Coaches Return With College Knowledge
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
February 24, 2016
North Farmington boys basketball coach Todd Negoshian is not so vain to believe he’s at the top of his profession.
After all, he’s nearing just his fifth season running what is considered one of the top programs in the Oakland Activities Association.
What Negoshian is certain of is that he is a better coach now than he was during the early 2000s when he entered the profession as an assistant at North Farmington under his father, Tom Negoshian.
In addition to Todd Negoshian’s years as a high school coach, he spent three seasons (2004-07) as an assistant coach at Oakland University under coach Greg Kampe. Having worked at the college level has not only added to his knowledge as a coach but also given him an opportunity to work with different people under different circumstances but with similar goals.
“I learned a lot from Kampe,” Negoshian said. “I learned a lot about relationships. He has the uncanny ability to (scold) a kid and then 30 seconds later have your arms around him. It’s about building relationships.
“It’s his approach to coaching. There’s so many things you learned outside of coaching.”
This brief stint at the collegiate level gave Negoshian, 35, a whole new perspective on how to coach and how to be a coach. Building relationships takes time, and to those committed to being a coach who cares about his or her players, it’s paramount to allow for that time.
Some coaches, like John Beilein at University of Michigan, start out coaching at the high school level, move on to college and remain there. A number of others statewide have taken paths similar to that of Negoshian.
LaMonta Stone at River Rouge and Steve Hall at Detroit Cass Tech started coaching at the high school level and have recently returned to their roots after each spent several years as a college coach.
Stone played for the legendary Lofton Greene at River Rouge and then coached the Panthers to a Class B title in 1999. Stone ambitiously sought a position at the next level and was quite successful. He spent two seasons at Eastern Michigan, two at Ohio State and 10 at Bowling Green before returning to River Rouge last season as head coach.
And he has no regrets.
“At that point, I had goals,” Stone said of making the jump to college. “There were things I wanted to do. I still have goals. People ask me, would I go back to college? I don’t know. If the situation was right, I might.”
Stone, 49, returned for two reasons: family and community. Last season he was able to coach his oldest son, LaMonta, Jr., his senior year. Stone also has two other sons, ages 6 and 9.
Basketball is king in River Rouge. Greene won a record 12 MHSAA titles and the program has won two more since his departure. But the Panthers relinquished their claim as a state power soon after Stone left and haven’t been much of a factor in the tournament since. Stone intends on changing that.
“It’s a situation where, I’d been (coaching in college) for 14 years,” he said. “I’d reached all my goals. The only one I didn’t was to become a head coach. But you’re an assistant in the Big Ten. You can’t get much higher than that.
“The opportunity to come back to that community, I just couldn’t pass up. I get to be more of a part of my sons’ lives.”
In addition to the high school season, Stone said he enjoys coaching during the summer, in camps and individually.
“I can, within the (Michigan High School Athletic Association) rules, work with kids outside of Rouge,” he said. “I get calls all the time saying can you work with my son. I work with them but they can’t come to Rouge. I like it that way. There’s no pressure on me or them.”
Hall, 45, was one of the state’s top players when he graduated from Cass Tech in 1988. He played four years in college (Washington, Virginia Tech) before playing professionally overseas. In 1996 he became the head coach at Detroit Rogers, an all-boys school in the Detroit Public School League. Hall spent nine seasons there and won three MHSAA titles before the school closed.
Hall went to Detroit Northwestern in 2005 and spent three seasons there, winning one PSL title, before accepting a position as an assistant coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He spent four seasons there before becoming an assistant coach at Youngstown State. On Aug. 25, Hall officially came back to Detroit as athletic director and boys basketball coach at Cass Tech.
Like Stone, Hall was looking for a more stable lifestyle. Family came first, and the opportunity to coach his alma mater was too good to pass up.
“A lot had to do with my life at this stage,” he said. “I have two young boys (ages 7 and 4) and to be more a part of their lives is important. If I wanted to spend time with them, we’d go to a game where I was recruiting a kid and that would be our time together on that given day.
