As Roles Change, Hardy Continues to Shine

Boys Basketball

By Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half

February 2, 2017

FARMINGTON HILLS – No matter the role or circumstances, Amauri Hardy finds a way to fit in.

Hardy, a 6-foot-1 senior guard from North Farmington, has been a starter since his freshman year and is one of the state’s top players. But his journey has not always been smooth.

He averaged 10 points per game his freshman season at Southfield High, then missed all but four games his sophomore season after suffering a strained knee ligament. The injury sidelined Hardy for four months, and in October of his junior year he transferred to North Farmington.

Known as a shoot first, pass second type of player, Hardy would have to change his style to fit into an experienced team that was not short on talent and players who could score.

“I didn’t have to score,” Hardy said. “We had more talent than when I played at Southfield. I had to swallow my ego. It’s something I had to do. (The North Farmington players) knew my game. I knew theirs.

“I was a combo guard last year. I tried to do what was needed. I shared things with Billy (Thomas).”

Hardy and Thomas, a senior last season, teamed to form one of the state’s top backcourts. And their ability to mesh didn’t happen by accident. The two had been friends since elementary school. When they entered high school each went his separate way, but reunited last winter their play (Hardy averaged 22 points ppg; Thomas 18) was instrumental in the Raiders’ run to the school’s first Class A Final appearance.

“We had a great talk when he came to us,” North Farmington coach Todd Negoshian said. “We talked about his goals, where he wanted to get. He didn’t want special treatment. To this day he’s always asking questions. He’s not questioning what we do. He just wants to get better. He really listened, watched and learned.”

Hardy said every day he thinks about what he and his teammates accomplished last season. Their 55-48 victory over host Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in a District Final was a big hurdle on their way to the Breslin Center.

As talented and balanced a team as North Farmington was last season, this season’s has little experience. Hardy is the lone starter returning and the Raiders have been inconsistent, a trait many young teams confront.

Once again Hardy had to switch gears. In order for his team to be competitive, and as successful as possible, he’s had to assert himself more offensively and be the leader. Hardy is averaging 28.5 points and seven assists per game from the point guard spot, but in most games it hasn’t been enough. What makes those numbers even more impressive is that North Farmington averages just 55 points per game.

North Farmington (4-7) did defeat Southfield Arts & Technology, 76-70, on Jan. 26 for its first victory in the Oakland Activities Association Red. Hardy scored 35 points and had help this time as the other starting senior, Karl Patrick, had 19.

Overall, the Raiders have had a difficult time competing for 32 minutes. In some games they play well for three quarters, then run out of steam leaving Hardy to do much of the heavy lifting. He scored his team’s first 15 points in a 63-58 overtime loss to West Bloomfield on Jan. 20. Hardy finished with a career-high 46.

“I give him credit, the way he leads our guys,” Negoshian said. “He’s toughed through it.

“That’s what I like about him. He’s become a leader. Jacob Joubert and Alex Darden were our leaders last year. He watched and learned.”

Hardy does more than watch. He dedicated himself to the weight room in the offseason and has become a much stronger player, particularly when he goes to the basket. He’s able to ward off defenders more effectively and exhibits great body control.

And it doesn’t hurt that he’s left-handed and gives opponents a less familiar look as they try to lock him down.

Hardy was one of two players from Michigan (along with Jamal Cain of Detroit Cornerstone Health & Technology) and 64 finalists nationally for the McDonald’s All America team (no Michigan players were among 24 eventually chosen). Hardy also has signed with Oklahoma State University and is a possible candidate for the 2017 Mr. Basketball Award.

But on the way to those future opportunities, he’s filling the necessary roles as North Farmington works to elevate from its slow start.

“He’s a great teammate,” Negoshian said. “He cares about the team and the program.”

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.

PHOTO: North Farmington's Amauri Hardy (10) pushes the ball upcourt during last season's Class A Semifinal victory over Lansing Everett.

Like Parents, Ayrault Twins 'Born to Play'

By Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half

November 30, 2017

GROSSE POINTE WOODS – Kim Ayrault and her husband Andy were careful not to overly encourage their children to play sports, specifically basketball, the sport they played so well for so long.

But if their children did decide to play, they would teach them to play the right way and be there every step of the way.

Julia and Joe Ayrault, juniors at Grosse Pointe North, are the first set of twins born to Kim and Andy. Annabel and Adam are the second. Born nearly four years apart, all four play basketball and the younger pair play multiple sports.

The Ayraults are a family whose lives often revolve around practices and games, and driving to and from said events. It can be simultaneously rewarding and tiresome, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kim recalls one of her first memories of Julia, a 4-year-old bouncing up and down the court.

“She went to the basket and scored,” Kim said. “Then she came back down with her ponytails flying and waving her hands up in the air, and I said to myself, no, no, no. I went up to her and said, you can’t do that. You can’t celebrate like that. She learned. She never did that again.

“She was competitive at that age. She was born ready to play.”

