2,241 Reasons to Watch Chris Hass
February 14, 2012
Chris Hass began his freshman basketball season with his sights set on breaking an MHSAA career record.
But if you’ve heard at all of the Pellston High standout, it’s probably not the record you’d think.
Hass is one of just 34 players in MHSAA history to score at least 2,000 points. Only nine players have scored more than his 2,241 points heading into Wednesday’s game against Bellaire.
That record he wanted to break? Career assists, of course. And Hass has a bunch of those too. But the 6-foot-5 senior clearly is known for scoring in bunches few in MHSAA history have equaled.
“For me, it wasn’t something where it was my goal. I definitely feel honored to play on a team that’s willing to give me an opportunity to do that,” Hass said. “I guess it’s a big deal in northern Michigan, getting our name out there. Pellston is a small school, and to hit 2,000 points, it’s starting to get Pellston on the map, which is what the community deserves.”
Hass earned one of this week’s MHSAA High 5s not just for the ridiculous numbers he’s put up this season and over the last four, but for how he’s led the Class D Hornets into at least a glimmer of the state spotlight.
Pellston is 14-1 and can avenge its lone loss tonight against Bellaire, which beat the Hornets 75-58 on Jan. 17. Bellaire is ranked No. 1 and Pellston No. 3 in this week’s Associated Press Class D state poll.
Hass has a history with Bellaire – he scored 26 points in the fourth quarter alone before fouling out in a loss last season to Eagles. That’s the fourth-most points scored in a quarter in MHSAA history – and just one of the many listings Hass has or will have in the record book after his high school career ends sometime next month.
This season, he’s averaging 30.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, six assists, 4.5 steals and 2.5 blocked shots per game. He’s always been a strong ball-handler and continues to man the point despite an ability to play any position. He’s making 55 percent of his shots from the floor – including an incredible 52-percent success clip from 3-point range (he’s made 40 from beyond the arc).
“On nights when we really don’t need him to (score), he almost disappears into the background a little bit to get his teammates involved,” Cliff Hass said. “It’s really about the team, chemistry. He’s always one of the leaders trying to get chemistry (right). Does he love to have that 57-point night? That’s great, but he’s all about winning.”
So much so that Chris Hass almost committing to play next for Bethel College (Ind.), which has won seven NAIA national championships under its current coach, before settling on Bucknell after falling in love with the program and campus during a visit. There, Hass will join 2011 Petoskey graduate Cory Starkey on a team that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
"First and foremost, Chris is just a terrific scorer," said Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen in his program’s early-signing day press release. "He is an excellent shooter with great range, but he is also athletic and `bouncy' and can get to the rim. We expect that Chris will be able to give us a real explosive offensive presence from the perimeter."
Hass’ point total is exactly 600 short of the MHSAA record set by Mio’s Jay Smith from 1976-79. It’s unlikely Hass will break that record – he’d have to average 50 points a game through the MHSAA Final just to tie it – but being in the conversation is something special in itself.
Filling it up is nothing new in the Hass family. Older sister Stephanie Hass held the MHSAA girls scoring record with 2,732 points for a decade until Central Lake’s Jasmine Hines broke it last season. Hass, who played high school at Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian – and then at Saginaw Valley State University – finished with a career scoring average of 31.4 points per game, tops in the record book.
And she never took it easy on her little brother.
Chris Hass remembered once, when he was 8 or so, getting so angry during a game of one-on-one that he started throwing rocks at his sister. But he also watched and emulated how she worked to improve her game. And around 12 years old, he beat her one-on-one for the first time.
“I do see similarities in both, offensively; ball-handling was probably their number one attribute. It’s the first thing I really noticed,” said Cliff Hass, their father and also Pellston’s boys varsity coach. “(And) they both developed that mentality of being able to score at any time.
“I tell all the players I coach, if you touch the ball 94 feet away (from the basket), your first goal is to score from 94 feet away. Being in the mentality of looking to score, you put pressure on the defense, and they have to stop you. And they might need a second person to try to stop you. “
Chris echoes his dad’s philosophy. But he wanted to make sure people saw him as more than a scorer. At Harbor Light in sixth and seventh grade, he’d been mostly a distributor passing to Collin Hewitt, who now plays at Spring Arbor. But Hass switched to his dad’s school for ninth grade, and began switching roles as well.
He still tries to get as many assists as he can. But although Pellston has other scorers (senior Andy Hamlin tallied his 1,000th career point this season), Hass knows for the Hornets to continue this run – and get a chance to show what they can do against competition from further down state – he needs to keep putting up the points.
“When you say you’re from the Petoskey area, people have no idea where that is,” Hass said. “Knowing we finally maybe might get some respect, I’m definitely excited about it.”
Miller's Mentoring Spans Into 7th Decade
January 29, 2020
By Mike Spencer
Special for Second Half
MAPLE CITY – With the dawn this winter of the 2020s, Don Miller is coaching high school basketball in a seventh decade.
