Written Sunday April 20th at 12:03 PM

Happy Easter OAA Nation. Here are several OAA Football storylines heading into this fall.

Any takers to Ford Field???

There should be plenty of OAA representation that are serious contenders to get back to Ford Field. Adams in Division One when healthy is a very dangerous team especially with the system they run in the veer offense and with Ryland Waters coming back at quarterback which should allow Nolan Farris to move back to wide receiver. The Highlanders could be a team when healthy could make another deep postseason run. Harper Woods is the other serious contender in Division Four, the Pioneers are loaded with proven experience on both sides of the football and wants to get back after a really tough loss to Goodrich in the State Semifinals last season. Other teams that could get to Ford Field include Stoney Creek, Clarkston, West Bloomfield, and Lake Orion in Division One while Groves, Oak Park, North Farmington, Farmington, and Seaholm are possible teams to watch in Division Two.

Groves is the most interesting to keep an eye on.

The Falcons had Ford Field in their grasp but very questionable play calling and coaching decisions cost them in their stunning 28-27 overtime loss to Orchard Lake St. Marys in the Division Two State Semifinals last season. Groves lost a ton of proven talent from last season. They will have a new quarterback in LaVelle Shannon taking over and proven lines on both sides of the football. The White will be much improved with Stoney Creek and Harper Woods looking to be the top teams with Rochester not too far behind while Southfield Arts and Tech should be improved. Coach Brendan Flaherty will have some big challenges ahead of him.

New Coaches:

The OAA has several new coaches coming into the league this fall. Scott Merchant (Bloomfield Hills,) James Carlisle (Avondale,) Donovan Jackson (Ferndale,) and Trevor Potts (Oxford) are the new coaches in the league. Merchant comes to Bloomfield Hills from Lawrence Tech (College Football) and was at Chippewa Valley for a long time and his son is in the program. Carlisle comes to Auburn Hills from the thumb area (Vassar) and was at Imlay City. Jackson was on the staff at Detroit Cass Tech and played at Ferndale so he’s really familiar with the city. Potts was the defensive coordinator under Coach Zach Line at Oxford. He was also an assistant at Adams under Coach Tony Patritto. Every coach is going to have different challenges to adjust to this season.

Weaknesses:

Every team in the OAA has glaring weaknesses heading into the season that they will need to address. It should be really interesting to see how each team addresses their weaknesses this summer before each team heads into their week one matchups. My goal this summer is to talk to every coach including the Waterford Schools and see how everyone is doing heading into the season on my podcast.

Waterford Schools lurking:

Waterford Kettering and Waterford Mott will join the OAA this winter while North Farmington and Farmington will depart the OAA joining the Lakes Valley Conference next season. The Waterford schools will have one more fall in the Lakes Valley Conference before coming into the league. Waterford Mott will have a new football coach in Tra’Jan Seay taking over the program for Chris Fahr who is the defensive coordinator at Davison. Seay was an assistant at Orchard Lake St. Marys last season so he brings that to Waterford. He will have an transition period which has to happen during the season. The Corsairs did not make the postseason going 3-5 and has a ton of questions in the Lakes Valley Conference this season. Waterford Kettering went 3-6 but was one win away from making the postseason for first year coach Brian Barnes. Barnes has done a really good job with the Captains in his second season with the program. The postseason is within reach for Waterford Kettering but getting there will be the challenge especially in Division Three.

Divisions:

Here are the divisions heading into this season in the league, not in any particular order.

Red: Lake Orion, Clarkston, Oxford, Adams, West Bloomfield.

White: Stoney Creek, Harper Woods, Groves, Rochester, Southfield Arts and Tech.

Blue: Bloomfield Hills, Oak Park, Seaholm, North Farmington, Farmington, Troy, Troy Athens.

Gold: Pontiac, Ferndale, Avondale, Berkley, Royal Oak.

Written Sunday April 20th at 11:08 AM

Happy Easter OAA Nation. We are officially in the offseason for girls and boys basketball and AAU season is underway. Here are the top storylines heading into next season for both girls and boys basketball.

Will the OAA be represented at Breslin next season???

