Bloomfield Hills' Pierce Shaya Playing for 4th Flight Title, 3rd Team Championship

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

October 18, 2024

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Pierce Shaya’s career thus far at the MHSAA Boys Tennis Finals has been akin to eating at a buffet line, with there being a lot of variety that satisfies an appetite.

Greater DetroitIn his case, the appetite that’s been satisfied has been individual championships won in an unusual variety of ways.

When Shaya was a freshman, he won the Lower Peninsula Division 1 title at No. 3 singles with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Noah Vogel of Ann Arbor Pioneer.

As a sophomore, Shaya won another Finals title, but this time it wasn’t as an individual. He played No. 1 doubles alongside Merrick Chernett, and that duo won it all over Troy’s tandem of Srihari Ananthalwan and Rushil Kagithala. 

Last year, Shaya went back to singles but was the team’s No. 2 player behind sophomore Jonah Chernett. Shaya controlled what he could control, winning the crown at No. 2 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Chad Anderson of Rochester. 

Three years, three different flights and three LPD1 Finals championships is certainly not a traditional resume for a high school tennis player. But that is the route Shaya has taken. 

“I didn’t go into high school thinking I would play three different spots,” he said. “But I guess it’s very cool to be able to win it and now attempt to go 4-for-4.” 

Indeed, Shaya this weekend will have a chance to add another highlight to his championship-laden career. 

With Chernett not on the team this year because he moved to Florida, Shaya finally got the chance to play at No. 1 singles in his final year of high school and has taken full advantage of the opportunity.

Shaya is 20-1 on the season and seeded No. 1 at No. 1 singles for the Division 1 tournament taking place at Byron Center West Sports Complex and Grand Rapids South Christian. 

His only loss came to Rochester Hills Stoney Creek’s Andrew Vincler, who is seeded second at No. 1 singles. 

“Obviously everyone is gunning for me,” Shaya said. “It doesn’t really matter to me because I still have to go through everyone to win it. But the seeding is nice to show my season’s work paid off.” 

Shaya also will be looking to help lead Bloomfield Hills to a third-straight team title. 

Bloomfield Hills head coach Greg Burks had no doubt that Shaya would be able to handle the role as the team’s top man this year, and he has seen Shaya save his best for his last high school season.

“I would say his biggest improvements over the past year have been his forehand and serve,” Burks said. “They are both much bigger and heavier and at this level and the level he wants to get to, having both of those is a must. His volleys have also improved significantly.”

Shaya also hopes to have another title double with his younger brother, Connor, a junior.

Connor won at No. 3 singles last year with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Northville’s Josh Kim, and he is the second seed at No. 2 singles this weekend. 

“I think our parents would love that,” Pierce Shaya said. “We trained a lot from (ages) 10 to 13.” 

Shaya has a future in tennis beyond this weekend, as he has committed to play for the University of Michigan. 

When he gets to Ann Arbor, he hopes his unique high school journey will have included four Finals titles in four different flights. 

“It’s a very cool situation, I think,” Shaya said. 

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

PHOTO Bloomfield Hills Pierce Shaya takes a photo last season after receiving his championship medal. (Photo courtesy of State Champs Sports Network.)

Loy Norrix Career Prepped Crocker for U-M Success, Law Degree Pursuit

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

July 29, 2021

KALAMAZOO — After graduating from University of Michigan in 2018, Davis Crocker suddenly found himself surrounded by green, white and Spartys.

Made in MichiganWith a degree in sports management from the Maize and Blue, Crocker is currently enrolled at Michigan State University’s College of Law in East Lansing.

“The first few months with all the green and Spartan heads, it’s a little bit of a culture shock,” Crocker, 25, said, laughing.

“I get the occasional comments every now and then. I try to be respectful.”

He has some backup. His brother, Reed, is on the MSU tennis team.

The Loy Norrix alumnus credits his four years playing high school tennis as “the kickstart to everything at Michigan and at law school now, balancing tennis and school with the team aspect, the coaches, the teammates.

“It laid the foundation for who I am now. My work ethic and leadership stem from that time.”

While many top tennis players opt out of high school tennis to concentrate on USTA tournaments, Crocker combined the two.

He said three things influenced his decision.

