oint Shot
Akiva High School
PHOTOS BY DANIEL LI PPITT
MARA REINSTEIN JEWISH NEWS INTERN
sophomore Ariel Reinitz
scores points as a Torah
scholar and as a
basketball star.
High School in Southfield often
.
ives accolades for its academic
.' gram. Each day, the students
`' a comprehensive combination
f.,'aetii
, Ne •lish and Hebrew curricula. But
ear, the school has a new rea-
„
cheer. For Ariel Reinitz, a stu-
"Torah scholar, is also excelling
area that people rarely asso-
ith Akiva — basketball.
.!Pr this season, Mr. Reinitz, a
grader, has averaged 20 points
:rebounds a game, leading the
Pioneers to a respectable 2-2
o far. Last year's team fin-
18 40.
"Ariel could easily play on a var-
sity team in any public high school,"
says Ken Kohn, the Akiva coach for
the past four seasons. "He's very
coachable but also has a lot of nat-
ural talent."
Mr. Reinitz has been an avid bas-
ketball fan since he first watched
NBA teams like the Detroit Pistons
and the Chicago Bulls on Win grade
school. And standing 6-foot-2, imi-
tating Grant Hill and Michael Jor-
dan has come easier to him than to
many of his shorter peers.
"Because i'm so tall, people would
always just throw a basketball my
way and say, 'Let's play,'" Mr. Reinitz,
15, says.
Mr. Reinitz, who plays either pow-
au.
_
er or small forward, joined the Aki-
va junior varsity team in 6th grade.
He's currently co-captain of the var-
sity squad along with Erie Skoczy-
las.
All of this year's wins and losses
have come against the Eton Acade-
my in Birmingham and Life Summit
(a home school). Because the team
isn't in a league, Mr. Kohn organizes
the opponents — usually Christian
schools — and the schedule.
The newly improved team has giv-
en new life to Akiva basketball, the
school's only varsity sport. Although
there aren't any cheerleaders to mo-
tivate the standing-room-only crowd,
Mr. Kohn says that the fans always
have fun rooting for the home team.
"When I first started coaching, my
main goal was for the kids to get
some exercise," says Mr. Kohn. "But
lately, we've really come together as
a team and become good. And the
school is 100 percent behind us."
Mr. Reinitz takes his basketball
success in stride. After all, his true
passion lies in the likes of King
David, not David Robinson.
"I like studying the Torah and the
Talmud because it's interesting to
learn about the laws and how we can
relate to them now," says Mr. Reinitz,
who takes additional Jewish classes
after school.
In fact, he will graduate early to
study a year abroad in Israel. He
then plans to attend Yeshiva Uni-
versity in New York to concentrate
on Jewish studies. With a firm Jew-
ish background, he hopes to eventu-
ally attend medical school and
become a surgeon.
Mr. Reinitz says that much of his
success and motivation comes from
his parents, Deborah and Emanuel,
both doctors. Like a young medical
student, Mr. Reinitz occasionally ob-
serves his dad, who is a kidney trans-
plant surgeon at Harper Hospital in
Detroit.
His parents have also instilled in
him the importance of a Judaic back-
ground. "Both my parents were
brought up in Orthodox homes," he
says. "They gave me this Jewish ed-
ucation because they said that you
always have to know where you come
from."
Mr. Reinitz's basketball career
won't end in high school. He hopes
to play for Yeshiva, an NCAA Divi-
sion III school. It's not Kentucky, but
Mr. Reinitz isn't complaining.
"In the world of sports, you hear
about athletes who are role models
even though they shouldn't be," says
Mr. Kohn. "But Ariel is a great role
model ... someone did something
right." ❑
Ariel Reinitz tries for the hoop during
the team's basketball practice.
Ariel Reinitz will graduate early
to spend a year abroad in Israel.