Volleyball Coaching Changes.

Written Tuesday July 22nd at 12:45 AM

Updated Saturday August 2nd at 3:00 PM 

Stoney Creek and Bloomfield Hills will have a new volleyball coaches this fall. MIPrepZone confirmed the recent news. 

The Cougars named Jason Gambone as their new head coach as confirmed by the MHSAA website. Gambone was formerly at Seaholm and coached alongside Heather Lippert for a time. He takes over for Coach Ross Talbot who left Stoney Creek to coach at Orchard Lake St. Marys. Talbot has a ton of coaching experience in the OAA at Lake Orion and Stoney Creek. He will look to bring his experience to an Eaglets squad that should be one of the favorites in the State this season. Gambone has the Ivezaj sisters and will look to make some noise in a really tough Red this season.

Bloomfield Hills will have a new volleyball coach this fall as Jacob Paige stepped down and is coaching as an assistant at George Washington University. The Blackhawks have a new coach in Brian Kim taking over the program. Kim brings a lot of knowledge and experience into the volleyball world this season. Bloomfield Hills like Stoney Creek will also be in the Red this season.

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

MIPrepZone article

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2025/07/21/experienced-coach-ross-talbott-aims-to-take-olsm-volleyball-to-new-heights-jacob-paige-departs-bloomfield-hills-for-college-gig/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-MIPrepZone&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social 

Bloomfield Hills Volleyball Page

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/bloomfieldhills/girls/varsity/volleyball/2025 

Stoney Creek Volleyball Page

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/stoneycreek/girls/varsity/volleyball/2025 

Other Area Conferences Rankings Preview.

Written Sunday July 20th at 12:30 PM

Well with the football season not too far off, I figure looking at the conferences that clash with OAA schools and did early rankings this season. So here they are.

 

Lakes Valley Conference

1. Walled Lake Western

2. WATERFORD MOTT

3. Milford

4. Lakeland

5. South Lyon East

6. South Lyon

7. WATERFORD KETTERING

8. Walled Lake Northern

9. Walled Lake Central

 

Saginaw Valley League

1. Grand Blanc

2. Davison

3. Saginaw Heritage

4. Lapeer

5. Traverse City Central

6. Traverse City West

7. Midland

8. Midland Dow

9. Mount Pleasant

10. Flint Carman Ainsworth

 

Kensington Lakes Activates Association

1. Howell

2. Belleville

3. Brighton

4. Northville

5. Livonia Franklin

6. Hartland 

7. Dearborn

8. Dearborn Fordson 

9. Novi

10. Livonia Stevenson

 

Macomb Area Conference

1. Macomb Dakota

2. Sterling Heights Stevenson

3. Roseville

4. Romeo 

5. Utica Eisenhower

6. Chippewa Valley

7. New Baltimore Anchor Bay

8. Port Huron Northern

9. Utica Ford II

10. Madison Heights Lamphere 

 

Flint Metro League

1. Goodrich

2. Fenton

3. Corunna

4. Flushing

5. Lake Fenton

6. Linden

7. Brandon

8. Owosso

9. Swartz Creek

10. Holly

 

Ottawa Kent Conference

1. Hudsonville

2. Grandville

3. Rockford

4. Byron Center

5. Muskegon Mona Shores

6. Zeeland West

7. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 

8. Grand Rapids Northview

9. Grand Rapids Catholic Central

10. Grand Rapids West Catholic

 

Detroit Public School League

1. Detroit Cass Tech

2. Detroit Martin Luther King

3. Detroit Central

4. Detroit Denby

5. Detroit Pershing

6. Detroit Cody

7. Detroit Fredrick Douglass

8. Detroit Henry Ford

9. Detroit Renaissance

10. Detroit Southeastern

 

Southeastern Conference

1. Saline

2. Chelsea

3. Dexter

4. Temperance Bedford

5. Pinckney

6. Ann Arbor Pioneer

7. Jackson

8. Adrian

9. Tecumseh

10. Ann Arbor Huron 

 

