Senior Leaders, 'Legendary' Coaches Bring Plenty of Experience to Hackett Hoops
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
January 27, 2026
KALAMAZOO — In their four years on varsity, Leland Berg and Lukas Husovsky have played for three head coaches, plus a fourth with the junior varsity while playing on both teams as freshmen.
This year, the seniors are ending their Hackett Catholic Prep basketball careers with pair of “crafty veterans” – head coach Dan Hoff and assistant Nib Reisterer.
“It’s definitely been a struggle because every coach has their own way: the way they run practice, games, plays, everything,” Berg said of adjusting to new coaches.
“So from my freshman year, I walked into a program that had been a program a couple years, and then my freshman and sophomore years it totally flipped around.”
Berg, who has signed to play basketball next at Hillsdale College, said Hoff stepped in and brought a new culture.
“Hoff knows exactly what he wants to do,” the 6-foot-5 guard/forward said. “He’s very meticulous, and I feel that order and that tidiness has really cleaned up our team and the culture of Hackett basketball.”
Berg added that there are a lot of small changes, “like what time to show up for games, how practice is run, the kinds of drills we run, the kind of plays we run.
“I know it’s for the better, but it’s been difficult to adjust for me and my teammates.”
During their freshman season, Berg and Husovsky played on both the varsity and junior varsity teams, a challenge for the young athletes.
“It was really an adjustment because everybody had different plays,” the 6-7 Husovsky said. “There were so many plays you had to memorize. Not only was it physically (challenging), but mentally tough.”
Husovsky said that the seniors helped him and Berg as freshmen, and now he sees that as their job with the younger players.
Berg said this season the players are more appreciative of each other.
“When it comes to stuff off the court and personality-wise, we know how everybody is,” he said. “It makes it easier to play with these guys and it’s fun. It makes it a super comfortable team.”
Senior-led on the floor
Berg and Husovsky are two of four senior starters with Cullen McBride, David Verduzco and junior Elijah Brooks rounding out the starting five.
Hoff, who alphabetizes his personal players list by first names, said this is the first time he has no first names past “L”.
“There are four Lukes and two Elijahs out of 12 players,” Hoff laughed.
Those four are Husovsky, senior Luke Napolitan and juniors Lucas Cosby and Luke Widman. Junior Elijah Nabors is also on the team.
Seniors Keegan McCue and Ezra Rowekamp-Ambs plus junior Joey Gamsho round out the Hackett dozen.
After a tough loss to Kalamazoo Christian on Friday, the Irish take an 8-5 record into a tough Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley matchup against Schoolcraft.
Berg said no matter how the first half goes, this Irish team is unwilling to give up in any game.
“We had a couple of tough games where we got punched in the mouth early and we were down at halftime,” he said. “But most of those games we really found a way to group together and keep on pushing.
“I think that’s the difference between this year’s team and teams in the past. In the past, when we’d get down a lot of points early, the game would be over. Lately, there’s been a change in mentality. That’s super impressive. We don’t give up.”
Hoff said Berg is a “hidden gem” on the team.
“He’s a really good outside shooter,” Hoff said. “His energy. He starts every practice and leads us after every game with our team cheer.
“He leads our stretching. He does a lot of leadership things on the court that people don’t even know about.”
As for Husovsky, Hoff said he brings a lot of athleticism to the post with some really good skills as a shooter.
Brooks said he is comfortable with his role on the team and looks up to the seniors.
“Before games, our seniors are making sure we’re there and in the head space we need to be in,” he said.
Brooks added that he feels he’s a link that “brings everybody together. If my energy’s up, then everybody’s energy is going to be up.”
He also appreciates the new culture Hoff brings to the team.
“Coach is really fundamentally sound, making sure every step is done precisely and on point,” he said. “Coach is a great listener and a great motivator.”
Hoff appreciates Brooks’ passion for the game.
“Basketball is really big in his life,” Hoff said. “He brings a toughness and a skill set that is demonstrative of how much work he’s put into it.
“He’s really such a capable player and a person whose personality is extremely powerful, and that’s what allows him to be successful at key times and with any team he happens to be on.”
More than 100 years of experience on the bench
Hoff is in his 50th season as a basketball coach, the first 49 including 27 at Mattawan and five at Western Michigan University.
“Most of what I do is in practice,” Hoff said. “During games, players tell me information and I just give them information back.
"It’s like my classroom experience. When it’s time for a test, it’s time for them to do the test. My job is to prepare them. I find that as liberating for them as for me because I’m not yelling things to them or at them (during games).”
Hoff also said he expects his players to live up to his standards.
“When you have a 3 o’clock start, it’s a 3 o’clock start,” Hoff said. “It’s been a learning curve. I told them, one of my major flaws is I don’t know how to lower my standards so you’re going to have to come to mine.”
Hoff isn’t the only veteran coach at Hackett.
Reisterer is also closing in on 50 years coaching, including several at Hackett with both boys and girls teams.
“Staying around the players keeps us young,” he said. “I’m betting we’re one of the oldest coaching staffs in the state. We’re both 71.
“Dan is the most organized coach I’ve ever been around. He teaches the fundamentals as good or better than anybody I’ve ever come across, and he’s the perfect mentor for any young guys who want to coach.
Reisterer, who graduated from Hackett in 1971, is also a member of the Irish Athletic Hall of Fame.
“Nib and I’ve known each other since I moved here in 1986,” Hoff said. “He coached as an assistant for me in Mattawan. We coached against each other many, many, many times and we had some really great Hackett-Mattawan rivalries.”