That’s rarefied air in Michigan High School Athletic Association circles, but it’s an atmosphere the 73-year-old longtime Maple City Glen Lake basketball coach has enjoyed and plans to continue as long as his health, family and Laker nation lets him.
“I have a passion for the bouncing of balls in a gym,” said Miller, who made his coaching debut at Howell in 1969 but then spent five decades guiding the Lakers’ ship. “The worst headache I may have disappears with that sound as I walk into a gym. The blood pressure goes down and the pleasure goes up – practices or games.”
Miller, admittedly the last man on his varsity basketball team at Southfield High during his playing days, coached a lot of good teams and players at Glen Lake during his varsity tenure (1973-2004) when he posted a 523-210 record.
“I didn’t have a lot of basketball skill, but I was a basketball junkie who got the bug to coach and I got better over the years,” Miller said. “I never scored a basket over the years, but I had a lot of players who made me look good. The kids loved the game and had the passion, and we had a spinning wheel of success breeding success.”
A Michigan State University grad, Miller enjoyed watching the Spartans practice after classes, although he never could have forecasted he’d become a Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Hall of Famer in 1998 or enjoy decades of leading drills.
“Basketball is all about great chemistry, and being with young people sharing a game we love is just wonderful,” Miller said. “And to be able to do it this long is a gift, not a job. I am truly blessed to be in a gym for three hours a day.”
Today, there’s just a handful of active MHSAA coaches with Miller’s experience. Ironically, one of them is Beaverton’s Roy Johnston. Miller was an assistant of Johnston’s back in the early 1970s.
“I’m shocked to see Don still coaching,” said Cody Inglis, a former Suttons Bay athletic director/coach who worked Miller’s camps for a decade and went on to serve as athletic director at Traverse City Central and currently as an MHSAA assistant director. “But it shows that if there’s something you are good at, and something that you are passionate about, that you are never too old to do it.
“Don’s been a wonderful role model for coaching, perseverance and doing it the right way.”
Former player Todd Ciolek, who also has had a child play for Miller, concurred.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Ciolek said of Miller’s tenure. “But when you have a love for something, it makes it easy to do. For him, he’s got a love for this and I think it comes naturally.”
Miller guided the Lakers boys team to the Class D title in 1977 and runner-up finish in 1996. His teams also reached the MHSAA Semifinals twice. His teams won six Regionals, 16 Districts and 14 conference titles.
He stepped down as Glen Lake’s main man after the 2004 season due to health issues, needing a pacemaker and a stent. He continued running his summer basketball camps and became a volunteer assistant coach for former all-state player Todd Hazelton in 2007.
When Rich Ruelas became head coach in 2015, he asked Miller to be his junior varsity coach. Miller did that for three seasons and is now an assistant varsity coach.
“I was reborn!” Miller said. “I don’t eat and sleep basketball like I used to, but I love my three hours each day with these young men who share this common passion. It’s been a lifesaver.
“My role is advisor and listener,” he added. “But watching Rich, he’s me 30 years ago. I love feeding off his intensity.”
“I truly enjoy having Coach Miller as part of the program that he helped build,” Ruelas said. “There is nothing he hasn't gone through as a coach, and I have relied on him for advice over the past five years.
“He just knows the game so well and has made such an impact on the lives of his former players and campers with his ability to teach life lessons through basketball. We are lucky to have a Hall of Fame coach as part of our program, and I don't take it for granted.”
Ruelas and Miller, a retired educator, not only get together three hours in a gym daily, they routinely have “Mornings with Miller,” on the phone as Ruelas makes his 30-minute commute to school.
Ruelas said Miller has already given him some memorable moments – the unbeaten junior varsity team in 2018 that Miller coached, assistance with the Lakers’ 2018 Finals run (Glen Lake finished Class C runner-up) and an opportunity to meet MSU coach Tom Izzo.
“What sticks out to me most is that we cannot go anywhere in the state without Don running into a former camper or player,” Ruelas said. “He has made such a lasting impact on so many, and it is evident in his relationships with his former players over the past seven decades.
“I'm not sure how long he will continue to be on the bench with me, but I know he still has a lot of fire in his belly. As long as he has permission from his wife and is able, I expect him to be there.”
One of Miller’s trademarks is teaching life lessons first and basketball second.
“Don was a unique coach,” Ciolek said. “He wasn’t a coach of basketball first; he was a coach of ethics and morals and basketball came second.
“Most coaches start with some technique, but he started with the word respect and then engrained in us that there was more beyond basketball. He instilled a set of values in us that ultimately led to victories.”
While Miller has had decades of success, some of the losses were devastating.
“You remember the losses more than the wins, and three last-second losses are forever etched in my brain,” said Miller noting a 1978 loss to Mio and Jay Smith in the Regional Final at Gaylord, a buzzer-beating in 1988 by eventual Class D champ Northport and the 1996 Semifinal loss to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. “The pain and tears and disappointment of these three were great memories. But losses are part of the game and the boys, now men on those teams, have made me very proud ever since.”
