Stuck Family Success Lives On at Charlevoix
February 3, 2017
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
CHARLEVOIX – Elise Stuck burst on to the scene with a 21-point, 11-rebound effort in Charlevoix’s season-opening win over Petoskey.
That was two months ago, but it was a harbinger of things to come.
Stuck, an athletic 6-foot-1 freshman, has registered seven double-doubles and one triple-double for the 9-4 Rayders, who are trending toward their best season since a 21-win campaign in 2008-09. Charlevoix was 3-19 a year ago.
The Rayders are achieving this with a lineup that features two freshmen and three juniors. Stuck – who “plays everywhere,” including the point – is the leader, averaging 18.7 points and 11 rebounds per game. She had 10 assists in a win over Gaylord last month.
“She’s the real deal,” Charlevoix coach Liz Shaw said. “She’s so fun to watch. She plays well beyond her years. One of her great attributes is passing. She sees the court so well. She makes everybody around her better. As a team, I think that’s why we’ve been so successful. And not only is she a great player, but she’s a great kid.”
Stuck struggled with her shot Wednesday in a 53-47 setback to Class A Traverse City Central. She still finished with 18 points (all in the second half) and eight rebounds. The Rayders could not contain Central junior guard Margot Woughter, who tossed in 27.
Shaw said Stuck’s struggle was an aberration.
“All players struggle, but great players figure it out,” she said.
Stuck, who turned 15 on New Year’s Eve, comes from a basketball family. Her parents, Erica (Hall) and Matt, combined to score nearly 4,100 points during their all-state careers at Manton. In fact, Matt is seventh in MHSAA career scoring with 2,449 points. He went on to play four years at Oakland University and two years professionally overseas. He’s now in his first season as the Charlevoix boys varsity coach. Erica’s 1,649 points rank second all-time at Manton. She’s in the MHSAA record book twice for hitting 15 free throws in a game.
But those feats are seldom discussed now. Their focus is on the present – and their kids.
And the kids keep them busy playing multiple sports. In addition to basketball, Elise competes in volleyball (honorable mention all-state), soccer and track. Her twin brother, Luke, who’s been battling injuries, plays basketball, football and baseball. Caleb, a seventh-grader, is also a basketball player, although baseball is his preferred sport.
“We always wanted them to love sports,” Erica said. “We’re super excited that they share that same passion.
“Otherwise,” she added with a laugh, “I don’t know what we would do.”
Elise is an emerging talent on the court. She’s a difference-maker, even though she’s still learning the nuances of the game. The more experience she gains, the more she’ll improve, her father said.
“I’m a dad and a coach so I always say she’s doing well, but she has a long way to go,” Matt said. “She has a very good athletic skill set. She’s tall, can run, can jump. She’s a good athlete who’s becoming a good basketball player.”
She’s also a leader.
That’s a role Matt didn’t have to take on when he was a freshman at Manton. Although he was a double-digit scorer on a team that reached the Class C Quarterfinals that season, the Rangers’ roster was stocked with strong senior leadership in Jeff Spalding, Cage Butcher and Chris Herndon. Spalding was an all-state guard.
By contrast, Charlevoix has just one senior on its girls roster this season.
“For me, the transition was easier,” Matt said. “I could just go play. Elise has had a bigger impact (as a freshman).”
Others have taken notice. Ron Stremlow, who coached Erica at Manton, compares Elise’s court presence to two former area standouts who went on to play at Michigan State.
“Elise is a Liz Shimek, Jasmine Hines type player,” Stremlow said. “She plays a different position, but she catches your eye as soon as the game starts.”
Stremlow saw Stuck play in a loss last month to unbeaten Kalkaska. He was not the only one impressed.
“Explosive,” Kalkaska coach Dave Dalton said in describing Stuck. “She can drive the ball, take it the length of the court, left or right. She’s big, strong, fast. She can play with her back to the basket. And she’s a really good passer.”
That’s why Shaw utilizes her all over the court, including the point.
“I don’t want to handcuff her,” she said.