This question could be answered in June when the MHSAA releases the basketball districts. The league in girls has a ton of solid teams heading into next season but it comes down to proximity that could create the best path if anyone has a shot at getting to the Breslin Center next season. In the boys there really isn’t a dominant team and it was really disastrous for the league with only three teams getting out of the districts last season. Could this be Ferndale’s best chance to make it back to East Lansing after two dominating years by Warren Lincoln??? They fell to Detroit Pershing in the district semifinals but the Eagles might have the league’s best chance to get back to Breslin. As mentioned the question could be answered when the MHSAA releases the districts in June.

Coaching vacancies.

There has been several vacancies to watch this offseason. The changeover surrounding Stoney Creek has been really fascinating. The Cougars recently let go boys basketball coach Jeff Olind which who takes over the job will be their third coach in four years. There is talent and proven experience but whoever takes the job is going to have a daunting task ahead of them and behind the scenes has been a complete mess. Coaches Joe Sermo and Terrance Porter has stepped down at their respective schools (Berkley, Southfield Arts and Tech.) Both schools are really appeasing when it comes to talent and program strength. In the girls, the Ferndale girls basketball job is open but whoever takes that job will have a huge challenge ahead of them when it comes to building program strength.

Coming and Going.

Waterford Kettering and Waterford Mott are reentering into the league for the first time since 2008 this winter. Waterford Kettering has a new coach in Rex Walters with an very experienced team coming back and could be the early favorite in the Gold this season. Waterford Mott made it to the regional finals under Coach Jeff Jayson but they will have to replace several players from last season’s team. Waterford in the girls will be really interesting to keep an eye on led by returning guard Savannah Sartorius for Coach Andrew Wellman. On the flip side it will be the Farmington schools (North Farmington and Farmington) final year in the OAA as they will depart for the Lakes Valley Conference in 2026-2027. Farmington and North Farmington are loaded with proven talent and experience in the boys and they are in the Red. In the girls Farmington and North Farmington should be much improved after having rough seasons.

Divisions for 2025-2026 season.

Here are the divisions for the 2025-2026 season, not in any particular order.

Boys:

Red: Clarkston, Avondale, Groves, North Farmington, Farmington, Ferndale, West Bloomfield.

White: Lake Orion, Oxford, Adams, Rochester, Stoney Creek, Waterford Mott.

Blue: Troy, Troy Athens, Seaholm, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Hills, Pontiac.

Gold: Berkley, Southfield Arts and Tech, Oak Park, Harper Woods, Ferndale University, Waterford Kettering.

Girls:

Red: Lake Orion, Clarkston, Oxford, Stoney Creek, West Bloomfield, Rochester.

White: Groves, Seaholm, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Hills, Avondale, Berkley.

Blue: Troy, Troy Athens, Adams, Southfield Arts and Tech, Harper Woods, Ferndale.

Gold: Oak Park, Ferndale University, Farmington, North Farmington, Pontiac, Waterford.

Stay tuned to the blog and OAA Now for updates

Written Friday April 18th at 9:22 AM

Stoney Creek will have a new boys basketball coach next season.

The Cougars let Coach Jeff Olind go after three years with the program.

The BCAM site (Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan) page confirmed there was an opening and another accurate source confirmed the news. The D-Zone basketball page also confirmed on X and posted the link on it’s page.

Olind went 19-47 in his three years at Stoney Creek. He came to Stoney Creek from Warren Mott in 2022 taking over for Steve Norgrove. Norgrove was really successful with the Cougars leading them to a regional final is coaching at Fraser and has done a really good job with the Ramblers.

Olind’s system just did not mesh with Stoney Creek. Program transition was a huge problem within the program.

Olind had some big wins in his tenure over Adams, Berkley, and Royal Oak but the losses hurt especially falling to Ferndale University and Southfield Arts and Tech both at home this past season.

Stoney Creek went 10-12 under Olind this season falling to Adams 48-46 in the district semifinals.

Whoever takes over the job at Stoney Creek will be the Cougars third coach in four years. There has been a lot of changeover in the last four years at the school from football, girls basketball, and boys basketball.

I will have more on the changeover at Stoney Creek on Tuesday’s podcast.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

The D-Zone tweet.

https://x.com/TheDZoneBBall/status/1912942822954610783