Adams has their new Boys Basketball Coach.

Written Friday April 3rd at 10:40 PM

The Adams Highlanders have found their next Boys Basketball coach.

Citing an accurate source, Adams has named Nick Evola as the team's next head coach replacing Brad Crighton who resigned last month.

Evola became a teacher at Rochester this current school year after spending 11 years of his coaching and teaching career at Warren Woods Tower. Evola who stepped down last month, coached the Titans from 2011 until this past season when his team made the district finals. He led Warren Woods Tower to a division crown as a player in 1999 and a Macomb Area Gold division title in 2018 as a coach.

Evola said in an interview to Jason Carmel Davis of C&G Newspapers that the travel from Rochester to Warren was the reason why he left his alum school. He said that it made things difficult for him and his family (has a wife and two children.) "Tower is my home. I wish I could be here forever. The drive to and from practice each day became challenging especially with two young kids at home."

He did mention that he didn't rule out a return to the bench at some point. "I'd love to continue to coach. Hopefully closer to home so I can have more balance with family time and basketball" he concluded.

Evola got his wish, he will be coaching closer to home however it will be with one of his school's city rivals.

The Highlanders had a great year in Crighton's third and final season at his alum school after going 0-21 in his first season but they would rebound and have a successful second year which included a district championship. Adams won the White by going 17-3 and would finish at 18-4 to which they upset of Clarkston in the pre-district however they fell to Lake Orion in district semifinal last season.

Adams has had an turbulent offseason which according to multiple sources that both Gunner Walters and the Emerizian brothers (Jake and Ethan) could be on the way out. That would be a tough pill to swallow if that happened along with losing Crighton.

The Highlanders still have Peyton Prieskorn, Austin Ursuay, and George Gurraj returning but they will need to replace a ton of talent if true involving Walters and the Emerizians.

Evola will bring some well known knowledge to Adams as he will be the team's third coach in five seasons.

Thoughts.

This is an interesting move on both sides but history going from the Macomb Area Conference to the OAA hasn't always worked out well. I'm curious to see how the players from Adams are going to respond to Evola and his system. I'm also curious how his system will work in the OAA compared to when he was in the Macomb Area Conference.

I'm curious how the possible impact of losing Walters and the Emerzians could impact this team moving forward.

Adams stayed in the White instead of going up to the Red after winning the division last season. The Highlanders could be a middle of the pack team next season especially with the likes of Farmington, Troy, Oxford, Southfield Arts and Tech, Stoney Creek, and Groves being in the division.

This will be interesting to keep an eye on.

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