River Rouge Takes Title Dream Into Final
March 15, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – At River Rouge, 14 MHSAA championship banners tell of one of the most storied programs in Michigan high school boys basketball history.
They don’t hang banners there for making the Semifinals or finishing runner-up.
That’s been on the minds of Panthers players all season after falling in the Semifinals the last two – and it was on their minds again as Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal against unbeaten Harper Woods Chandler Park went into overtime.
River Rouge saw a lead as large as 10 fade away during regulation, and then barely earned overtime on a last-second 3-pointer. But on the 20th anniversary of their last championship, the Panthers will get the opportunity to play for possibly the next after hanging on for a 72-66 victory at the Breslin Center.
“We need to win. I need to do whatever it takes to win the state championship. That’s what was going through my mind the whole time,” said River Rouge sophomore Legend Geeter of the game’s final stretch.
“I’ve been (to Breslin) once and lost in the Semifinals, and it was not a great feeling. In my mind, in order for this program to keep being great, we’ve got to win another state championship and put another banner up.”
River Rouge (23-2) will take on Hudsonville Unity Christian in Saturday’s 6:45 p.m. Final, in a rematch of the 1963 Class B championship game won by the Panthers 59-49.
Coach LaMonta Stone, who led the 1999 team, returned in November after two seasons away for his third tenure running the program and immediately told his players this season would be “state championship or bust” – but also that his expectation was that they would win title 15.
River Rouge has the most championships in the MHSAA’s 94-year history, but none during the 2000s, and the Panthers couldn’t bear the thought of another opportunity slipping away.
The double-digit lead – 33-23 just less than a minute into the second half – did slip away gradually over the third and fourth quarters. Senior Josh Diggs gave Chandler Park a 58-56 lead with a 3-pointer with 49 seconds to go in regulation, and two free throws by senior Andre Bradford pushed the advantage to three with 13 seconds left. But senior Nigel Colvin saved River Rouge’s championship hopes, taking a pass down the baseline on the ensuing possession, moving two steps to his right and draining a 3-pointer with three seconds left on the clock.
“Nigel when I came into this team was just a spot-up shooter,” Stone said. “But he’s the hardest-working kid on the team. Every day before practice, after practice, he’s working on his 1-2 dribble pull-up. He doesn’t want to be known as just a 3-point shooter.
“So when I saw that shot, and he had to get it off, I’m just thinking back to when he’s in the gym after practice, before practice, working on those type of shots where he has to take one or two dribbles and shoot the ball. Two or three months (ago), he couldn’t have made that play – because he was just a spot-up shooter.”
Colvin hit another 3-pointer to open the overtime scoring, and Chandler Park senior forward Tyland Tate answered to tie things back up. But a Geeter basket with 1:50 to play gave the Panthers the lead back for good, as they finished on a 7-3 run.
The loss was the first and only this season for Chandler Park (21-1), which won its first Regional title last week on the way to this first trip to the Semifinals.
“You saw the support we had. A lot of people came out,” Chandler Park coach James Scott said. “Small charter school, on the end of the east side, Harper Woods area. So I thought it was big to show that we have talent, we’ve got some players and it’s a program on the rise. From making this type of run, every year, moving forward.”
Bradford had 14 points and three steals, and senior guard Derrick Bryant Jr. had team highs of 15 points and six assists for Chandler Park.
Colvin finished with 20 points to lead River Rouge, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Geeter added 17 points and six rebounds and senior Donavan Freeman scored 12. Senior Bralin Toney had seven assists.
PHOTOS: (Top) River Rouge players embrace senior Nigel Colvin after his game-tying 3-pointer during the final seconds of regulation Friday. (Middle) Donavan Freeman (1) gets a shot up just out of the reach of Chandler Park’s Tyland Tate.
Work Ethic Continues to Drive Van Dyk's Endeavors as Co-Owner of Family Farm
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 4, 2026
Matt Van Dyk’s work ethic was always easy to spot, even for those not spending every day at Imlay City’s basketball practices.
“The only way he could get out of work in the summer was for church or basketball, nothing else,” Imlay City boys basketball coach Don Gauthier said. “We would have summer league games in Flint or wherever we were playing, and he would show up five minutes before tip off, covered in mud, dirt, or whatever he was doing on the farm, and with no excuses, would come out there and play as hard as anybody. That work ethic, it was contagious to everybody else.”
