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Grosse Pointe North's Ariel Braker

GPN's Braker Moving Full Speed Ahead on College Coaching Trail

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

August 11, 2023

Ariel Braker has never forgotten being a part of Grosse Pointe North’s Class A girls basketball championship team in 2008, but a couple of happenings in recent months have made her reflect even more on that title.

The first came in March, when Braker was hired as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program at the University ofMade in Michigan is powered by Michigan Army National Guard. Minnesota. That brought a stark reminder of an oopsie when she was on a recruiting visit to Minnesota after the championship and while she was still in high school. having helped the Norse to the title as a sophomore.

“I left my (state championship) ring in the hotel here in Minnesota,” Braker said. “So I needed a new one.”

The second came in June, when Grosse Pointe North won the Division 2 girls soccer title.

Those Norse were coached by Olivia Dallaire, a teammate of Braker’s on the 2008 girls basketball title team.

“It was an interesting full circle moment of 'Wow, it really was that long ago,'” Braker said. “You have someone on your team now leading the school to a state championship in a different sport. It was pretty cool.”

A 6-foot-1 dynamo who could play every position on the court in 2008, Braker had 15 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocked shots in a 58-46 win over East Lansing in the championship game.

That followed a 23-point, 20-rebound performance in a Semifinal win over North Farmington.

Braker was more than just a standout basketball player for North, however.

She was also a member of the volleyball team and an all-state high jumper for the track & field team, and being a three-sport athlete made her high school experience even better.

“It let me take a break from basketball, use other muscles and take my mind off of it,” Braker said. “The ability to be with different people, make different friends, and do different things was very helpful.”

During her senior year in 2010, Braker finished third in the state's Miss Basketball Award voting.

Braker signed to play college basketball at Notre Dame, where she played for legendary head coach Muffet McGraw.

During her tenure with the Fighting Irish, Braker was a part of three teams that won Atlantic Coast Conference championships and advanced to the 2014 national championship game.

After college, Braker decided she wanted to give coaching a try and landed at Western Texas College, a community college in Snyder, Texas.

It was there that the coaching bug really hit her hard.

“Those kids needed a lot of instruction and teaching,” Braker said. “You have to be willing to be patient and teach the game in different ways so it touches everyone. It was a growing year for me, but I was like, ‘I can do this.’ That gave me confidence.”

From there, Braker has gone on to assistant jobs at Lehigh, Oakland, South Dakota and West Virginia before being hired on to first-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s staff at Minnesota this past March.

Braker said that at all of her coaching stops so far, she’s tried to follow Michigan youth teams on the recruiting trail given her familiarity with the state.

She obviously hopes that familiarity will pay dividends in her new role at Minnesota if she needs to mine for talent in Michigan.

“There are some younger kids who are up-and-coming who could help,” she said. “I’m excited to get back home and be able to recruit them.”

When she does come back to recruit, it’ll likely join the lost championship ring in Minnesota and soccer success this spring as reminders of that magical ride to a basketball title with the Norse 15 years ago.

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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Braker plays in the 2008 Class A championship game, and at right Braker coaches at University of Minnesota. (Below) Braker drives to the basket; she scored 15 points in the 2008 championship game against East Lansing. (Photos courtesy of the Detroit News and University of Minnesota athletics.) 

Tony Coggins serves as PA announcer during a 2022 Division 3 volleyball match at Kellogg Arena.

In Memoriam: Tony Coggins (1971-2023)

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 24, 2023

The MHSAA and Holly school communities are grieving this week after the sudden loss of Tony Coggins, a shining light in his educational community and an enthusiastic supporter of school sports as a public address announcer for several of our largest championship events.

But while that cheerful tone has been quieted, it surely will not be forgotten by the many fortunate to enjoy an event in the presence of that voice and the joyfulness he brought into every arena, press box and classroom.

Coggins, 51, died Saturday. He is survived by his wife Kristy and children Emma and Bradlee, among several family and friends from his local and greater sports communities.

Tony CogginsHis career as a PA announcer began during his freshman year of high school in 1985, when his father Dale Coggins – Flushing’s athletic director at the time – couldn’t find anyone else to announce middle school football games. That was 39 years ago, and this fall Tony Coggins was in his 24th announcing at Holly, where he taught and served as an administrator in addition to his role as “Voice of the Holly Bronchos” for football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, competitive cheer and swimming & diving over the years.

Coggins has been a mainstay among MHSAA Finals PA announcers over the last decade in football, basketball, softball and most recently volleyball. He lent his voice to college sports at University of Michigan as well. “Tony was a huge part of our Finals events. It’s hard to imagine it being the same without him,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said.

As part of the run-up to the MHSAA public address announcers clinic in 2018, Coggins said this about what drew him to the microphone:

“I have zero athletic ability whatsoever, which is interesting because my father was an all-state running back. But I enjoy being involved, and I've always been the one for history and statistics and knowing what's going on,” Coggins said. “This is a way for me to be involved. It's a way for me to use a talent I've been given; public speaking has always come pretty naturally for me.

“So I worked at my craft to get better. I got better from watching the people around me, from studying the people I like, and the people – if I saw someone I didn’t care for – I'd make a note and say to myself, ‘Don't do that.’ I take feedback from people very personally, and I mean that in a good way. If somebody takes the time to come up and say, ‘You did this well; I think you should change this,’ that means they care about the program also. We all have the same goal in mind, and that's to make the experience good for the high school student and the parents, the fans, that come there.”

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at St. John Vianney, 2415 Bagley Street in Flint. There will be visitation from 2-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at the Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road, and at the church from 10 a.m. Saturday until the time of the Mass.