The Beer City Hoops crew was blessed with the opportunity to talk to Union Red Hawk star alum and MSU graduate team manager Thomas Kelley. We had some questions about the state of basketball in GR, what kids can look forward to as they make the climb from high school to the real world and, as always, the ever-elusive list, “Who is GR’s Top 5?”.

What do you think about the work GRPS is doing in bringing attention to the district and showing off the level of athletic competition recently?

“It’s a great thing for the city of Grand Rapids. With Ottawa Hills having the Floyd Mayweather Classic and now Union having its’ Showcase. Great thing and a great opportunity for the youth to show their talent.”

Kelley went on, talking about his time as a Red Hawk, “My time at Union was great. Always looked forward to going to Union since I was young. My parents went there. Uncles, aunts, pretty much everyone in my family attended Union. So the Red Hawk blood runs deep for me. As soon I as I stepped foot in there, I wanted to do my best to bring the basketball culture back like that had in 80’s. A lot of my childhood friends attended Union as well, so I felt very comfortable. The staff was great also. From Ron Maybin as the athletic director, Mr. Walker and Ms. Chambers being an influence to all of us. Made the transition easier.”

The varsity boys basketball team is off to a great start and getting a lot of attention from the media. What do you tell the kids as the season moves towards the playoffs?  

“(The) biggest challenge about the high school playoffs is simple. ONE AND DONE! It’s different than the professional ranks. Played in Europe for 15 years. So (over) there, we used a series for a playoff format. So you can make adjustments. But high school, it’s just like the NCAA tournament. It’s the best team on that given night, which can be tough if a team gets hot. Have to be able to make in game adjustments right then and there. No time for another game. If you can’t, you’re done!”

Kelley went on, “My advice to kids. Take advantage of your window. Don’t rush things. Soak up all the knowledge you can. Take advantage of the sources around you academically and athletically. Hey, because most high school kids think they know it all. Been through it and we do not.”

Geno was a bit reluctant, but went with family, friends, legends and teammates, yourself included. Care to name your local top five players?

“Top 5 is so hard. A lot of people can make a case. Going back for me, my uncle Donte Kelley, who is a Redhawks himself. He was a heck of player. Also my cousin, Jamie Cole, who went to Creston, had a great high school career. But for me in my time… Tough. My 5 would myself with Geno Carlisle, Thomas Kilgore, Ennis Young and Justin Jennings. All 5 from high school right into college went Division 1.”

Any last thoughts?

“Want to give a shout to Brandeon Guyton, the high school coach at Union, trying his best to turn things around, and the Athletic Director Justin Walker. They are doing a good job. Shout out to GRPS as well.”

And with that, Kelley said his goodbyes and headed off for a contest at Northwestern with MSU hoops.

Livin’ the dream on Tom Izzo’s bench. Carry on, Red Hawk!

The 2nd annual Red Hawk Showcase is right around the corner.

One of the best high school teams in West Michigan will host a full day of basketball on February 6th at Union HS on Grand Rapids’ west side.

I recently went back and forth with my childhood friend and former Union Red Hawk star Geno Carlisle to talk about his time at Grand Rapids Union and the grind that kids playing now can look forward to in college and beyond.

With the Red Hawks’ boys team ranked #1 in the area on my list, the former Northwestern and Cal-Berkeley star addressed his start at Union after transferring across town from Ottawa Hills,

“My time at Union was exhilarating to say the least. It presented me with a feeling of both fascination and uncertainty. This was mainly because two rivals I’d grown up battling, Thomas Kelly and Thomas Kilgore, would soon become allies. I adapted very quickly to my transition to Union. I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of culture, the size of the school, as well as how well I got along with mostly everyone on the team. It was a school full of spirit and personality that started from the principal Mr. Maben to the Athletic Director Mr. Walker and on down to the teachers. They really had a genuine concern for their students and athletes alike!”

Carlisle went on, turning to the dominant basketball team,

“As far as our basketball team, we were loaded! So much so that I don’t even think we realized it. We had 3 future D1 guards for major Universities with Thomas Kelly, Thomas Kilgore, and myself. Athletic wingman like Terry Peak, dead eye 3 point shooters like Akai Smith, and a great head coach in Ernie Johnson. We really had a lot of good times both on and off the court.”