Rivers Cities Alliance

1. Lowell

2. Coopersville

3. Cedar Springs

4. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills

5. Greenville

6. Sparta

7. Allendale 

 

Capital Area Conference

1. Mason

2. Portland

3. DeWitt

4. Lansing Catholic

5. East Lansing

6. Haslett

7. Olivet

8. St. Johns

9. Lansing Everett

10. Ionia

 

Huron League

1. Monroe St. Marys Catholic Central

2. Flat Rock

3. Riverview

4. Carleton Airport

5. Milan

6. New Boston Huron

7. Monroe Jefferson

8. Grosse Ile 

 

Interstate Eight Athletic Conference

1. Battle Creek Harper Creek

2. Hastings

3. Parma Western

4. Jackson Northwest

5. Coldwater

6. Marshall

7. Battle Creek Pennfield

 

Western Wayne

1. Redford Union

2. Redford Thurston

3. Garden City

4. Dearborn Heights Crestwood

5. Dearborn Heights Robichaud

6. Romulus

7. Melvindale

8. Dearborn Heights Annapolis

 

Catholic League

1. Novi Detroit Catholic Central

2. Orchard Lake St. Marys

3. Jackson Lutheran Christi

4. Toledo Central Catholic 

5. Warren DeLaSalle

6. Macomb Lutheran North

7. Riverview Gabriel Richard

8. Clarkston Everett

9. Grosse Pointe University Liggett

10. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard

Royal Oak has a new Athletic Director.

Written Friday July 11th at 9:30 AM

The Ravens have a new athletic director.

Royal Oak has named Derek Smith as their new athletic and activities director. He takes over for Daniel Russell after he moved to Jenison and took on a role in the west side of the state.

C&G Newspapers, the MHSAA website, and Royal Oak Schools confirmed the move. 

Smith was a teacher since 2002 and athletic director at Utica since 2003. He began his new role on July 1st.

"We are pleased to welcome Derek Smith as the new director of athletics and activities (DAA) for Royal Oak schools. Smith is a Royal Oak native, Derek brings with him a wealth of experience as both an Athletic Director and teacher from Utica Community Schools. His energetic leadership strong belief in power and collaboration will be an asset to our schools" Royal Oak Schools said in a statement.

Smith brings a ton of experience to Royal Oak ranging from different things. He will bring a new ideas and new things to an athletic department that has been going through some changeover in recent years but has had recently seen some success. The girls basketball program has won two straight district crowns under Coach Brian Sopota while the boys basketball program went to the district finals under Coach Aaron Smith last season. The softball program has experienced some success at Royal Oak as well. 

There are some successful programs at Royal Oak. Smith according to the C&G Newspapers story has been responsible for academically tracking more than 400 student athletes every year when he was at Utica and met both theirs and the MHSAA standards.

"All of us at Royal Oak Schools look forward to Mr. Smith bringing his wealth and knowledge to Royal Oak, his hometown. We know that his past experiences and community connections will straighten our athletic and academic activities initiatives as he builds our programs to greatness, we are thrilled to have him on board" said Royal Oak High School principal Don Loomis.

Smith joins Todd Negoshian (Stoney Creek) and the OAA family as new athletic directors into the league this school year.

 

Royal Oak Schools Press Release.

https://www.royaloakschools.org/whats_new/new_leaders_to_r_o_h_s_and_r_o_m_s 

 

Here is the C&G Newspapers story. 

https://www.candgnews.com/news/royal-oak-schools-announces-new-director-of-athletics-activities-8628 

 

Royal Oak MHSAA page

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/royaloakravens 

Stoney Creek has a new Athletic Director.

Written Wednesday July 9th at 7:45 PM

 A familiar face in the OAA has became the next Athletic Director at Stoney Creek. 

Stoney Creek named Todd Negoshian, the longtime Boys Basketball coach at North Farmington will become the next Athletic Director at Stoney Creek. He started his new position on Tuesday July 1st.