Stuck’s game is still a work in progress, particularly on the perimeter. She acknowledges that.
“Coming into the season I had never played point guard or on the outside,” she said. “I was an inside player, and in crunch time I go to my inside game because that’s what I’m used to.
“I worked this summer on being able to take (defenders) one-on-one off the dribble. My outside shooting, shooting off the dribble, shooting under pressure, can definitely get better. That’s something I want to work on.”
Now that her players are settling into roles, Shaw said the Rayders “are getting better and better every game.” Abby Cunningham, a 5-11 freshman, has taken over at center, joining juniors Olivia Jeakle and sisters Rachel and Natalie Nesburg in the lineup. Shaw said last week’s 57-35 win over East Jordan was the team’s most “in sync” game of the season. Jeakle hit two 3-pointers early en route to a 14-point night. Natalie Nesburg chipped in eight points, six rebounds, five steals and five assists while Rachel added seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Cunningham is a close friend of Elise’s, and they have helped each other make the transition from middle school to varsity basketball.
“It’s fun to watch them have this kind of success together,” Erica said. “They love their team.”
Shaw is hoping this nucleus can help put Charlevoix girls basketball back on the map.
Charlevoix finished runner-up in the 2004 MHSAA Class C Final to Detroit St. Martin dePorres. That team was coached by Keith Haske, Shaw’s mentor. Haske is now at Traverse City St. Francis, where he led the Gladiators to the Class C Final last season.
Meanwhile, Matt, who runs his own construction company, took over the varsity boys job this season.
“I thought if I can help or contribute in any way,” he said, “why not?”
First, he had to make sure the added responsibilities wouldn’t drastically take away time from watching his kids play.
“Schedule-wise we decided as a family that it would work, that I wouldn’t miss any more games than I would have if I wasn’t coaching,” he said. “On Tuesday nights in our league (Lake Michigan Conference), the boys go one way, the girls the other. We were going to have to divide and conquer anyway.”
Stuck inherited a team short on varsity experience. The Rayders dropped to 3-8 after Wednesday’s night’s 58-45 loss to Gaylord.
But the coach sees improvement. He’s continually stressing fundamentals in practice, giving his players a base to become a better team.
Charlevoix has nine juniors on the varsity, plus a solid group at the JV level, so the future looks promising.
Luke, who has been dealing with kneecap tracking issues and a sprained LCL, returned to JV practice this week. The kneecap problem, he suffered last March, severely curtailed his baseball and football seasons. He was ready to go for basketball, but then sprained his LCL (lateral cruciate ligament) in gym class.
“He’s had a long year,” Matt said.
At 6-2, 210 pounds, Luke is a solidly built forward, whose strengths are rebounding and defense.
“He’s a pretty good leader on the court, too,” his father said. “He knows where everybody needs to be – and he’s pretty vocal. About four or five of those guys play travel ball together. It’s a good group.”
Luke was eager to get back in action.
“It was interesting to see the other side of the game (sitting out while injured),” he said. “But it was really (disappointing) to not participate, knowing that you could be out there (contributing).”
Matt and Erica have coached their kids over the years. Both coached the girls 8th grade team last year. Then, Matt and Boyne City’s Randy Calcaterra, a Wayne State grad who played against Matt in college, coached 7th and 8th grade AAU teams that their sons played on.
Getting a handle on that dynamic is not as easy as it sounds, Matt said.
“That’s the hard part of having parents that have played and are coaches,” he said. “Randy and I would always say that coaching is hard, parenting is harder and being a parent-coach is hardest.”
As a parent, Stuck said he’s applies a rule he learned from his father.
“I ask my kids: Do you want me to tell you one thing that you need to work on?” he said. “That’s the rule my dad had when I was going through school. If you want to hear it, I’ll tell you. I apply that same rule. If they want to open it up for more, we discuss more.”
Do they ask?
“They do,” he said.
“Sometimes they might regret it,” he added with a chuckle.
Stuck averaged 24.7 points a game in his 99 varsity starts at Manton. He was coached by Rene LaFreniere.