Julia Ayrault started bouncing a basketball just about the time she learned to walk. When her parents introduced her to the sport, she dove in head first and hasn’t looked back.

She tried soccer. That didn’t last. As a second sport she preferred baseball, but basketball was always first.

Julia and Joe, 16, both play varsity basketball and anticipate having more than just a good season. Their parents were also fine basketball players in the Pointes, Kim at North, Andy at Grosse Pointe South. The Ayraults’ other set of twins also play basketball, at Grosse Pointe Shores Our Lady Star of the Sea. Annabel and Adam are in the seventh grade and, yes, they’re good players, too. Annabel plays volleyball as well and Adam plays baseball. He was a member of the Grosse Pointe Shores/Woods Little League team that reach the World Series in Williamsport, Pa., this past summer.

After graduating from high school, the Ayraults began dating while playing basketball at Wayne State University. Andy was a junior, Kim (Reiter) a sophomore. Both had fine careers, both played four years and Andy went on to have a brief career professionally in Europe. The two are tall: Andy is 6-foot-7 and Kim is 6-foot, and, not surprisingly, their children are tall. Julia is 6-2, Joe 6-5.

It’s too early to tell, but Julia just might be the best. A three-year starter for longtime coach Gary Bennett, she has committed to Michigan State and is one of the state’s top players in the class of 2019. Bennett coached Kim in high school, and he first saw Julia play when she was in elementary school.

Andy has coached Julia, on and off but mostly on, since she started playing. Currently Andy is Bennett’s assistant coach. Andy also coached Julia at Star of the Sea and began coaching his two eldest children when they were in elementary school.

“From third to sixth grades I had her playing on the boys AAU team,” Andy said. “I used to put them on the same team because she was so good. In the seventh grade we switched out of AAU to the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization). Going on a weekend and playing four AAU games in one day wasn’t doing her any good. Playing two CYO games and practicing three days a week was better.

“Joe should have a breakout season. Julia had a breakout summer. She played more on the perimeter. She’s athletic enough to cover the post and take the ball to the rim.”

Andy has never stopped working with Julia, even if he wasn’t officially her coach. She developed a love for the game at an early age and Andy continued to teach, lending support as Julia’s game continued to improve.

“She blows our mind all the time,” Kim said. “We’ll say to each other later, did she really do that? When I watch, I see it from the stands and it’s a different look than what Andy sees. I’ll yell something at her during the game. Andy doesn’t like me doing that. I still do it.”

In addition to her playing basketball with the boys for three years, the athletically gifted Julia also played outfield and was a pitcher on a little league baseball team with her brother for two years. Also teaming up with Julia on that little league team was Evelyn Zacharias, one of Julia’s best friends and now a member of the North varsity basketball team as well.

One of Julia’s first memories of playing sports is a positive one.

“I remember when I was at Star of the Sea, we went a long way (in the playoffs),” she said. “It started to be a lot of fun. A lot of those girls who were on that team are at North with me. Evelyn and others. We have the memories.”

Kim and Andy have memories, too, and there are many more to come.

Right now, their lives are often discombobulated trying to give the four equal time. It’s a great goal in theory, but much more difficult to accomplish in reality.

A typical day will find Kim driving home after work as an elementary school teacher to pick up Julia from practice and get Adam to his game at Star of the Sea on time. One particular evening the MSU women’s team is playing the University of Detroit at Calihan Hall and Kim and Julia are going. Home by 10 p.m., there’s time for a snack before the good nights are said.

“People, many of our friends, tease us that we make them do this,” Kim said. “We’ve never done that.”

Kim keeps a schedule of all the comings and goings on a board hanging in the back of the house. She does it alone. She doesn’t trust anyone else to keep track.

Andy is in between jobs so his free time, if you can call it that, consists of completing Kim’s honey-do list.

“We were laughing the other day,” Kim said. “How did we do this before when (Andy) was working? I’m just trying to be patient.”

At the very least, 20 years of marriage will teach you that.

In addition to his work with Julia, Andy coaches Adam’s team at Star of the Sea, and he’s usually the one taking Julia and Joe on trips, whether it be sports-related or the occasional trip to check out a college campus.

Julia said with every member of the family involved in sports in one capacity or another, it helps keep them all together, at the dinner table, riding in a car or wherever.

“(Sports) is a big topic all of the time,” she said. “We have fun with it. We mess with each other.

“My dad has taught me a lot about the game. The biggest thing is to put others before yourself. My biggest thing is to get my teammates involved. Even if they’re not going to play in college, it should be a good experience for them. I try to make sure everyone has their role. I don’t want it to be about me.”

PHOTOS: (Top) The Ayrault family, from left: Annabel, Adam, Andy, Kim, Julia and Joe; inset: Julia and Joe suiting up for Grosse Pointe North. (Middle) Julia and Joe celebrate a birthday together in 2012. (Below) Julia and her dad/assistant coach Andy anchor the right side of the team photo after last season’s District title win. (Photos courtesy of the Ayrault family.)

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