The MHSAA website confirmed that Negoshian was named the new athletic director for the Cougars. 

Negoshian takes over for Brian Anderson who stepped down at the end of the school year. 

Negoshian is no stranger to the OAA as he has been the head Boys Basketball Coach for the Raiders since 2007 taking over the reigns from his father, the legendary Tom Negoshian. He is currently the coach at North Farmington. Prior to North Farmington, he was a Graduate Assistant Coach for Oakland University under legendary Head Coach Greg Kampe. Negoshian has led the Raiders to two MHSAA Division One State Championship appearances (2017, 2024.)

North Farmington is leaving the OAA after the end of the 2025-2026 school year as they are departing for the Lakes Valley Conference.

But Negoshian will be staying in the league in his new role. 

Negoshain's familiarity with the league and creative ideas will bond him well. Stoney Creek athletics for the most part has been solid but has taken a step back a bit in a few sports in recent years. The Cougars have been a state power in competitive cheerleading and tennis. They've had a bounce back in football making the postseason under first year coach Rick Powell last season and are more than capable with their soccer and volleyball programs to have a bounce back year.

Negoshian's impact on Stoney Creek athletics will be immediate. Some interesting questions linger from the basketball front. The Cougars have a new boys basketball in Marko Tomich taking over the program while the girls program is under the guidance of Columbus Williams. The basketball programs will be something to watch under Negoshian as will be the other sports.

It's a new era for the Cougars with Negoshian in charge. 

 

Here is the Stoney Creek page on the MHSAA website

https://www.mhsaa.com/schools/stoneycreek

From Whom I saw in Summer Leagues.

Written Wednesday July 9th at 7:42 PM

This is from what I learned from the summer leagues in boys basketball.

These are the OAA teams I've seen this summer.

Avondale

Clarkston

West Bloomfield

Groves

Farmington

Lake Orion

Stoney Creek

Oxford

Adams

Rochester

Waterford Mott

Pontiac

Bloomfield Hills 

Troy Athens

Troy

Waterford Kettering 

There is a ton of parity in the White and the Blue. The league got the White and the Blue right when it comes to competitiveness.

I was really impressed from what I saw from Pontiac. The Phoenix have a new coach in Dion Harris but that team looks to be in midseason form and could get better. Pontiac should be a player in the Blue with their athleticism. Bloomfield Hills also impressed me especially with the play of their guards. The game against Romeo when they looked smooth on both sides of the court. The Blue looks to be really competitive. Troy Athens looks solid when I saw them. The Red Hawks are more than capable of having a strong season after winning the district crown last season. Troy didn't look strong but they are replacing Mason Parker and his production. They could struggle a bit this winter but it's still the Colts. 

The White looks to be extremely competitive. I've seen all six teams in this division play this summer. Stoney Creek has looked really impressive under new Coach Marko Tomich and Tomich has this team playing at a high level. Adams was really competitive in their games I seen with them. Rochester looks solid when I saw them. Lake Orion plays team basketball on both sides of the floor which is a great sign for Coach Jose Andrades. Oxford had some struggles against West Bloomfield. They are going through a transition after graduating a strong senior class last season. Waterford Mott has talent but depth could be a warning sign for Coach Jeff Jayson as they reenter the OAA.

Clarkston had some battles this summer but the question lingers is will the Wolves be on top of the food chain for Coach Tim Waslik. The Wolves are coming off three losses to Avondale including once in the postseason. The Yellow Jackets got stronger despite questions in the paint for Coach Jaret Thomas. Groves looked really competitive despite losing a lot of talent. I think the Falcons will be fine heading into the winter. Farmington looked solid when I saw them, the Falcons athleticism will be prevalent in games this season.

Waterford Kettering looks much improved when I saw them. Coach Rex Walters has this team heading in the right direction. The Captains look to be the early favorite in the Gold this season.