MHSAA Approves Cooperative teams for the Fall, Could OAA get involved???

Written Tuesday May 17th at 10:15 PM

The MHSAA made an interesting move in which schools could merge beginning in the fall according to Detroit Free Press Sports writer Mick McCabe.

The league’s leadership council approved the measure to allow cooperative programs for nine sports which includes softball, baseball, soccer, cheerleading, golf, cross country, tennis, and wrestling.

Hockey and Lacrosse are permitted according to the league to have cooperative programs but as long as the school doesn’t exceed 3,500 students.

However, there is a catch, the school cannot exceed 1,000 students and they have to be in the same school district. Cooperative cases approved on a case by case basis but the school must prove that it has had a history of longstanding lack of participation.

The move could be seen as a benefit for schools outside of Oakland County like Detroit, Lansing, Flint, and Saginaw which has struggled with athletic participation in those sports but it could benefit teams like Hazel Park and Ferndale which have the fewest students in the OAA.

We’ll see what happens.

Regional Preview.

Written Tuesday May 17th at 9:15 PM

Region 7. North Farmington-Regional.

BERKLEY

GROVES

SEAHOLM

OAK PARK

SOUTHFIELD

LATHRUP

FARMINGTON

HARRISON

NORTH FARMINGTON

ROYAL OAK

Brother Rice

Detroit Renaissance

Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit

Mercy

Livonia Stevenson

Redford Thurston

FAVORITES:

Boys: Oak Park. The Knights have the depth and athletes that can contend in this regional. Oak Park won the Gold with ease and have benefited with their depth in the hurdles, sprints, and distance. If they can get any help from the throws then the Knights could run away with this regional.

Girls: Oak Park. When you have the two time defending State Champions and also one of the best coaches in Brandon Jiles then you do deserve to be on this list. Oak Park is very versatile but like the Boys the throws could be it’s only downfall. The Knights will have to deal with some very talented distance people with Farmington and especially Seaholm but looking at it this regional is the Knights to lose.

Region 8. Warren Mott-Regional.

TROY

TROY ATHENS

Anchor Bay

Chippewa Valley

Macomb Dakota

Macomb L’Anse Creuse North

Sterling Heights Stevenson

Utica Ford II

Utica

Warren Mott

Sterling Heights

L’Anse Creuse

Port Huron

Port Huron Northern

FAVORITES:

Boys: Macomb Dakota: Depth matters in a meet like this. The Cougars are very balanced and could but could be important heading into this regional but keep an eye on Utica whom won the MAC White. Utica is deep and could give the Cougars all they can handle heading into this meet.

Girls: Macomb Dakota: The Cougars are deep like it’s Boys but Utica Ford and Chippewa Valley could bring problems with their sprints and hurdle events. It could be a three team race. I don’t see Troy nor Troy Athens giving them any challenge.

Region 15. South Lyon East-Regional.

AVONDALE

FERNDALE

HAZEL PARK

Birmingham Detroit Country Day

Birmingham Marian

Orchard Lake St. Marys

Cranbrook-Kingswood

Clawson

Detroit Mumford

Detroit Communication Media Arts

Detroit Old Redford

Livonia Claranceville

Madison Heights Lamphere

Pontiac Notre Dame Preparatory

Redford Union

Southfield Bradford Academy

South Lyon East

FAVORITES:

Boys: Orchard Lake St. Marys. The Eaglets have the talent to win this regional. They also have the depth as well led by their sprints. The distance events are a concern to Orchard Lake St. Marys. Detroit Mumford could be a player and so could Avondale but this regional is the Eaglets to lose.

Girls: This one is wide open as there are a couple of teams that could contend but not out of the OAA. Detroit Country Day may have the best shot of the teams but Detroit Mumford could be a contender, Clawson as well, and also South Lyon East. This could be an interesting one to watch.

Region 9. Orion-Regional.

ORION

ADAMS

STONEY CREEK

ROCHESTER

OXFORD

BLOOMFIELD HILLS

WEST BLOOMFIELD

CLARKSTON

PONTIAC

Waterford Kettering

Waterford Mott

Brandon

Holly

Utica Eisenhower

Romeo

FAVORITES:

Boys: Adams. The Highlanders did lose out on the Red crown to Orion but their depth could be of huge importance heading into the regional. Waterford Kettering is also solid along with tons of experience back. Orion could be a dark horse with the regional being at home and having experience also helps as well heading into the mix.

Girls: Clarkston. People ask me why Bloomfield Hills is not the favorite here, well despite the fact the Blackhawks have won the last two regional crowns well Clarkston is very solid with a talented freshman class and is solid in all areas. Orion is the dark horse in this regional because they are solid in all areas. This has the makings of a strong girls regional.

Fife to Resign as Athletic Director.

Written Saturday May 14th at 10:10 PM.

Clarkston will have a new Athletic Director this fall.

After 20 years on the job, Dan Fife will resign as Athletic Director but he will still be the Boys Basketball Coach for the Wolves.

It is unknown who will replace Fife as Athletic Director.

Fife (66) will enter his 35th season coaching Clarkston in Boys Basketball. He has won over 600 games for the Wolves and ten straight Red titles to boot, including last season sharing the crown with Class A state-finalist North Farmington. Clarkston returns Foster Loyer, Dylan Alderson, and CJ Robinson to a team that lost in double overtime to Macomb Dakota on the road in the regional semifinals last season.