With the Red Hawks, ranked #20 in mLive.com’s HS rankings, coming off a 54-33 loss to #12 Muskegon, this 7-2 Union squad has a couple steps to climb to play with the state’s best. Carlisle told me,

“I think the biggest challenge in high school playoffs is the feeling that if you lose, your done. I’m not sure how it is now but back then, in city league championships and regionals, if you lost it was over. So there is a much greater pressure to perform. At the same time, those are the moments you live for so the pressure just turns to adrenaline. That’s when the cream rises to the top.”

You don’t just get to get there, to the top, that is. Carlisle advice on continued improvement and dedication,

“My advice for kids to get better is to continuously work on their game. All facets… I use to have my mother drop me off at the YMCA around 7 am on Saturday morning and I will stay there until 9 or ten pm. I would pick a spot and shoot 50 shots or 100 from that one spot until I like the way the ball swished. Then I would spend hours dribbling, imagining I was surrounded by my rivals. I would imagine the crowd. Fall asleep on the court…”

“And after that quick nap?”, I asked.

“Wake up and then play and practice some more. I was obsessed and in love with the smell of the ball and the gym. In love with the stories that I’s heard about great players. I would meditate and imagine myself doing the things I’d heard about. That’s what’s missing with players today. They think drills will make them great but just because you can use a paint brush it doesn’t make you an artist. You have to have a love in your spirit to the point that it’s no longer work but a fascination. The most important advice I would give a kid would be confidence. I wasn’t the best in high school but you couldn’t make me believe that. From 11yrs old til the time I left I thought I was the most prolific scorer and unstoppable dribbler on the planet and no one could convince me otherwise. I was overconfident but it was also based on my training. Confidence and hard work is everything.”

Carlisle should know a bit about confidence and hard work. He chased his dreams, starred in high school and college and made his way to the pros. Yes, even the NBA.

I went on to pester him to give me his GR Top 5, but he’d only go as far as,

“It’s very hard to Rank a top 5 because I was always fascinated by players that came before me, like my father Clarence and uncle Elmo Carlisle. I would always hear about legends before me so I would always go old school for my picks.”

Forcefully, I leaned on the keyboard and pressed for more.

“If I had to pick 5 while I was playing,

• Thomas Kelly – Union
• Thomas Kilgore – Union
• Ennis Young – Ottawa Hills
• Jermaine Carter – Creston
• Shawn Kneeland – East Kentwood

in no particular order.”

That’s three teammates, a rival and a neighbor.

He made the GSCeltic Top 10 in GR list, most likely because of his infectious smile, and Geno always has a minute for an old friend from the streets of childhood and a “Hi!” for my dad every time we talk. That’s why I love this dude.

Check out a loaded lineup of high school basketball on February 6th at GR Union HS.

Tickets are $10 for the entire day.

• 1pm: Stevensville-Lakeshore vs. Wayland
• 3pm: #16 Detroit Allen Academy vs. Northpointe Christian
• 4:30pm: New Haven vs. Lowell
• 6pm: Detroit Cornerstone vs. #20 Union
• 7:30pm: Saginaw vs. #5 Godwin Heights

 

As it has been quite some time since I have picked up the pen (so to speak), I thought it was time to dust off the keyboard of reminiscing and dreams and plunk out of few lines of what I might call wisdom, others may see it as ramblings of an almost septuagenarian. The beginning of my page work started the day I had to send an old friend to the happy hunting ground. A sad day indeed for me, strange in a way, because I really never had a place in my heart for the old stray that showed up one afternoon. After I did the so-called deed and put her to rest I sat at my desk punching out prose thru tear filled eyes. Maybe I liked her a bit more than I thought. Better times behind us both, better place for her and a hole in my heart for a while, I guess maybe even to this day just shy of nine years later. So, as I move on here I thought I might write a bit again, fill in the space between those must chores on the “Honey do” list and my time with my current hound and my love of music, although I cannot sit and listen to anything while I write.

I thought I might go back to about the fall of 1993 I was a reasonably newly licensed pilot and thought I would have an adventure with the boys, one my own son, the other out pseudo adopted “red-headed step child”. Refresh me a bit here, but as I recall, I called down to Pontiac to where the Pistons played and managed to score three tickets, not really even in the nosebleed seats but then again not quite court-side either. I called the local holiday Inn the old way, by telephone; that for me was a bit before my knowing how to just scoop up a room on the internet, and got us a place to stay overnight. I reserved a nice Cessna 172 from our local airport and told them it would be for an overnight cross country to return the next day after lunch about a 24 hour rental.

