'Invaluable' Hancock Nearing Half-Century of Service to Cheboygan Athletics
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
December 2, 2022
When Cheboygan hosts Ogemaw Heights next week to kick off a new boys basketball season, those attending will see something special.
And really, for Cheboygan and its opponents, it’s nothing new. It’s been going on for five decades.
The special part? Scott Hancock, junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach, is starting his 47th year coaching at the school. Forty-five of those years have been in the same role he has this season.
“It really just means I’m getting old, but I feel very fortunate to be able to do something that I love for this long,” Hancock, himself a Cheboygan product of 1976, reflected on his tenure. “To be honest, I never really thought about how long I would do it. It’s just something I love doing, so I never really put a number on how long I would do it.”
As the campaign starts, though, he has thoughts of coaching high school basketball for six and possibly seven decades before he hangs it up. He has coached his sons — Nick, who owns the Cheboygan career steals record; and Brian, the leader in career made 3-pointers — and now he’s looking forward to the possibility of coaching his two grandchildren, Landon Gahn and Lincoln Hancock.
“Well, all I can say is I have a grandson that is 3 years old, and I would love to hang around coaching until he graduates,” Hancock said of how long he thinks he’ll stay in coaching. “I have loved every year.
“I have coached with a lot of great coaches who are all great friends to this day.”
Included among those coaches are his two sons, who served as assistants for Cheboygan, and Jason Friday, the current varsity coach who also played for Hancock during the early 1990s – a time when Hancock briefly stepped in to fill a varsity coaching vacancy after the sudden departure of the previous head coach.
Friday, who also serves as the school’s athletic director, is not at all surprised his former coach is still in the game. It became a factor in Friday’s decision to take over the boys program three years ago.
“If you're a boy who grew up in Cheboygan, there's a good chance that Scott coached you in something,” Friday said. “He has a grandson who is in eighth grade, and he wants to coach him.
“So yes, I knew he was going to be around for several more years.”
And next week, Friday will be thrilled to have Hancock alongside him on the court as Cheboygan opens up with the Falcons.
“Today, I don't look at Scott as one of my former varsity coaches — he's a friend,” Friday said. “We're friends more than anything, and that makes coaching even more fun for me.
“Most importantly, having someone on the bench that you can trust is invaluable.”
Hancock, who was helping with the boys program when Friday was coaching the Cheboygan girls team, began expecting to coach with his former player some time ago.
“I was very fortunate to have both my sons be assistant coaches for our varsity program,” said Hancock, who also has served decades coaching baseball and keeping stats for the football program. “But as far as being head coach, I always thought Jason would take over at some time.
“It’s awesome to have a former player running our program, but it is no surprise,” he continued. “Jason has always been a student of the game and is very detailed, and what he does, our program is in great hands.”
The mutual trust the coaches share has really benefited the Cheboygan student-athletes.
“I think it is important to have a JV coach who the head coach can trust that he has bought in to all of the beliefs of the head coach’s program,” Hancock noted. “Being loyal to your varsity coach and doing what’s best for your program is the most important aspect of JV coaching.
“And, getting kids to buy in to what it takes to play the game the right way.”
That’s one of the strengths Hancock brings to the basketball program, Friday singled out.
“Coach Hancock does a tremendous job teaching the fundamentals, but also does a great job communicating with the boys, making each one feel valued, even those who don't play as much,” Friday said. “He's at every practice.
“If there's an emergency and I need to step out for a minute and put my AD hat on, he can run practice and we don't miss a beat,” Friday continued. “He has a tremendous knowledge of the game and is a coach anyone would love on their bench.”
Hancock, who assists another former player, Kevin Baller, coaching the baseball team, has no thoughts of getting back into a varsity coaching position.
“I have no plans to coach at the varsity level, and the reason is because I have the best of both worlds by coaching JV,” said Hancock, who sees the 3-point shot as the biggest change in the game during his tenure. “Every coach that I have worked for lets me be involved with the varsity, so really I get to be involved in both.”
Friday recalls wishing as a player that Hancock had stayed at the helm when he took over temporarily. But, he loves having him coach with him today.
“After our junior season, we were told he was going back to JV,” Friday said. “We tried to convince him to stay for one more year, but he wanted to go back.
“There's no way I could be varsity basketball coach and athletic director without having a JV coach like Scotty.”
Off the court successes in life are just as importance as athletic endeavors, Hancock indicated. In fact, those give him the most pride.
“Probably helping kids with off-the-court issues makes me feel better than anything,” he said. “Also hearing from the kids that I’ve coached after they graduate and how much they enjoyed their JV year.”
There aren’t many – if any – parent, player or community member names on a complaint list from Hancock’s first five decades, and there’s not likely to be any more in however many years are ahead.
“When you’ve coached in the same small town for nearly 50 years, you’d expect to have a few people upset with you, but not Scotty,” said Friday. “You can’t find a person who says something bad about him.
“He’s extremely well-respected,” he continued. “You absorb his passion and love of the game just by being around him, and all of Cheboygan should be thankful (for) how much he's done for our community.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cheboygan assistant boys basketball coach Scott Hancock offers some pointers during a scrimmage last week. (Middle) Hancock, second from left, confers last season with assistant Matt Mylnarchek, head coach Jason Friday and player Dylan Balazovic. (Photos courtesy of Jared Greenleaf/Cheboygan Daily Tribune.)
