Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Thomas back at Avondale.

Written Tuesday April 25th at 8:00 PM

A week and a podcast later, Jaret Thomas is back coaching boys basketball.

Thomas was named the new Boys Basketball Coach at Avondale creating shock waves around the OAA.

Thomas returned to his roots. He was an assistant under Coach Tim Morton and the junior varsity coach with the Yellow Jackets. Thomas was also the head coach at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian before coming to Avondale.

Avondale was 10-12 last season under then coaches Pat Clancy and Aaron Fox and is in the Blue this season. They have Justin Sykes, D.J. Moody, Dequarius White, and Anthony Burton coming back. "I think coaching at Avondale will give me the best opportunity to maximize my impact both on and off the floor" Thomas said to MIPrepZone's Scott Burnstein.

Thomas went 59-37 in his four years at Adams which included two district championships and their first regional crown in school history. He was named BCAM (Basketball Coaches Association, Michigan) Coach of the Year this past season

Thomas move to Avondale has baffled many experts even myself. "This decision isn't a reflection how I view Adams or feel about my time because these last four years was a wonderful experience all the way around, I think of those guys in my first season and went to work and set the standard of expectations. I loved my players, I loved the people at Adams. I can't even begin to explain how much pride I take in to what we accomplished together" Thomas added to Burnstein.

He sees some comparisons to the Highlanders with the Yellow Jackets. "It's a new challenge, just like at Adams, I want to build a program on principles of character, discipline, and hard work. There's a lot of ingredients to take things to a whole other level, the kind of level Coach Morton took this program to. That's the goal. He's my mentor and I hope our teams will remind people around here of his best teams. We'll play 84 feet, we'll be relentless" Thomas concluded to Burnstein.

Avondale is in a very interesting situation in the Blue. They have Pontiac, Berkley, Oxford, Stoney Creek, Rochester, Royal Oak, and Ferndale University in the division.

It's a coaching upgrade for the Yellow Jackets but several questions remain. He will have to fix their sub varsities.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.

Here is the article confirming the move.

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2023/04/25/prep-notebook-jaret-thomas-jumps-back-to-avondale-to-take-over-jackets-boys-hoops-program/

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