Starkey's Petoskey Ready to Shine Again
December 15, 2017
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
PETOSKEY – Dennis Starkey remembers it like it happened yesterday.
Thirty-five years ago, at the age of 23, Starkey made his varsity head coaching debut with the Boyne City Ramblers.
“The first game I coached was against the legendary Charlie Paige (Harbor Springs),” Starkey recalled. “I got it handed to me pretty good. I knew I had a long way to go after that ballgame.”
Starkey learned quickly. Now, starting his 31st season as coach of the Petoskey Northmen, the 58-year-old is among the winningest coaches in MHSAA history. His 536 career wins rank 18th all-time among boys coaches – with an average of nearly 16 wins a season.
Starkey should move up that list in the coming weeks as the Northmen appear poised for a promising winter.
Petoskey opened the campaign by capturing its Tip-Off Classic last weekend, beating Marquette 55-38 and Manton 66-57. Marquette won 20 games a year ago, while Manton was a Class C semifinalist.
“It’s a great start,” Starkey said. “We played two good teams. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re excited. This is a good group. These guys were really committed during the offseason. Hopefully, that will pay dividends.”
Petoskey was an uncharacteristic 12-8 a year ago. That squad was comprised of three seniors and nine juniors – and one of the key juniors, 6-foot-9 center Danny Kolp, was recovering from knee surgery.
“I’ve always said you win and lose with seniors,” Starkey said. “Our inexperience really showed last year. Luckily, we’re loaded with seniors this year. We’re hoping to get back to where we were before.”
The Northmen were 20-2 two years ago.
Motivation should not be a problem.
“We were pretty unhappy with how we did last year,” senior Joel Wilson, a two-year starter, said. “I expect a lot from this team.”
So does Kolp.
“(High school) memories last forever, and we want to make this a memorable senior season,” he said. “We want to reach our full potential. We have a high ceiling.
“We have the athleticism and skills to make a run in the tournament,” he added. “That’s our goal. Petoskey hasn’t been to a Regional (since 2012). We have a good chance to do it this year if we keep playing as a team.”
Petoskey, which returns four starters, put its size and balance on display last weekend. Seth Mann, a 6-5 guard, averaged 17 points in the two wins. Kolp, who has signed with Northwood University, came up big in the paint, averaging 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks. The athletic 6-4 Wilson contributed 13 points a game, and 6-5 Jake Lee 9.5 points. All are seniors, as is starting point guard Collin Kingma.
Petoskey not only used its length to its advantage – especially defensively and on the boards – but played with a focus.
“I think the biggest improvement thus far is mental,” assistant coach Kevin Starkey, Dennis’s son, said. “Even coach Hiller (Ryan Hiller at Manton) told me after watching the Marquette game that the guys looked locked in, ready to go. It’s visibly noticeable.”
Dennis Starkey started this season much like he has the previous 34, preaching a “team first” approach. From there, he addressed the standards his program is built on.
“It starts with being good students, good citizens,” he said. “If you have to fight issues that do not involve basketball, then you’re never going to be successful (on the court). Our guys have bought into a system that starts with everyone playing together, playing the way we expect and acting the way we expect.”
Starkey asks that his players, especially his seniors, take ownership of the team. As a reminder, after each practice, the coaches step away as the players huddle on the court to dissect that day’s effort.
“The one thing I’ve always enjoyed about coach Starkey is that he emphasizes it’s our team and we can make it how we want to make it,” Kolp, a three-year varsity veteran, said. “We’re not going to be as good if he’s the only one barking at us. He holds us accountable, and we enjoy that challenge.”
“He likes to say we’re all coaches on the court, that we should be coaching and learning from each other,” Wilson added. “He stresses that every day.”
It helps, of course, to have a team that’s already tightly woven. The seniors on this team have been playing basketball together since fifth grade and are “buddies” off the court.
On the court, Starkey clearly sets the tone, though.
“He’s not afraid to get in your face,” Wilson said. “He pushes you hard. But it’s all for the better.”
Petoskey has long been noted for producing disciplined, fundamentally-sound teams. That’s Starkey’s style.
“We try to play up-tempo as much as we can,” he said. “But we really rely on executing offensively and defensively in the half court.”
It’s an approach that runs deep in the system. Sean Pollion, Matt Tamm and Jason Miller all have 20-plus years coaching high school basketball at the school. Pollion is an assistant to Starkey, Tamm is now the JV coach while Miller just moved over to the girls program. In addition, Kevin Starkey and Jon Flynn, a star on the school’s two Class B Semifinal teams in the late 1990s, are assisting.
