Paying Tribute with Diamond Donation
May 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Rochester Adams and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood baseball players and coaches both had loved ones on their minds when they took the field at Comerica Park earlier this month.
And they paid tribute to those loved ones over their hearts and across the backs of their jerseys.
Together, the teams raised more than $3,500 for the Coaches vs. Cancer research initiative.
Instead of its usual brown and yellow, Adams wore jerseys of light blue with a green ribbon as the middle “A” in its name across the front in honor of those suffering with lymphoma, including 2011 graduate and former standout Matt Williams.
Cranbrook-Kingswood wore dark blue jerseys with a pink ribbon as the “A” in Cranbrook and with lime green writing on the back as the Cranes remembered longtime coach Jack Sanders, who died in 2012 after also battling lymphoma.
Sanders’ was among names adorning the backs of jerseys, along with other cancer victims the players and coaches knew.
Adams won the May 1 game, 18-3. Click to read more from the Oakland Press’ Keith Dunlap, who leading up to the game detailed both Williams’ fight and Sanders’ longtime contributions.
Net finder
Lake Fenton’s Jordan Newman will finish her high school soccer career later this spring as the top goal-scorer in MHSAA girls soccer history.
The Blue Devils’ senior forward broke the career record on April 28, scoring her 169th goal against Perry to pass the mark set by Newaygo’s Jaleen Dingledine from 2004-07. Newman also is a four-year varsity player.
Click to read more on her record run from the Flint Journal's Eric Woodyard.
5 K, 1 IP
The MHSAA doesn't keep a record for most strikeouts in an inning. But if it did, there’s a great chance Brighton’s Garrett Russell would top the list.
Against Ann Arbor Pioneer on April 5, Russell struck out five batters in an inning.
Yes, five.
Here’s how:
Russell struck out the first two batters of the inning swinging, leaving one out to get. He then struck out that third batter as well, but that batter reached first base because the third strike turned into a wild pitch.
The fourth batter of the inning was the only one to not strike out – he walked, putting runners on first and second base with two outs. Those runners advanced to second and third base, respectively, on a wild pitch thrown to the fifth batter of the inning.
That fifth batter then struck out swinging (which made it four strikeouts in the inning), but that third strike turned into a passed ball – and that batter ended up on first base, loading them for the sixth hitter of the inning.
But Russell found enough for one more K, striking out that sixth hitter swinging on a 2-2 pitch.
His line for the inning: 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 bases on balls, 5 strikeouts.
Brighton went on to sweep the doubleheader 12-4 and 11-1.
Family ties
Basketball clearly runs in a pair of families who have come through Corunna High School.
This winter, brothers M.J. and Mikhail Myles both scored their 1,000th career points – M.J., a senior, on Jan. 3 and Mikhail, a junior, in the team’s District Semifinal on March 5.
On Feb. 18, senior Payton Birchmeier became the fifth player in girls program history to score her 1,000th point – despite scoring only four points as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury in her first high school game. She became the first Corunna girl to score 1,000 since her sister Megan finished accomplishing the feat in 2010.
Payton Birchmeier went on to play her final three seasons also on varsity, and M.J. Myles also was a four-year varsity player. Mykhail Myles has played three on varsity with next season still to play. The Myles' stepsister Klarissa Bell this winter finished an outstanding career at Michigan State University and won the Miss Basketball Award as a senior at East Lansing High School in 2010, and stepbrother Devlin Bell also was a Trojans standout.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams players congratulate each other during their May 1 game at Comerica Park. (Middle) The Adams' first baseman and a Cranbrook-Kingswood base runner await the next pitch. (Photos courtesy of Rochester Adams baseball.)
Representative Council Approves Expansion of Personal Branding Activities for Student-Athletes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 27, 2026
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association has approved an expansion of personal branding activities (PBA) – also commonly referred to as Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) – allowing student-athletes at MHSAA member schools, effective immediately, to potentially benefit from such opportunities.
The MHSAA previously allowed some PBA opportunities, including the abilities for student-athletes to conducts camps, clinics and private lessons. The expanded policy allows student-athletes to capitalize on PBA through several more options as long as those activities are individual opportunities for individual students – while not disrupting competitive equity that would result from the creations of group activities including collectives and other pay-for-play opportunities now the norm at the collegiate level.
The topic of PBA/NIL had been discussed at length with membership over the last three years during MHSAA Update meetings and various other conferences with schools and their administrators. The Council had debated the possibility of these rule changes since the Michigan Legislature proposed amending state law to allow for student-athletes’ use of NIL in 2023, and also after closely monitoring similar developments in surrounding states.
“We have said from the start of this conversation that the MHSAA could be comfortable with a policy that provides individual branding opportunities for individual student-athletes, and this rule change provides those while excluding the possibility of collectives, and boosters and school people getting involved in those activities,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “This is the essence of what NIL was supposed to allow in the first place, and we’re confident we’ve crafted language that allows true NIL opportunities without affecting competitive equity among our member schools.”
Additional activities allowed by the new PBA policy include social media endorsements and promotions, personal appearances, photo sessions or autograph signings; modeling, advertising, merchandise, sports cards or apparel sales; and the use of a student’s name, image or likeness in marketing materials.
PBA activities must be consistent with MHSAA rules and school policies. A student-athlete may not capitalize on PBA based on athletic performances, awards/recognition, team participation or competition outcomes. A student-athlete also may not involve school names, logos, mascots, trademarks or other obvious identifiers, uniforms or other intellectual property, and PBA activity may not occur during school attendance or any MHSAA event (including practice) and cannot take place on school property or be promoted on school media channels.
Schools, including coaches and other employees, are not allowed to solicit, arrange, negotiate or promote PBA activities on behalf of their student-athletes. Doing so may put that school’s MHSAA membership in jeopardy, in addition to rendering that student-athlete ineligible for MHSAA athletics.
“The MHSAA will guard the competitive equity we have promoted for more than 100 years, and take with the utmost seriousness any attempts to break or blur this rule,” Uyl said. “We have provided clear language and sufficient guidance on what is allowed to assist our schools as they navigate this ever-changing landscape.”
PBA associated with products, services, individuals, companies or industries deemed inappropriate, unsafe or inconsistent with the values and goals of interscholastic athletics, as determined by the MHSAA – for example gaming or gambling, alcoholic beverages and banned substances – are also prohibited.
All PBA activities must be disclosed to the MHSAA within seven days of an opportunity or contract for disclosure and approval. Schools may choose to have stricter rules regarding PBA if they choose to do so.
For more details on what is and what is not allowed, and frequently asked questions about PBA in regards to MHSAA regulations, visit the MHSAA Name, Image, Likeness page.
The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.