“And I have a passion for this school. This whole year has been learning on the fly. At Rogers there was a lack of numbers. Here football is huge. We didn’t have a football team at Rogers. And here I have a surplus of numbers. It’s a different dynamic. Rogers was the smallest school in the PSL by enrollment. Cass is the biggest.”
Hall said he doesn’t miss the hours of travelling on the road, going into countless gymnasiums recruiting players and trying to convince them and their coaches that his university was the right one. It’s not that his responsibilities as athletic director and coach are less demanding. But being able to go home every night and see his children and sleep in his bed has its rewards.
Hall said he had more than a few conversations with Stone on returning home.
All three coaches agree that experience has its benefits. It’s not that coaching is any easier at this time. The challenges are still there and in many ways demand different approaches.
“Every stop makes you better,” Negoshian said. “Anytime you coach kids, the more you are around them, it helps.
“The game has changed. Society changed. Kids don’t want to fight through tough times. That’s why you see so many transfers. Everybody wants to be the hero. They want the focus on them. And it’s just not them. It’s the family. I’m not sure all of the parents are committed. They don’t want to go to A, B and C to get to D.”
Hall said the expectations for incoming freshmen and their parents are so different than it was when he was in high school. Then students went to a certain school, whether it was a power like Detroit Southwestern or a neighborhood school like Detroit Mumford, to be a part of an established program.
“It’s a trickle down from college,” Hall said. “It’s not, ‘I want to send my kid to a great program.’ There’s the attitude that if my son isn’t a part of it as a freshman, I’ll go somewhere else instead of being part of the process.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Current River Rouge boys basketball coach LaMonta Stone returned to his alma mater after serving as a college assistant including at Bowling Green. (Middle) Todd Negoshian, LaMonta Stone, Steve Hall. (Top photo courtesy of LaMonta Stone.)
Breslin Bound: 2025-26 Boys District Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 23, 2026
The march to Breslin Center ramps up significantly this week as more than 700 boys basketball teams across Michigan begin a journey they hope will end in East Lansing.
We always switch up our “Breslin Bound” format once the MHSAA Tournament starts, as last week’s most intriguing results below are followed this time by glances at three District brackets of note in each division. Host sites are bolded, and teams playing in those brackets are listed by seed as determined by Michigan Power Ratings (MPR).
Everything you could want to know this week about tickets, brackets and more can be found on the Boys Basketball page. To watch any of several games online, visit the NFHS Network.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Saginaw Heritage 73, Grand Blanc 60 The Hawks (18-4) avenged a 28-point loss to Grand Blanc (17-4) from December in this matchup of Saginaw Valley League division champions.
2. Detroit Catholic Central 64, Detroit Martin Luther King 54 The Shamrocks (15-6) won the annual Operation Friendship championship game matching the winners from the Catholic High School League and Detroit Public School League, and adding to a 54-46 overtime win over King (17-5) from December.
3. Gladwin 49, Beaverton 46 Gladwin (21-1) claimed the overall Jack Pine Conference championship with its second win this month over Beaverton (17-5).
4. Flushing 52, Goodrich 51 Flushing (18-4) held on for a second close win over Goodrich, this time in the Flint Metro League championship game, after winning their Jan. 27 meeting by four.
5. Wayne Memorial 61, Hartland 48 The Zebras (19-3) capped off their regular season by defeating the Eagles (18-4) in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association title game.
Districts at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold, and teams are listed by seed:
DIVISION 1
Detroit Cass Tech
1. Detroit Martin Luther King (17-5), 2. Detroit Cass Tech (16-6), 3. Detroit Western (19-2), 4. Grosse Pointe South (11-11), 5. Grosse Pointe North (10-12).