“That continuity means so much in high school basketball,” Dennis Starkey said. “Some programs have a hard time keeping coaches for extended periods. It’s been an advantage for us. It’s paid dividends.”
Starkey started honing his skills at Boyne City, serving a one-year apprenticeship under Bob Taylor, who went on to coach in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He replaced Taylor, who took the Lake Superior State women’s job, and then left Boyne City after a season to accept a head coach/athletic director position at Vanderbilt. It was there he met his wife, Karen. After three years, Starkey moved on to Petoskey. To this day, former longtime Petoskey athletic director Gary Hice calls it one of the best decisions he ever made.
Inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame in 2014, Starkey has coached teams that have won 17 Districts and four Regionals.
His 1996-98 squads featured guards Trevor Huffman, who later led Kent State to an Elite 8 NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002, and Flynn, Grand Valley State’s all-time leading scorer (2,220 points).
Starkey would later coach his sons, Kevin and Cory. Cory, who went on to earn all-state honors, played at Bucknell and then a year professionally in Ireland. After earning his master’s degree in international finance, Cory accepted a job with an investment company in Chicago. His boss? Former Charlevoix basketball standout Scott Friske, now a senior vice president at First Trust. Friske and Petoskey’s Damon Huffman, Trevor’s younger brother, were teammates at Brown. Another former Charlevoix Rayder, Jared Hunt, also works at First Trust.
“Basketball opened a door for (Cory) in the business world,” Dennis Starkey said. “He’s been blessed. When you’re involved in this sport, you have so many contacts. And a lot of the northern Michigan guys look after each other. It’s a real special bond they create, all because of high school basketball.”
But the story is not over. Trevor Huffman is also in Chicago and lives with Cory. Huffman is still involved in basketball.
“He’s using basketball as an adult workout platform,” Starkey said. “He has guys come in and they do drills, much like we do in practice. So instead of going to the gym and lifting weights and doing cross-training, his clients, most of them former players, use basketball as a form of exercise to become more fit.”
After graduating from University of Michigan, Kevin Starkey headed back north and took a teaching/coaching job at Manton, serving as an assistant to Hiller. The Rangers first game that season? Petoskey.
“That was bizarre, coaching against my dad,” Kevin admitted.
When Dennis Starkey retired as a physical education teacher, Kevin Starkey was hired to replace him. He’s now in his third year at the school.
It’s given Kevin a unique perspective on his dad. He played two years for him on varsity (2007-08 and 2008-09) and has now coached with him three years. When asked if he has a favorite story that encapsulates the type of person his father is, Kevin doesn’t have to think long.
“My senior year we were playing Charlevoix and I had just recently broken my hand,” he said. “It was my first game back. We didn’t know what to expect. When the game started, they were sagging off me because (the injury) was to my shooting hand. When I put up that first shot, I hit it. Then, all of a sudden, I hit five 3s in the first half. He never lets it go. It’s something I remember because he was so proud of me. It was my last (home) game and I was just trying not to air-ball it. Somehow, a few of them went in.
“Well, the next year when I came home from college – we sometimes watched old game films, or films of us growing up – he puts that game in first. He was like, ‘Man, that was so cool.’ I say that not because I need credit, but it was one of those things where he was more excited than I was for myself.”
That, Kevin added, is how Dennis is with his players. He wants the best for them.
This team is no exception.
Kolp, who has had two knee operations, is finally healthy. His last surgery was in June of 2016, and he missed the first six games a year ago.
“He really wasn’t himself - until now, to be honest,” Starkey said.
In eighth grade, Kolp landed awkwardly on his right leg, tore a ligament and dislocated his kneecap.
“They couldn’t do the full operation because I was still growing,” he explained. “Two years later I blew it out again.”
Kolp, who plans to go into an entrepreneurial program at Northwood, spent this past offseason working hard in the weight room.
“I was in there five days a week, lifting to improve my upper and lower body,” he said. “Now, during the season, I’m in there two to three times a week to maintain my strength. I feel good. Everything is coming together.”
Wilson, all agree, is the most athletic player on the squad. He was a first-team all-Big North Conference pick as a quarterback and outside linebacker in football. Several colleges have expressed interest, and he is visiting Central Michigan this weekend and will miss Saturday’s game with Zeeland East. Central Michigan is recruiting him as a preferred walk-on with plans to use him at tight end.