LaFreniere said the 6-4 Stuck was more than a scorer and rebounder.
“The thing people didn’t realize is that he was such a good passer,” LaFreniere said. “He would get double- and triple-teamed and would always find the open man.”
For as good a ballplayer as he was, LaFreniere said Stuck’s an even better person.
“Special person, incredible parents,” he said. “Humble, never gloated. It was like, ‘I’ve got a job to do.’ And he did it.”
Whereas Matt could use his size in the paint, Erica made her mark from the perimeter.
“She could shoot,” Stremlow said. “Her range was about 25 feet.
“Good upbringing, a coachable player, a team player who understood the game and really pushed herself. When I watch her daughter, I see those similarities.”
Erica, a math teacher in the Ellsworth school system, said the value of hard work was preached when she played.
“People always told me the harder you work, the more determined you are, that will determine how good you end up being,” she said.
The gym is still a home away from home for the Stucks. Countless hours are spent there on a daily basis.
It’s a lifestyle that works for the family. And they wouldn’t want it any other way.
“We don’t think anything of it,” Matt said. “We think of it as a regular day. We enjoy it. That’s all there is to 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) Charlevoix’s Elise Stuck blocks a shot this season, her first in high school. (Middle) The versatile Stuck brings the ball upcourt. (Below) Matt Stuck, right, is Elise’s father and the Charlevoix first-year boys coach. (Photos courtesy of the Petoskey News-Review.)
Hackett Mentor's Care Sparked Lifetime in Hoops for BCAM President White
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
July 24, 2026
KALAMAZOO — When Kevin White counsels an unruly student, he usually understands what’s going on.
At one time, he was that student.
For the dean of students at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, White’s life has come full circle.
He thrived while attending St. Monica Elementary School as a child, but after his father Damon passed away in 1989, the family moved to Portage and he changed schools.
“Eighth and ninth grades there was a change in behavior and grade point average,” White said. “Right about Christmas break, I had three gentlemen in my living room.
“Mike Smith, Shawn Potts and Nib Reisterer were having a conversation with my mom. They were worried about the direction I was headed and I think somehow those three came up with a plan to get me back (to Hackett).
He soon realized he needed the structure, discipline and smaller class sizes available there. But the worst part of transferring to Hackett was that he had to sit out the upcoming basketball season.
“I was not allowed to play right away because they decided my grades weren’t good enough to play, only to practice,” he recalled. “To sit on the bench as a high school kid with a bad GPA, and (bad attitude), it was like when I was little. If I wanted to do things, I had to do them the right way.”
At Hackett, he was reunited with Reisterer, his mentor who put him through some tough workouts.
“They were some of the hardest workouts I ever had because I had to go back to changing some bad habits, which changed pretty quickly,” White said.
He also had to face the players he idolized as a child when they asked why he wasn’t playing.
“That’s when I knew I had to kick it into gear because I didn’t want to let those guys down,” White said. “They said, ‘You wanted to wear that jersey since you were in fifth grade.’ My mom says peer pressure is the best pressure.”
Learning from the best
White first encountered Reisterer, who changed his life, during elementary school.
After losing his father, White would have to remain at school until his mother, Sheila, who was a police officer, picked him up.
“This gym teacher was, ‘Hey, do you want to hang out in the gym?’ Then he said he had basketball practice at 5 and did I want to come with him to practice? And he’s been stuck with me ever since,” White recalled. “It turned into ‘can I come to practice’ to ‘can I go to a couple games?’ Then I got to ride the bus. Then the Reisterer vacations at the lake became ‘Kevin’s coming too.’ There was a time when the Reisterers became my extended family, and within that came a basketball family.”
Reisterer, who was physical education teacher at St. Monica, said he knew White’s situation and wanted to help.
“My son Ryan was only a couple years younger than Kevin,” he said. “Ryan just adored him, and Kevin became my second son.”
Reisterer, who was also Hackett’s head boys basketball coach, noted, “Kevin became my ball boy. He came to every practice and did all the drills with the kids. He led the team in warmups before the game and became quite a celebrity himself.”