“First, that team aspect,” he said. “I think that’s so valuable. I played team sports when I was a kid, but when I just focused on tennis there weren’t as many opportunities for that. I enjoyed that aspect.

“Two, I felt I needed to give back to the school in some way. They were very flexible with my travel, my practicing and everything. I felt like doing things under their name was probably not enough, but at least a little bit.”

The third was that he just enjoyed being around the guys and going on road trips.

“The winning helped,” he added, laughing.

Winning, indeed.

He ended his high school career with some impressive numbers, enough to earn him the Michigan Mr. Tennis Award his senior year, when he went undefeated at 30-0.

His four-year record was 108-9, with seven of those losses his freshman year.

Loy Norrix did not qualify for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Championships as a team those four years, but Crocker did individually and won the No. 1 singles title his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

“When I won the state championship that third time (in 2013), that meant a lot out of the three,” he said, reminiscing. “The guy I played in the finals ended up playing at Arizona State.”

Crocker, the top seed, defeated second-seeded William Kirkman from Midland Dow, 6-3, 6-1.

Telling defeat

Art Williams, who coached the team all four years, said one moment was indicative of Crocker’s work ethic.

“During Regionals of his junior year, Davis was rolling through the draw as usual. On the final day, in the final No. 1 singles match, Davis struggled with his opponent,” Williams recalled.

Davis Crocker“I rarely had to coach Davis through a defeat; it just rarely happened. But on this day something was off. His father told me Davis was dealing with a very upset stomach.”

Williams said Crocker made no excuses, but after losing that match took the time to walk to the net to shake his opponent’s hand.

“The story does have a happy ending though,” Williams added. “Even with the loss, Davis still qualified for the state tournament and proceeded to win his second state title by defeating the very same player (Portage Central’s Billy Heckman) he lost to just two weeks before.”

That Regional loss was Crocker’s last defeat of his high school career.

Crocker graduated early from Loy Norrix in January 2014 and headed to University of Michigan that same month.

He said high school tennis prepared him for a much different type of tennis in college.

“It helped a lot because college took the team part to even more of an extreme,” he said. “In high school, you’re only together for three or four months, then you see each other in the hallway.

“In college it’s pretty much year round. You’re either communicating or practicing or competing. I think just laying that (high school) groundwork made the transition easier.”

He said he is happy he had that extra semester at Michigan before actually competing.

“The levels were higher. With my teammates, I’m not the top guy any more. I’m just one of 12,” Crocker said. “There are no easy games at that level. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every time.”

By his senior year, Crocker was an ITA Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten doubles indoor champion with Harry Brown and co-captain of the tennis team.

While at U-M, he spent three seasons as assistant to Loy Norrix coach Bill Jenkins and, before entering law school, spent a year as an instructor at West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo.

After playing so much tennis, Crocker took a break from sports.

“I was mentally done with it, but now I feel ready to play a little more and be involved with the community,” he said.

“These last six months I started hitting a bit and training a little more. I did a couple tournaments recently.”

Following family traditions

Crocker’s dad, grandfather and uncle are U-M grads, and his great-great-grandfather graduated from what was then the Detroit College of Law.

Currently, his dad and uncle are partners in Crocker & Crocker, a law firm started by his grandfather in Kalamazoo.

Davis Crocker“I was always in that (law) environment when I was a kid,” Crocker said. “It lines up with all my interests like reading and writing and history. With sports business, I would like to do something potentially with sports and the law.

“I’ve also thought about compliance or something like that with the NCAA, which has changed a lot even since I first got into law school.”

He also has been working with his dad in telecommunications law.

“There are so many different areas that it can be overwhelming,” Crocker said. “I’ll sort that out in the next year and a half (before graduation).”

As for high school, Crocker has some advice for those in any sport:

“When you first begin, don’t be overwhelmed by the situation, just embrace it. You will look fondly back, even on those times when you are maybe teased by the older guys. You appreciate it later on because you grow so much from it.”

2020-21 Made in Michigan

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PHOTOS: (Top) Three-time MHSAA Finals tennis champion Davis Crocker has begun playing competitively again while also working toward a law degree. (Middle) Crocker unleashes a serve during his No. 1 singles title match in 2013. (Below) Crocker stands at the scoreboard during his championship match at the 2012 LP Division 2 Finals. (Top photo by Pam Shebest; middle and below photos by High School Sports Scene.)