Even though the plane had been fueled up prior to our arrival I did a thorough preflight check, visually checked the fuel for water amount and pulled the dipstick for the oil level. Good to go I started up and warmed the engine. The instruments looked right so I turned the weather on the radio and taxied east to the numbers. After running the engine up and checking both magnetos I visually cleared both directions, announced our intentions on the radio, pulled on to runway 28 (280 degrees on the compass, almost due east and west) which is 75 feet wide and paved with asphalt and powered up for takeoff. The cool weather and light load, just me and my son was no work for the 150 horsepower Lycoming engine and we gained altitude quickly. Turning south at 800 feet above ground level we headed south to the big airport to pickup our other passenger.

About 20 minutes later we checked in with the tower at Grand Rapids and were given clearance to land and taxi to the local fixed base operator. I called the tower ground control for taxiway clearance and we headed out to the big runway among the commuter planes and big passenger jets and us So here we are, running with the big dogs, the three of us in the four seat little Cessna, what a treat. I wonder who was more excited, the so called “Pilot in Command” (that would be me) of the two passengers on their way to a Pistons game in their private airplane.

The flight to Pontiac at about 120 miles per hour was basically uneventful, scudding clouds with snow squalls falling from them were occasional flown around at the discretion of the pilot as we were in uncontrolled airspace for most of the trip.. As we checked in the Pontiac tower we were assigned the left runway landing toward West at the same time a twin business plane was landing in the same direction on the right runway next to us. Yeah, we’re big time now. “Passengers, this is the Captain speaking; Please secure you drinks and put your seat belts on ding, ding, ding.”

We taxied per the instructions of the tower and tied the plane down in the required area and secured it for the night.

As we ordered a bite to eat at the airport restaurant (certainly not the best food) the snow started to come down wet and heavy. We ordered a cab and it seemed to take forever to get to the Holiday Inn but the bill was not too bad so I think he was just going slowly and being careful considering the weather. After we checked into the hotel and got cleaned up a bit we ordered another cab and headed for the Stadium. As I recall the place was not full but almost and there were some great players to watch.

(GSCeltic can add a paragraph or two here about the game and who was there because I can’t remember. And whether on not the Pistons won.)
11/14/1992: Pacers 104 @ Pistons 100; Detlef Schrempf 26 pts, 11 rebs.
We took another cab back to the hotel and hit the tv for a while. I checked the weather for the following day and the storm would subside and clear sun and sky’s were predicted by about 10am. Good, I can sleep in.

We got up and had breakfast in the hotel and found the place was packed with a large group of kids all dressed up and in makeup. It was some kind of a modeling and talent competition and fretful parents who seemed to be living vicariously through their children hoping for a win that day. Seemed a bit strange, but whatever makes one happy as long at doesn’t affect me is pretty much all right with me.

This is beginning to sound like “On the road again.” (Play it Willie) Back in the cab and onto the airport we found the plane encrusted in ice but thankfully the sun as shining quite brightly and it would not be too long before it thawed. We headed back to the airport restaurant and ordered second breakfast, (just like the hobbits) and had some more coffee. I knew I would pay for it on the flight home where the only bathroom is the one at any airport you take the time to land at.

As we left and gained altitude we began to see orange dots all over the Michigan countryside. It took me just a moment to realize it was opening day of firearm deer season and the orange army had hit the woods. It was very cool seeing all the hunters sitting along side fields and in woodlots enjoying the rite of passage into the winter season and hoping for that big rack buck to stroll lackadaisically into their sites and become something of bragging rights around the fireside chats during the long cold and snowy winter.

Sometime after lunch we landed at the clean but wet runway in Greenville, Michigan and were picked up by my bride in our ride and headed home.

I recall being a bit worn out, wallet somewhat empty but my passengers just chatted away about this play and that play. There is really no price you can put on that.

Since I am writing this for a blog of an acquaintance and it is sports oriented I thought I might just talk about the subject at hand which is hoops.. What do ya think? Was it about basketball?

 

Chatton MacLaren is a retired builder who writes short stories and vignettes as a hobby. His other interests are outdoor sports, mostly involving water and woods and playing acoustic stringed instruments music. He and his wife of 25 years and their dogs live in the woods and waters area of Mid-Michigan.