Miller said he’s seen a lot of things change for the better since he started coaching. Players are starting younger and getting better coaching earlier, and that has led to improved talent and team play. There are also nicer gyms and uniforms, and Miller loves the idea of boys sharing the spotlight with girls programs.
His disdains, however, are that larger schools today have kids who tend to specialize in one sport earlier, and the crowd of negative parents is growing.
“Our kids play several sports, and I feel it makes them better,” Miller said. “Playing for other coaches in other sports increases competitiveness and team play. You learn to be a different role player, and that carries over into life. “
Miller said credit for his decades of success goes to his supportive wife, Sandy, and the blind luck of having Paul Christiansen as his first junior varsity coach.
“Paul was my organizer, critic, conscience and cohort for three decades,” Miller said. “He is a Hall of Fame track coach but the real wind beneath my wings. None of this happens without Paul.”
Both Miller and Christiansen were honored by BCAM in 1998, with Miller going into the HOF and Christiansen going into the Hall of Honor.
Miller also credits a number of coaching mentors including the late Larry Glass, a former Big Ten men’s coach and girls basketball coach at Leland, and great players and coaches he recruited to help at his summer camps in Wolverine and Glen Lake.
While Miller savors the friendships with other coaches, he’ll forever cherish his former players, who reciprocated their love by building him a man cave and basketball museum after he retired in 2004 and show up for weekly games of basketball at the Glen Arbor Town Hall – a 40-year-old tradition – with fellowship afterward.
“They call, email and treat me to meals out which really is too bad for my figure but great for my ego and friendships,” Miller admitted. “I love my boys (now men) and for that, I am truly the luckiest.”
“I was fortunate enough to be coached by Don when he was just starting out at Howell,” said Tom Murray, former Bay City John Glenn and Standish-Sterling Central coach. “He changed my life and many of my classmate’s lives.
“Don’s touched so many lives, it’s incredible. He instilled a lifelong love of basketball in me. He is a fantastic coach and man.”
Mike Spencer is a former MHSAA referee and sportswriter for the Bay City Times, Midland Daily News and Leelanau Enterprise and freelancer for both the Enterprise and the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Seven Decades of Miller Highlights
1960s – Last man on the Southfield High team. Watching MSU practice after class without a clue that he would coach someday. Getting hired in 1969 as the freshman coach at Howell because no else wanted the job and coaching Morey Ray, his first great player.
1970s – Coaching the 1977 Class D championship season and the slow evolution over the years of the front line of seniors Dave Prentice, Geof Kotila and Rick Baillergeon, who started for three years. Being down three points, without the ball and 30 seconds to go, and winning the Final by two on a shot with one second left against the No. 1-ranked team in the state, Detroit East Catholic, 70-68.
1980s – Keeping the ball rolling and seeing four of those starters – from the 1977 and 1978 teams – become captains of a college team. Reaching the quarters in 1980, the semis in 1981, 1984 and 1985. Standouts included Bob Sutherland (’80), Bill Zolman and Kevin Crinion (’81), Ron Winowiecki and Dan Witkowski (’84), and Mike Crinion and Ross Hazelton (’85). Beating No. 1 Bear Lake at Traverse City Central in front of 2,800 fans – “Loudest gym. Teamwork over talent and Mike Crinion was amazing.”
1990s – Keeping ball rolling as elementary kids became high school stars. Reaching the quarters in 1991 and 1995 and semis in 1996. Standouts included Micah Deegan and Bryan Fosmore (’91), Todd Ciolek and Max Miller (’95), and Jamie Mazurek and Greg Aylsworth (‘96). Semifinal upset of reigning Class D champ Detroit Holy Redeemer, 81-66.
2000s – Retired in 2004, but with recent adoring memories of 2002 league and District championship team led by Chris Milliron and Steve Walker. Team showed great improvement in ability and attitude, avenging losses to Suttons Bay and Traverse City St. Francis with 24-point victories.
2010s – Returned in 2015 as assistant coach to Rich Ruelas and coached the boys junior varsity to 55-5 record over his first two seasons with three sophomores and a freshman on the varsity. Posted two 20-0 seasons.
2020 – Still coaching as an assistant.
PHOTOS: (Top) Glen Lake assistant boys basketball coach Don Miller, with captains Ben Kroll (left) and Reece Hazelton, point to the plaque declaring his legendary status in the program. (2) Miller confers with a pair of players during the 1977 Class D championship season. (3) Miller and his wife Sandy. (4) Miller stands among the many mementos decorating his basketball museum built by former players. (5) Miller stands with longtime assistant Paul Christiansen, holding a ball commemorating Miller’s 400th coaching win in 1994. (Photos courtesy of Don Miller and the Leelanau Enterprise.)