spring I coach shot-put at Scripps Middle School, in my fifth season coaching. I run the shot-put for high school meets. I played Special Olympics Basketball, I've won three gold medals for them. I host "Between Taorminas" which is on ONTV along with a podcast called "OAA Now". In other various things outside of Lake Orion, I love to jet ski over Saginaw Bay. Saginaw Bay is basically my life. I'm a trained weather spotter for the National Weather Service for Oakland and Huron counties.