Another assistant also has Hackett ties.
Kevin White, class of 1998, is in his first year as the school’s dean of students.
White also has a lot of experience coaching basketball, most recently at Portage Northern.
“I’ve known Kevin almost since I moved here because he’s been with Nib all these times,” Hoff said. “I knew him when he was at Portage Northern and at (Kalamazoo College).
“He’s an in-school person, which is what an out-of-school coach needs. He’s really good at that. He keeps track of the kids in a healthy way.”
Berg said the team is responding well to a new coaching style.
“We have a legendary coaching staff, a lot of great minds,” he said.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hackett Catholic Prep boys basketball head coach Dan Hoff, kneeling, talks with his players during a break this season. (2) Leland Berg (10) makes a move toward the lane against Coloma. (3) Hackett junior Elijah Brooks. (4) Hackett assistant coaches Nib Reisterer, left, and Kevin White. (5) Lukas Husovsky attempts a free throw. (Action shots by Micah Jones. Headshots and huddle photo by Pam Shebest.)
Youngest Salenbien Sibling Making Name as Family's Latest 1,000-Point Scorer
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
January 28, 2025
When Jaxon Salenbien was getting close to reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career, he had some pretty good people to turn to for advice.
Salenbien is the third member of his family to reach 1,000 points. Both of sisters scored more than 1,000 points while also playing for Adrian Lenawee Christian and his father, Jamie Salenbien, is a state-championship winning coach.
“My dad has coached ever since I can remember,” said Jaxon, a junior. “My sisters were always playing. I just kind of flowed right into it. I’ve just always been around it. I’ve watched a ton of basketball. I think that’s helped.”
The talent certainly runs deep in the family.
Jamie Salenbien played high school basketball for Hudson and set the school’s single-game scoring record. His wife, Deborah, played in college.
Jaxon’s older sisters Dani and Bree both were all-state players at Lenawee Christian and led the team to back-to-back Class D/Division 4 championships. Dani scored more than 1,000 points before playing at Hillsdale College. Bree scored more than 2,000 points, won four straight Associated Press Class D/Division 4 Player of the Year honors and is now playing at Gonzaga. Jaxon’s older brother Tyler was all-state in football.
“I used to watch them; now they are watching me and cheering me on,” Jaxon said. “We always have supported one another. It’s harder for Bree since she’s so far away, but when she’s home, she comes to my games.”
Salenbien was an instant starter on the LCS varsity team as a freshman, scoring nearly 450 points. He had a knack for getting to the free throw line and was a dangerous 3-point shooter.
Last year he teamed with senior Brandon Summer – a 1,000-point scorer himself – to light up the scoreboard but was also a top-notch playmaker, dishing out more than six assists a game.
This winter, as a junior, Salenbien has been even more assertive with the basketball, shooting from the outside more often and driving with authority. He’s twice scored more than 30 points in a game, including 37 in an overtime win over Springport. It was during that game that he surpassed the 1,000-point milestone.
"Jaxon is not only super talented but also one the most dedicated gym rats I've ever coached,” Cougars coach Matt Summer said. “He is a great leader and a phenomenal teammate. His passion for the game is second to none. I'm super happy for him to hit this scoring milestone in his career."
That Springport win also was his first back in the lineup after an ankle injury forced him to miss two games.
“(The milestone point) had a weird timing to it because the game was so close,” he said. “They never said it over the PA system or anything because the game ended up going into overtime. I didn’t know exactly when I got it, but my coach told me.
“It’s a cool milestone to get as a high school player,” he added. “It was on my radar, but we just want to win as a team.”
Salenbien said there has been no magic formula to being more assertive on the basketball floor – he’s just playing the role on the team that an upperclassman should.
“Being an upperclassman, that’s what you are always going to do,” he said. “Taking control down the stretch is important for the junior and senior guards.”
The Cougars are off to a 12-2 start with a key stretch of Tri-County Conference games coming up. They lost their first TCC game recently to Petersburg Summerfield, which is 13-0.
The Cougars have excelled at 3-point shooting – averaging nearly 10 made triples a game.
“It’s so much fun,” Salenbien said. “Teams can’t key on one person. If they do, we have shooters everywhere.”
Jaxon is the youngest of the Salenbiens, who are all two years apart. He was in third grade when Dani started on the varsity. In fifth grade, his dad – who won 104 games in five seasons as the LCS girls varsity coach – coached him. Since then, his dad has been an assistant coach on several of his teams, including this year.
“When I was younger, he coached me in maybe fifth grade, but he’s never been my head coach, but always an assistant,” Jaxon said. “He’s always coaching me even if he’s not my coach.”
His sisters were definite basketball role models.
“Watching them has helped and just conversations we get to have,” he said. “Dani comes to pretty much every game now. Right before I reached 1,000 points, Bree and I had an hour-long conversation about things I need to work on and being coachable. It’s helpful to have those two to look up to on and off the court.”
Bree’s advice: Be coachable, be a leader and never think you can win a game by yourself.
His mom, who keeps the scorebook for LCS, offers her own advice – sometimes during games when he reaches the scorer’s table and checks in.
“We always say she’s the emotional support, and my dad is the basketball support,” Jaxon said. “She keeps me in line. She tells me to not complain to the referee and keep my head.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Jaxon Salenbien (24) pushes the pace bringing the ball upcourt against Blissfield. (Middle) Salenbien elevates to get a hand on a loose ball. (Photos by Michelle Sullivan.)