Ambrose & Whitaker Teaming Up Again to Power Reeths-Puffer Hoops Surge
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
February 7, 2024
Travis Ambrose and Jaxson Whitaker love to compete, and they love their school.
The good friends, who are best known around Muskegon Reeths-Puffer as basketball players, were recruited onto the football team this fall and both made an immediate impact at receiver – with Ambrose getting a Division I scholarship offer from Central Michigan University before playing a varsity game.
Last spring, for the heck of it, they played on the tennis team for the first time and crushed it in doubles.
So last week, when the senior duo – arguably one of the best inside-outside tandems in the entire state – led the Rockets to a convincing 63-45 victory at state-ranked Muskegon (the Big Reds’ first home regular-season loss in three years), it was a source of immense pride.
“We wanted to show people that Muskegon isn’t the only basketball power in this area,” explained Ambrose, a 6-foot-8 center who dominated the game on both ends with a triple-double of 24 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks.
“People on the East Side think it’s only Muskegon and no one else. We want people to know about Reeths-Puffer.”
Puffer followed up that epic win with another Friday night at rival Muskegon Mona Shores to improve to 15-1 overall and 9-0 in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green, and jumped into the state’s Associated Press Division 1 rankings this week at No. 9, one spot behind Muskegon.
“It was a great week for our school,” said third-year R-P coach Nate Aardema. “It meant a lot to get a win like that at Muskegon and that it wasn’t fluky, like banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win. We earned it.”
The Rockets, whose only loss came back on Dec. 15 against Hudsonville, are now in position to end a nearly 40-year drought without a conference championship.
It was actually 1985 when R-P won the Seaway Conference title behind star center Mark Hughes, who went on to captain Michigan to a national championship and is now an executive with the Los Angeles Clippers. That was also the last year the Rockets won a District championship.
Aardema knows his team still faces a difficult road to capture those titles, starting with a home rematch Friday night against Muskegon.
That road got rougher Monday night, when Ambrose injured his hip in practice, forcing him to miss Tuesday’s home game against Holland. His absence left a hole in the lineup, especially on the defensive end, as the Rockets barely held on for their 12th straight win, 67-64, after beating the Dutch by 32 points in their first meeting this season.
Ambrose, who grew up in California and came back to his mother’s hometown of Muskegon his freshman year so he could play sports during the COVID-19 pandemic, is hopeful he will be back for Friday’s rematch with Muskegon.
Ambrose (6-8, 240 pounds) is an extremely mobile big man who is averaging 19.5 points per game (and shoots 65 percent from the floor), along with 10.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.
His athletic ability was so apparent that CMU football made him an offer at its summer camp, before he had even played a varsity snap. Ambrose validated Central’s confidence with a breakout season last fall – finishing with 25 catches for 304 yards and seven TDs while being recognized as the team’s best blocker at tight end.
“When he got that offer to Central for football, he was in the gym that same day working on basketball,” said Aardema. “I asked him if he was still all-in for basketball, and he told me: ‘Of course. I don’t want to let my team down.’”
Whitaker, a 6-4 shooting guard, was the other key receiver last fall for the Rockets, who finished 7-3 and nearly knocked off Muskegon and Mona Shores on the gridiron as well.
“I’m super-glad that I decided to play football my senior year,” said Whitaker, who, like Ambrose, was recruited by coach Cody Kater after not playing football his junior year. “I learned so much from our coaches and the other guys on the team. It was a great experience overall.”
Whitaker, who was committed to Ferris State for basketball, is a lethal 3-point shooter who can also use his size and strength to drive to the basket. He is the school’s all-time leader in 3-point shooting and averages 17 points, five assists and four rebounds per game.
Whitaker stepped up with Ambrose out of the lineup Tuesday, going off for 31 points (including six 3-pointers) to go along with six rebounds.
The other senior starter for R-P is 6-4 Antrel Jones, a great passer on the hardwood who, appropriately, was the Rockets’ quarterback on the football field. Jones averages six points, six rebounds and three assists per game.
Rounding out the starting lineup are 6-4 junior Brayden Mitchelson (7.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists) and 6-1 sophomore Marvin Moore (9.0 ppg), who made four clutch free throws Tuesday night to preserve the victory over Holland.
In addition to the second showdown with Muskegon on Friday, the Rockets have another huge game on Feb. 17 against No. 5-ranked North Farmington at the Wilson Chandler Invitational at Grand Rapids Catholic Central. R-P then ends the regular season with tough league matchups against Zeeland East and Zeeland West.
Whitaker said the key to the remainder of the season, in addition to getting Ambrose back on the court and healthy, will be overcoming the Rockets’ lack of basketball tradition and truly believing they belong in big games in March.
“We should have the mindset that we are one of the best teams in the state,” said Whitaker. “If we believe that and play with that focus and confidence, we should keep winning games.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s starters including Travis Ambrose (21) and Jaxson Whitaker (5) huddle before the start of Friday’s win over Mona Shores. (Middle) Ambrose dunks against Zeeland East. (Below) Whitaker gets to the lane as Sailors defenders converge. (Photos by Joe Lane/Joe's Creative Expressions.)