Ferndale University has their new Boys Basketball Coach.

Written Tuesday August 3rd at 11:45 PM

Ferndale University has their new boys basketball coach.

The Eagles named Sammy Hines as their new head coach as he replaces Iskandar Shamaoun whom stepped down from coaching to focus on being the Athletic Director in March.

Hines played at Warren Fitzgerald during his high school days. He coached at Madison Heights Lamphere from 2018-2021. The Rams went 21-33 in his three seasons coaching the Rams.

Hines comes into a very interesting situation with the Eagles. He'll be tasked to turn around a program that has really struggled going 26-66 since winning 13 games in the 2014-2015 season. The Eagles made the district finals falling to Ferndale last season because Detroit Henry Ford had to forfeit their district semifinal game because of COVID-19 protocols which earned them a trip to the district finals. Ferndale University is in the Gold this season with Harper Woods, Avondale, Royal Oak, and Pontiac. The Eagles are in a district that has Birmingham Detroit Country Day, Ferndale, Detroit Jalen Rose Academy, and Detroit Old Redford Academy at Birmingham Detroit Country Day.

Ferndale University has a ton of talent coming back with Semaj McGhee, Rasheed Jones, Zach Sillah, Javon Sanders, Aaron Tucker, and John King. Program strength is not the strongest though with the Eagles.

The challenge for Hines will be is can the Eagles adjust to his system and build a program. The OAA is different from the Macomb Area Conference. It will take some time for him and for the players to adjust to each other.

Thoughts

This is a very interesting hire for the Eagles. Hines brings a ton of experience and takes over Ferndale University program that has really struggled in the last six years. They have a ton of experience coming back which should help. Program strength is a major concern for the Eagles but if things go smooth then it's possible that Hines can get this program turned around real quickly.

We'll see what happens.

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

Source to confirm hire.

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/ferndaleuniversity/boys/varsity/basketball