King and Cass Tech have met twice this season – King won the Jan. 21 matchup 60-53 that helped decide the PSL Blue title, and then 68-63 in the PSL Tournament city championship game Feb. 15. King also defeated Western, 56-36, in a league tournament semifinal, while Cass Tech and Western didn’t face each other during this regular season. Grosse Pointe North has won seven of its last nine games and defeated Cass Tech by a point in their District matchup last season, and South owns a big early win over North.
Flushing
1. Saginaw Heritage (18-4), 2. Flushing (18-4), 3. Saginaw United (13-8), 4. Flint Carman-Ainsworth (8-14), 5. Swartz Creek (11-11).
As noted by the results above, Heritage and Flushing emerged at the end of last week as the top teams from the Saginaw Valley League and Flint Metro League, respectively. Saginaw United finished second in the SVL South and split with SVL North runner-up Mount Pleasant this season, and despite losing to Heritage early should also be considered a contender. Flushing has only one loss this calendar year, to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in overtime, and Heritage has lost only twice since Jan. 1 and defeated Mount Pleasant twice by 20 or more points to win the SVL North.
Muskegon
1. Rockford (18-3), 2. Muskegon (19-2), 3. Greenville (20-2), 4. Muskegon Mona Shores (10-10), 5. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (6-16), 6. Cedar Springs (7-15).
Rockford and Muskegon are the anticipated matchup to decide this bracket, and they met in last season’s District Final with the Rams winning 64-62. Rockford has victories over Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and East Kentwood but finished second to the latter in the O-K Red. Muskegon has downed Wayne Memorial and Lansing Waverly and won the O-K Green. And definitely don’t count out River Cities Alliance champion Greenville, which has two losses by a combined six points and introduced itself loudly with a December win over Grand Rapids Northview.
DIVISION 2
Comstock Park
1. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (16-6), 2. Grand Rapids Christian (16-5), 3. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian (17-5), 4. Wyoming Kelloggsville (14-7), 5. Comstock Park (5-17), 6. Ada Forest Hills Eastern (2-20).
Grand Rapids Christian claimed the O-K White title outright last week in part thanks to a 51-43 win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central, and they split their regular-season series as the Cougars won their Jan. 20 meeting by five. NorthPointe was second in the O-K Silver and Kelloggsville fourth, and on opposite sides of this bracket certainly could provide obstacles as the Cougars and Eagles pursue a third round.
Ludington
1. Ludington (20-2), 2. Hart (19-3), 3. Reed City (10-12), 4. Manistee (12-10), 5. Big Rapids (9-13).
Ludington finished undefeated in the West Michigan Conference Lakes and has reached Regional Finals the last two seasons. Hart was second in the WMC Rivers and is seeking a first District title since 2019. They have key mutual opponents; both lost to North Muskegon this winter, and Hart also took a loss from Fremont while Ludington swept the Packers. Manistee and Ludington played Thursday – Ludington winning 68-55 – and they could meet again in a District Semifinal if Manistee gets past Big Rapids tonight.
Yale
1. Yale (20-2), 2. Croswell-Lexington (17-5), 3. Imlay City (16-6), 4. Almont (10-10), 5. North Branch (7-15).
All five of these teams are from the Blue Water Area Conference and finished among the top six, with Yale and Croswell-Lexington sharing the championship and splitting their matchups – the Pioneers won Jan. 20 in overtime, 64-57, while Yale won the rematch Friday 60-41. Imlay City finished third in the BWAC and despite losing both games against both champs took Croswell-Lexington to overtime the second time they played.
DIVISION 3
Kent City
1. Blanchard Montabella (15-7), 2. Kent City (14-8), 3. Morley Stanwood (13-9), 4. Ravenna (13-9), 5. Lakeview (7-15), 6. White Cloud (3-19).
The top four seeds all finished second or third in their respective leagues and will look to add a trophy winning what could be one of the most tightly-contested brackets in any division. Montabella tied for second in the Mid-State Activities Conference West and has won six of its last seven games since falling to Ravenna 43-39 on Jan. 28. Ravenna, which tied for third in the WMC Rivers, has bounced back from a late rough stretch and opened this season with a win over Morley Stanwood – which finished second in the Central State Activities Association White while splitting with third-place Kent City, which won their Friday matchup by 20.