“It’s (disappointing) to miss the game, but I have a decision to make that will (affect) the next four years of my life,” he said.
Mann is the team’s top perimeter shooter.
“Seth is a skilled shooter,” Starkey said. “He has good size and length. I think he’s going to have a great year.”
Kolp agrees.
“With our size, if we get it into the post, and (opponents are) starting to play help defense from the backside, and Seth is in the corner, he’ll punish them for it,” he said.
It could be a special season.
Starkey, though, is not one to think too far ahead. He said the best advice he ever received was to “live in the moment, coach in the moment.”
And he knows there will be challenges ahead. There are no guarantees.
“As excited as I am with all the guys we have back, every coach in the league feels the same way,” he said. “Last year there was only one senior on the first and second all-conference team. It’s going to be a very good race.”
As for the future, Starkey, who credits a strong support system at home for his success, is not saying how much longer he’ll coach.
Kevin has an opinion, however.
“It’s something he’s really good at,” Kevin said. “I look at it like this: Don’t throw it away if you’ve still got it.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey coach Dennis Starkey huddles with his team during the season-opening Tip-Off Classic. (Middle) Joel Wilson (14) and Jake Lee share a celebratory moment. (Below) Senior Danny Kolp pushes the ball upcourt during the event. (Photos courtesy of the Petoskey News-Review.)
Launching Pad and Destination
November 30, 2012
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
Lamont Simpson’s “home” is a place he visits twice a week during his peak season, when NCAA Division I officiating duties have him navigating the Midwest like a person in a race for frequent flyer miles.
His travels pale in comparison to Stacey Thomas, who has lived in Latvia, Turkey and Sweden thanks to the game of basketball.
Then there’s Jim Garofalo, who authored his own cheat sheets to assist with the eight different rules books which intertwined during a period of time in his hockey officiating career, which included a trip to the Olympic Games.
So, naturally, there’s Simpson officiating an MHSAA Pre-District Football Playoff game in Detroit last fall, taking a postgame earful from a father who believed his son was the subject of a cheap shot during the game.
There’s Thomas, blowing a whistle with teenagers at the Healthy Kids Club in Detroit this summer
There’s Garofalo, ditching seven of the rules books over the last few years, and using only one now: the high school rules book.
It’s true that Simpson is at the pinnacle of his career, working Big Ten, Mid-American Conference and Horizon League men’s basketball, in addition to the WNBA in the summer, where he recently worked his eighth straight WNBA Finals.
And, yes, Thomas has her sights set on the NCAA Division I level and beyond, as her officiating career is still in its infancy.
Sure, Garofalo has achieved much on the ice both as an amateur and professional referee.
But, like so many in the officiating family, they deeply appreciate their roots and the people who helped them along the way. It’s a people business, first and foremost.
This week, continuing its "Making – and Answering – the Call" series, Second Half introduces Simpson, an officiating veteran of more than three decades. Profiles of Thomas and Garofalo will follow later this month.
It's about patience and honesty
The late June heat at the Kensington Valley Golf Course doesn’t seem to bother Lamont Simpson. The secret to his cool aura lies in his hand, a golf ball which he has identified as “Ref” in permanent marker.
Simpson is indeed a ref – permanently – thanks to a suggestion from Robert Menafee during the late 1970s, and the 1977 Detroit Redford grad has been most comfortable in the heat of competition’s spotlight ever since.
“I was at a football game at Henry Ford a year or two after high school, and Mr. Menafee, my former coach, saw me and asked what I was doing,” Simpson recalled. “He said I should try officiating. That’s the first I’d ever thought about it.”
It would be the impetus to a craft that has consumed nearly 30 years of Simpson’s life, as he now jets around the country as a top-flight NCAA Men’s Basketball official, and one of the senior officials in the WNBA, where he recently called his eighth consecutive Finals.
For all of his accomplishments, Simpson can still recall with great detail various moments that led to his current standing; mental snapshots which help to explain why he still registers as an MHSAA football official each year, and why he gives so freely of himself to anyone interested in getting a start in officiating.
“I still remember my first game, thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’” Simpson recalled. “In my second year I did a PSL (Detroit Public School League) playoff game, and to this day, walking into that gym is still one of my most gratifying times. There were about two or three thousand people in the stands, and I remember the butterflies.”
Fast forward to the Pontiac Silverdome in November 1992. In the waning seconds of the MHSAA Class A Football Final, a pigskin floats in the air doing its best butterfly imitation. Following a double-reverse pass, the tipped ball is finally corralled by Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Stacey Starr at the 10-yard line and carried into the end zone to give his school a 21-18 win over Walled Lake Western in one of the most frenzied finishes in MHSAA Finals history.
