Mourning Those Who Contributed Much
April 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend was a sad one for those who work in Michigan high school athletics or have appreciated the contributions from three who gave significantly to our games but died after long fights with cancer.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Keisha Brown, Grand Haven's Robin Bye and Haslett's Jamie Gent left memorable legacies in their passing – Brown on Thursday, Gent on Friday and Bye on Saturday.
Following are just a few details of their contributions to schools and sports, followed by a handful of Twitter posts celebrating their commitments.
- Brown in 2006 became the first and only female coach to lead a boys team to the MHSAA Basketball Finals, guiding the Irish to the Class D Final before they fell to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. She also served as principal and athletic director at Sacred Heart and coached the boys basketball team to a 114-30 record before taking over the Alma College women’s program, which she coached through this season. Click to read the memorial column from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun’s Jim Lahde.
"RIP Keisha Brown. What a truly inspiring human being that battled cancer with courage and strength. My thoughts are with her family.” – Oakland Press reporter Drew Ellis, formerly of the Morning Sun
“Rest in Peace Keisha Brown #TrueWarrior. Words cannot express my sadness #HeartBroken.” – Alma College Sports Information Director Mike Hanson
- Bye worked in the Grand Haven school system for 34 years, including the last two-plus as athletic director after formerly serving as an assistant and a girls basketball coach. He also had been a middle school art teacher in the district, and last year received its “Spirit of Grand Haven” award for commitment and dedication to Grand Haven schools. Click to read the story on his passing from the Muskegon Chronicle’s Scott Brandenburg.
“Thinking of the Bye family tonight. Robin will be missed. As a person and an AD, he made me want to be better a person/coach. God Bless.” – Grand Haven boys basketball coach Steve Hewitt.
“I will miss Robin Bye. He made a big difference for the youth in our town, more than an athletic director; an inspiration.” – Grand Haven parent Pat McGinnis
- Gent began his career at Haslett in 1967 as a middle school teacher and high school coach in three sports. He was head coach of the track and field, boys basketball and football varsity teams at different times and began his second stint as the school’s athletic director in 1991. He also was an MHSAA registered official for more than 15 years and a mentor to many both in the Lansing area and statewide through his contributions to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He received the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Award in 2008. See below for a video posted that year in honor of Gent as he retired as athletic director, and click for Dick Hoekstra's piece in the Lansing State Journal posted today.
“Sad to hear of the passing of Jamie Gent, long time Haslett HS athletic director. Really great guy, very kind hearted.” – former Haslett athlete, current White Pigeon teacher/coach Kurt Twichell
“Jamie Gent was one of the best ADs I had the privilege to know. A great loss tonight for the Haslett community.” – Chelsea football coach Brad Bush
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Former Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown comforts one of her players after the Irish fell in the Class D Final in 2006. Jamie Gent, left, receives his Charles E. Forsythe Award from Negaunee's Jim Derocher during the 2008 Boys Basketball Finals. Grand Haven athletic director, Robin Bye, is recognized as an assistant coach on the 1981 girls basketball team inducted into the Grand Haven sports Hall of Fame.
Century of School Sports: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 1, 2024
The campaign to promote Michigan’s all-time high school greats for National High School Hall of Fame recognition is advancing full-speed ahead.
Just this summer, past Dearborn Heights Robichaud three-sport star Tyrone Wheatley became the Hall of Fame’s 10th inductee from Michigan. With his addition, Michigan’s collection still ranks only 22nd nationally in terms of number of honorees – but his selection makes three over the last nine years as the MHSAA continues to make cases for more recognition from our state’s rich history.
Michigan’s contribution to the Hall of Fame includes five athletes, three coaches and two retired MHSAA executive directors who also had colossal impacts on school sports at the national level. Wheatley joined the MHSAA’s first full-time Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe (inducted 1983), River Rouge boys basketball coach Lofton Greene (1986), Warren Regina athletic director, softball and basketball coach Diane Laffey (2000); Fennville basketball and baseball standout Richie Jordan (2001), Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett boys and girls tennis coach Bob Wood (2005), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook hockey standout Jim Johnson (2007), Owosso football, basketball and baseball all-stater Brad Van Pelt (2011); Vermontville Maple Valley baseball national record holder Ken Beardslee (2016) and retired MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts (2022).
In addition to his selection and induction this summer, Wheatley was selected to speak on behalf of the entire 2024 Hall of Fame class during the ceremony in Boston.
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS. Nominations are made through NFHS member associations, including the MHSAA. Hall of Fame inductees are chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders.
Of course, not everyone nominated is eventually selected. Candidates receive a three-year period of consideration, and the MHSAA unsuccessfully campaigned for a nominee as recently as 2017-19, although multiple times that candidate reached the second level of the selection process.
Criteria also must be followed; the MHSAA (like all state associations) is limited to one athletic inductee per year, and the NFHS requires inductees to attend the annual summer ceremony unless, of course, they are deceased.
Obviously, there are several Michigan standouts absent from the list above. But as noted, the work has ramped up to bring their accomplishments to the Hall of Fame stage.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: Bob Wood, Lofton Greene (in suit) with his 1965 team, Diane Laffey, Charles E. Forsythe, Jim Johnson, Brad Van Pelt, Richie Jordan (shooting the basketball), Ken Beardslee, and Jack Roberts, surrounding Tyrone Wheatley (Robichaud) during a race. (MHSAA archives.)