Mancelona
1. Mancelona (20-2), 2. East Jordan (20-2), 3. Indian River Inland Lakes (14-8), 4. Harbor Springs (11-11), 5. Boyne City (9-12), 6. Charlevoix (6-15).
By the numbers, Mancelona and East Jordan has been so close at the top of this District that East Jordan actually passed Mancelona in MPR during the week after seeding. East Jordan also won the Ski Valley Conference by game over Mancelona, claiming their matchups 48-38 and 45-36. Inland Lakes finished third in the Ski Valley, losing to both league title contenders twice, and Harbor Springs is coming over after finishing third in the Northern Shores Conference and losing to East Jordan by only six points, 45-39, on Thursday.
Unionville-Sebewaing
1. Harbor Beach (19-3), 2. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker (18-3), 3. Cass City (16-6), 4. Unionville-Sebewaing (11-11), 5. Bad Axe (6-15).
There is a great deal of familiarity in this bracket as well, as Harbor Beach won the Big Thumb Conference Black and Laker and Cass City were first and second, respectively, in the BTC White. Harbor Beach saw both during the first half of the regular season, defeating Cass City by seven and Laker by three. Laker defeated Cass City by seven and nine to win their league. USA tied for fifth in the BTC White – with an eight-point win over Cass City and a four-point loss to Laker in February rematches.
DIVISION 4
Lake Linden-Hubbell
1. Dollar Bay (19-2), 2. L’Anse (15-6), 3. Baraga (15-6), 4. Lake-Linden-Hubbell (7-15), 5. Chassell (5-16).
Dollar Bay won the Copper Mountain Conference championship and L’Anse and Baraga both finished among the upper half among a strong group – in fact, Baraga defeated Dollar Bay by 11 just 10 days ago. Dollar Bay did defeat Baraga in last season’s District Final, and the Blue Bolts’ only other loss this season was to Division 1 Marquette. L’Anse is enjoying its first winning season since 2018-19 and swept Baraga during the regular season.
Rogers City
1. Hillman (19-2), 2. Posen (15-5), 3. Gaylord St. Mary (13-9), 4. Rogers City (12-9), 5. Onaway (5-17), 6. Atlanta (4-13).
Hillman and Posen shared the North Star League Little Dipper championship, splitting the regular-season series with Posen and winning their most recent matchup 57-50 on Jan. 27. They may meet again, but Hillman also took a loss from potential Wednesday opponent Rogers City before winning their rematch by 20. Rogers City also defeated Posen twice. Gaylord St. Mary is intriguing after finishing fourth in the Ski Valley Conference but, as noted above, defeating that league’s champion East Jordan earlier this month.
Three Oaks River Valley
1. St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran (17-4), 2. St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic (13-7), 3. New Buffalo (14-8), 4. Eau Claire (11-11), 5. Three Oaks River Valley (3-17).
Michigan Lutheran finished first, Our Lady and New Buffalo tied for second, and Eau Claire finished fourth in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph League. New Buffalo handed Michigan Lutheran its only conference defeat in their second of two games – winning by a point – and New Buffalo and Our Lady split their two games, decided by five and two points. Michigan Lutheran also defeated New Buffalo to clinch a District championship a year ago.
MHSAA.com's weekly “Breslin Bound” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Click to connect with MI Student Aid and find more information on Facebook and X @mistudentaid.
PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon’s James Martin throws down a dunk against Muskegon Mona Shores during a Jan. 30 win. (Middle) Flushing’s Raymond Neither (10) works for post position against Goodrich’s Jensen LePla during the Raiders’ 52-51 Metro League title clincher. (Muskegon/Mona Shores photo by Tim Reilly. Flushing/Goodrich photo by Terry Lyons.)