Simpson had a good view of the moment.
“I was the back judge, working my first MHSAA Final. My first thought is to get in position and then, ‘Oh man, the ball is tipped,’” Simpson replays in his mind. “You’re part of a game-ending situation and you don’t want to screw it up. You almost become a fan in a game like that—a moment like that—but you’ve got your job to do. Afterward, when it was all over, I just remember thinking, ‘What a football game I got to be a part of.’”
Simpson would also get a shot as a Football Final referee in 2003, and worked the 1995 Boys Basketball Final which featured Flint Northern’s team led by future MSU Spartans Mateen Cleaves and Antonio Smith. But, Simpson remembers that game for a different reason.
“It was the last time that the Final was worked with a two-person crew.” Simpson said. “I remember the great athletes in the game, and being part of history as the last two-man crew in the Finals is something to be proud of.”
Simpson is quick to point out, however, that simply having what it takes to officiate an athletic event at any level is something of which to be most proud. While it’s natural for new officials to covet championship assignments and careers beyond the high school level, Simpson stresses patience, hard work, and – in many cases – honesty with one’s own performance as the most valuable traits an official can possess.
“I work and speak at a lot of camps, and I stress that people need to work at the craft – mechanics, rules, physical appearance – and above all have patience.” Simpson said. “The thing I see in younger officials now that is so different than when I was coming in, is they don’t have the patience; they don’t want to pay their dues.”
Sometimes, even the greatest amount of patience, perseverance and hard work isn’t enough. And, that’s where honesty in self-evaluation comes in. Yes, there are egos in officiating. To some extent, it’s a prerequisite. However, humility can also lead to finding a niche in the game.
Simpson himself is an example.
“My goal was to work in the NBA, but after seven years in the CBA, I realized that it probably wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “But, you know, there was still a lot of good basketball out there to work. When I left the CBA, I did so on my own terms, and went to work on my college career. So, sometimes you weigh your options and focus on the next goal.
“The point is, work at being the best at whatever level you work. I’ve seen guys spend a lot of money at the same camps year after year, and never get that college assignment,” Simpson said. “Maybe it’s time for them to focus on a different level.”
In that respect, the very thing that drives officials and gets them in the game in the first place can by the very thing that drives them out. Passion and drive, the need to reach the next level, can keep people focused in their chosen quest; the frustration of not advancing can also lead to their exit.
True, Simpson is one of 32 officials in the WNBA, and just worked his eighth WNBA Final. He has a full NCAA Division I men’s basketball schedule. But, the father of three grown children and grandfather of five cannot express enough the fringe benefits that officiating brings at any level.
“You become a better people person through officiating. Your communication skills are sharper,” he says. “Not only what to say and when to say it, but you learn to listen. You have to be a listener in this business, and that’s a great skill to have in life.”
It also provides the opportunity to be a teacher and recruiter. It’s one of the reasons he’s closing in on nearly three decades as an MHSAA registered official. What better way to pass the knowledge forward?
“No matter where you end up, always remember where you started, and keep your friends,” Simpson said. “I return every call, every text. I still talk to the same guys I grew up with. From an officiating standpoint if we could all just bring along one person at a time, think of the effect that would have.”
Simpson does more than his share, from speaking at camps and clinics – all voluntarily, mind you – to the behind the scenes recruitment, such as the time he surrendered all of his baseball umpiring equipment to a friend under the condition that person register with the MHSAA and begin working games.
He thinks back to the suggestion from Coach Menafee frequently. “Oh, all the time,” Simpson said. “I think of the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen, the people I’ve met and the person I’ve become. This is what being an official does.”
There’s a scenario that Simpson replays time and again when he talks of officiating, and it doesn’t pertain to his collegiate or professional experience. In fact, it’s not even about basketball.
“It’s Friday night, and you’re working the big rivalry game between two communities. You get on the field, the bleachers are packed, the bands are playing, and you’re right in the mix,” Simpson says with reverence. “That’s it right there. It doesn’t get much better than that. That’s it.”
PHOTO: Lamont Simpson officiates WNBA games during the summers, including this contest involving the Atlanta Dream and player Erika de Souza (14).
NOTE: This is the fifth installment in the series "Making – and Answering – the Call" detailing the careers and service of MHSAA officials. Click the links below to view the others.