LAKE ORION — Sammy and Anthony Taormina are two fantastic examples that you don’t necessarily have to be a great athlete in high school to have a Hall of Fame impact on a school and sports community. 

Twin brothers, the Taorminas are 2006 graduates of Lake Orion High School who were members of the football and track & field teams (Sammy competed in both sports, Anthony in track) but neither stacked stats or accolades most all-state and future college athletes accumulate in high school. 

Still, it was a no-brainer when Lake Orion athletic director Chris Bell and a committee chose the Taorminas to become part of the school’s first Hall of Fame class last week. 

Simply put, there have been few who have had a bigger impact and served in more roles for the school than the Taorminas over the past two decades. 

Both have been statisticians for teams, clock operators, announcers, mentors, and promoters of the school and athletic department. Sammy even has spent time inside a Dragon costume as the school’s mascot. 

They regularly host a podcast called “OAA Now,” where coaches from around the league call in to chat and give insight on their teams. The two also have a blog where they regularly break coaching news. 

During the spring, both have served as middle school track coaches, mostly presiding over throwers. 

More importantly, both work for the district as middle school aides, with their friendliness and knowledge regularly mentoring kids to become better students and people. 

“When you make an impact on someone’s life for the positive, then you know you’ve done your job,” Anthony Taormina said. 

Students and communities are drawn to the Taorminas not only for how much they help, but because they have overcome obstacles and adversity during their lives. Both have navigated autism and related challenges.

“I originally did not want to be a mentor, but I became one,” said Anthony Taormina, who like Sammy is also a graduate of Oakland University and who served as a team manager for Oakland men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe. 

That first Lake Orion Hall of Fame class also included 20 athletes, the 1990 wrestling team that won a Class A championship, and longtime track & field and cross country coach Stan Ford.

Despite all the great athletes inducted such as Mr. Baseball Award winner Randy Frye, Mr. Soccer winner Billy Weaver, all-state girls basketball player Bethany Watterworth and all-state running back Marques Stevenson, the most popular inductees were likely the Taorminas, who five years ago also were named Citizens of the Month by Orion Township. 

During a football pregame ceremony Friday before Lake Orion played Rochester Adams, the Taorminas got the loudest ovation from the crowd, likely because both current students and alums know them well.

Sammy Taormina said they found out the news from Bell in August after leaving a doctor’s appointment.

“At first I was like, ‘Please don’t call me, I’m in the doctor’s office,’” he said. “Then I called back and he told me the news we were going into the Hall of Fame. We were just very ecstatic about it.”

Now, the two will have plaques displayed in the school halls for all to see, although students will still love seeing their real faces each and every day. 

The Taorminas are as much a part of the fabric and identity of Lake Orion as the Dragon or lake itself, and plan on continuing to put kids first in everything they do for years to come in every role they serve.

“I would always encourage kids to be the best they can be,” Anthony Taormina said. “That’s all you can ask in this game we call life. It’s not a bad thing to be a manager or support staff person because you can be successful while not being a student-athlete. I’ve had a lot of students that may or may not have been athletes, but they end up helping me and Sammy out on several occasions, whether it be on the (score)book or on the (game) clock. Those type of things. I’m extremely proud of that.”

Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.