That work ethic was born in the fields at Van Dyk Farms, grew through his time on the court for Imlay City and eventually Michigan State, and continues to serve him in his role as part owner of that same family farm, which serves as one of the largest produce suppliers in the eastern United States.
“I’ve had some phenomenal coaches in my life,” Van Dyk said. “My high school coach was Don Gauthier, and he really instilled work ethic into us. I think his favorite quote was, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’ When I think about high school, just that work ethic of working hard every day really helped with being at the college level, but also with farming. And, really, I’ve been blessed to have role models that have all echoed that same mentality. My high school coach, my junior college (St. Clair County Community College) coach Dale Vos, and at Michigan State with coach (Tom) Izzo, plus my father, Doug Van Dyk.”
Matt Van Dyk, a 2012 Imlay City graduate, returned home to the 1,000-acre family vegetable farm after graduating with his agri-business degree from MSU in 2017.
While he’s officially one of the owners, he said his unofficial title is field operations, as he oversees planting, growing and harvest operations.
“I’m the person they call when something’s broken down, or they need to know what field to go into next,” he said.
Van Dyk has immersed himself in the Imlay City community since his return, joining the township board for a while, as well as his church council. He’s also giving back as an athlete, helping with the basketball program. His wife, Rachel, who played volleyball at MSU, was the varsity girls volleyball coach at Imlay City for three seasons and still works with clubs in the area.
“The Bible says that to who much is given, much is expected, and I’ve been given a lot, more so than I deserve,” he said. “The opportunity to play at Michigan State, not many people get that opportunity. For me, to be able to use that and give back is what we’re called to do. With the farm, too. I have the opportunity to work on a family business, and some people will say that you’re starting on second base – well there’s a lot that’s expected from me with this opportunity that I’m given. That is where my true worth comes from; it doesn’t come from personal success, it comes from what our team here at Van Dyk farms can accomplish.”
While Van Dyk describes his time at MSU as an opportunity he was given, the reality is it was one he fought long and hard to earn.
After becoming an all-state selection in Class B and Blue Water Area Conference MVP at Imlay City, he originally went to Hope College after high school but transferred to SC4 following one semester.
During his lone year there, he was named the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Eastern Conference Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-MCCAA and National Junior College Athletic Association Region XII All-Defense.
That earned him scholarship offers from in-state Division II programs, but he chose instead to walk-on at MSU and follow his dream of playing for the Spartans. At worst, he thought, he would graduate with a top-notch degree in the field he wanted.
Of course, he ended up with much more than that. After two years as a walk-on, Van Dyk earned a scholarship for his final season at MSU. He wound up playing in 53 games during his career, starting four during the 2016-17 season.
“I guess while you’re in it, it’s just work,” he said. “You put your head down, take it one day at a time. Looking back and seeing how there are no days off in life, you’re like, ‘OK, maybe that was pretty awesome what I did.’ I got to go to Italy, got to go to Madison Square Garden, got to play at Duke, got to travel the world.”
He also went viral.
While work ethic was what pushed Van Dyk to reach his dreams, he was also a remarkable athlete, possessing one of the best vertical leaps on the roster. That came out in a game against Ohio State his junior season, during which he threw down a massive dunk off an alley-oop. The play made the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10.
“That’s not my style of play at all,” Van Dyk said with a laugh. “Dunking, that’s what got me on the team, was my athleticism. But being flashy, that’s not my thing. It’s a funny way to work things out, and I’m forever indebted to Alvin Ellis for throwing it off the backboard.”
Now, as Van Dyk is back in Imlay City with his wife and two young daughters with another on the way in November, he’s putting his head down to better his family’s business and the community at large. All while continuing to set the right example for the next potential athlete willing to work for what he earned.
“They see him, and he played at Michigan State, and there’s his picture on the wall,” Gauthier said. “Most young kids have big dreams, and they have a guy right there in their hometown that did it. They look up to that. For the athlete and basketball player he is, he’s just a better person. He’s very humble, he doesn’t act big time toward anybody. That’s even more impressive.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Matt Van Dyk puts up a jumper for Imlay City. At right, Van Dyk and his daughters enjoy a moment in one of his family’s fields. (Photos provided by Matt Van Dyk.)