The highlight of his younger years was riding the bus with the Irish players, White said.
“Doing my third-grade homework with them showing me how to do the math problems and arguing about giving me the answers or not giving me the answers,” White laughed.
“The reward was, if you behaved in school you got to go to the games. So it was real easy to behave because I wanted to hang out with the high school guys and be on the bench.”
That sparked his love of basketball.
White graduated from Hackett in 1998 and then played at Glen Oaks Community College. With thoughts of prolonging his career in basketball after college – he went on to graduate from Western Michigan University – White remembered words he heard in passing.
“The guy said, ‘You might be able to play for a long time, but you’ll coach a lot longer than you’ll play if you start coaching right away,’” White said. “As a young guy, you hear it but you don’t think about it.
“Then you get into coaching and start working camps and going to the Final Fours and start networking. I like playing, but I love teaching the game. It’s been fun doing it that way.”
Reisterer said White wasn’t going to “set the world on fire” as a basketball player, but he worked his way through the coaching ranks, from instructing young kids and contributing at summer camps to filling roles at the high school and college levels, learning at each stop.
“He has quite a network of coaches and a lot of experience,” Reisterer added.
Prioritizing family life
As an assistant coach at Kalamazoo College, White met athletic trainer Kathleen O’Farrell and was immediately smitten. He credits her with making him more detailed and organized.
They eventually married and have two children – Vincent, 7, and Riley, 3.
“Vincent is at the age where he wants to come to practice with dad,” White said. “People ask if he’s going to play basketball.
“Right now he loves to swim, loves to play soccer. I love that because I can just sit there and be Dad.”
Vincent not only goes to practice with his dad, but has his own whistle, his own spot in the locker room and his own practice plan.
“He’s in charge of the clock,” White added. “I make him sweep the floor because I had to sweep the floor when I was young. If he decides to coach, I wouldn’t be upset.”
White called his daughter a “mini-me.”
“She will say hello to anyone,” he said. “She’s got confidence, she will speak up. If she doesn’t like something, she will tell you.”
White honed his coaching skills as an assistant to several college and high school coaches, including at Hackett last season, and discovered that working at the same school where he coaches is special.
“I will tell any young coach, if you can get a high school job in today’s age and work in the school, that’s a win-win,” White noted. “The relationship with players is an advantage of working in the school because you’re with them during the day and after school, a lot of times more than they’re with their parents.”
White is running the summer basketball program at Hackett, but that’s not all the gregarious coach is doing.
As the current president of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM), “We run an event called Reaching Higher,” he said. “High school teams are selected from all over the state and they come for two days to play at Grand Valley University.
“It’s open to college coaches all over the country to watch the top high school players from the state.”
He was also involved in Midwest Live where 20-40 Michigan teams compete against teams from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania at Cedar Point.
But next month, White will be back at Hackett, working to keep students on task.
“I see a lot of my classmates and myself in students today,” White said. “Yes, times have changed, but kids still want to be taken care of and want to be treated well and have support. Yes, some discipline comes with my job, but it’s also built on relationship and trust.
“I want (alumni) to come back and tell current kids that yes, Mr. White was hard on me about x, y and z, but when I needed something, he was there for me and if I didn’t follow through, he made sure I did.”
2026 Made In Michigan
July 24: Mackey Leaving Court with 500+ College Hoops Wins, Many More Lessons Shared - Report
July 16: Country Day Two-Time Champ Moore Building Perennial Winner at Harvard - Report
July 9: Multi-Sport Career at TC West Helps Gillis Thrive as Pro in Game She Once Left Behind - Report
July 2: Inspired by Home, Eager to Give Back, Spencer Hosts Hoop City Alumni Games - Report
PHOTOS (Top) At left, fifth-grader Kevin White celebrates with the Hackett boys basketball team in 1991. At right, White huddles with his players this past season while serving as an assistant with the Irish varsity. (Middle) White stands for a photo with BCAM Executive Director Dan Young. (Below) White poses with wife Kathleen and children Vincent and Riley. (Photos provided by Kevin White.)