The Wolves will be one of the top teams in the State this winter.

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

What-If's

Written Saturday May 7th at 4:00 PM

There are questions heading into the 2017-2018 School Year. A lot of what if's???

What if the OAA brings in the remaining 14 schools from the old KLAA and Lapeer??? 

It would certainly make the OAA into a mega conference again but you would add schools from Livingston, Genesee, Lapeer, and Wayne Counties.

Travel and realignment though will be hectic but this move could appease everyone.

The northern schools (Orion, Clarkston, Oxford, Rochester, Adams, Stoney Creek) would benefit with having natural rivals with Lapeer and Grand Blanc.

The southern schools (Southfield, Oak Park, Berkley, Farmington, Royal Oak, North Farmington) would benefit by seeing schools like Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Canton, Salem, along with the Livonia and Westland area schools.

West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Hills would benefit by seeing their natural rivals the three Walled Lake Schools.

Could this be a win-win???

The north would get what they want and the south would get what they want but it doesn't benefit the schedule makers. For this to work they could divide the league based off of geographic like the old KLAA model but they can realign among the OAA model based off those divisions and realignment.

It is possible that the league could bring in the seven schools incorporated into the fold.

Major questions do persist, does the league want to go out of county??? and enrollment will be an issue.

It could be a wild summer.

Bryer is New Girls Basketball Coach at Oxford.

Written Saturday April 30th at 11:30 PM

Last week it was Steve Laidlaw taking over the Boys Basketball team. This time it is Rachel Bryer taking over the Girls Basketball team.

In a move that really didn't surprise anyone, the Oxford Wildcats named Bryer their new head Girls Basketball Coach replacing Steve Emert whom resigned after the pre-district loss to Waterford Mott.

There were hints though that Bryer would be named the head coach, she attended the OAA meeting last month and Emert recommended her to Oxford officials.

Bryer has served three seasons as Emert's assistant coach and also two seasons as coach at Oxford Middle School and was formally an assistant Varsity and JV Coach at Edwardsburg before coming to Oxford.

I don't expect much to change in the culture at Oxford though but it will be a more smooth transition from Emert to Bryer. The Wildcats bring in a strong eighth grade class along with returnees Madeline Morris, Grace Cleland, Ashley Hershmann, Jordyn Zyniger, and Monae Evans.

The Wildcats will move down from the Red to the White and will see the likes of Orion, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, and Harrison. Oxford finished 4-17 last season but they played in the Red division and the move down will help them this upcoming winter.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for this developing story.

Crighton could be a possibility at Adams.

 Written Saturday April 30th at 7:35 PM

Well a new name has been thrown into the fire for the coaching job at Rochester Adams.

Brad Crighton.

Crighton was the former Girls Basketball Varsity Coach at Stoney Creek resigned from coaching the Cougars last season but his name was brought up and for good reason to coach the Highlanders Boys Basketball program.

Adams coach John Hall resigned last week to take over at Almont and Crighton could be a perfect replacement for Hall.

Crighton played at Adams in the mid 1990's and is an alum at the school. He is a teacher next door at Van Hoosen Middle School and his child is there as well. Crighton is no stranger to coaching Boys Basketball either as he coached the Junior Varsity boys at Stoney Creek from 2002 until 2007 when he went to coaching girls full time due to the switch in seasons.

There are others in play as well for the job like Chris Flynn, and Bob Lineberger, both were assistants under Hall then there is Jeff Hall whom coaches baseball at Adams and could very well fill the shoes for his brother. Another name mentioned is Jeff Jayson, whom coached at Waterford Mott. The Corsairs have struggled lately and Jayson might be in need of a fresh start. If the Highlanders wanted to go elsewhere there is Stephan Henning whom is a Rochester resident, he played basketball at Rochester, went to Rochester College, and coached at Oxford, or the wildcard in the coaching search is Jeff Haney. Haney coaches the Rochester Junior Varsity Boys Basketball team and has had stints coaching Varsity in the Boys and Girls levels at Rochester, could he be temped to make the move to Adams???

Also the Junior Varsity job is in play at Adams as well as long time Highlanders Coach Larry Franklin retired this previous season.

It will be an interesting couple of weeks for Highlanders Athletic Director Jason Wrapp but the list of coaching candidates will be interesting to keep an eye on.

Oakland County, including the OAA lost a Great Pioneer of Sports Writing.

Written Saturday April 30th at 10:00 AM

High School Sports throughout Oakland County, including the OAA lost a pioneer in sports writing in Keith Dunlap.

Dunlap was the MIPrepZone High School Sports Coordinator for the Oakland Press but the newspaper on Friday made budget cutbacks and Dunlap's job was one of them that was cut.

A lot of people, including teams have came out and supported Dunlap through Social Media like Facebook and Twitter.

Dunlap worked at the Oakland Press for 15 years as High School Sports coordinator and writer for the newspaper.

It is unknown where Dunlap will be at for his next job but he is always reliable, committed, and hard working. I personally think the Oakland Press Upper Management made a mistake for letting him go, no one deserves to get their job cut but whomever gets him is getting a great man with great talents.

We'll see what happens but today Oakland County High School Sports and the OAA lost a great pioneer and a great man due to cost cutting moves.