SEPTEMBER 19 • 2024 | 35

AVA ASHMANN

Now that the Maccabi Games age
limit has been increased from 16
to 17, all of our kids want to run it
back in 2025.
”
The Detroit 16U basketball team
won just two of the seven games it
played at The J, Bloomfield Hills
High School and West Bloomfield
High School — it lost to Israel
by 13 points in its opener at
Bloomfield Hills — but there were
extenuating circumstances.
“By the fifth game, we were
down two starters because of
injuries. By the sixth game, we
were down three starters because
of injuries,
” Glenn said. “Jack Soble
suffered a torn ACL. Hudson Rosner
had a deep bone bruise on his foot,
and he was recovering from ligament
damage. Lance Kukes had a deep
thigh contusion.
“Without those injuries, we would
have done better in the tournament. It
was tragic.
”
It sure was.
Soble was Detroit’s best inside
player. Rosner was the team’s best
shooter. Kukes was the best defender
and all-around player. He scored
nearly 40 points in Detroit’s win over
Los Angeles.
Also on the team were Brady Klein,
Riley Agrest, Noam Goel, Zach Kraft,

Alex Siminovich, David Devaney and
Jake Pitler.
Injuries aside, it was a memorable
week in late July-early August and the
runup to the Maccabi Games for the
Detroit 16U basketball team.
“I think we gave the kids great
practices if they’re aspiring to play
varsity basketball at their school,
”
Glenn said. “It was a pleasure to
coach them. And I’m sure they
had a wonderful Maccabi Games
experience. You don’t realize how
great the event is until you get into
it.
”

Send sports news to stevestein502004@

yahoo.com.

Riley Agrest
looks to pass
to a teammate
during Detroit’s
game vs. Israel.

Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Doors Open

The lineup of honorees at the
annual Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame induction banquet has
been announced by the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2024
includes Nathan Edmunds, Nicole
Meisner, Eric Weberman, Eric Fishman and Jake Friedman. The Pillars
of Excellence award winners are Gary Gerson, Mort Plotnick, Steve
Matz, Michael Fishman and Jim Berk. Aaron and Ryan Rose and Cami
Katzen are the Jewish News High School Athletes of the Year. Blaine
Cohen and Adam Nothstine are the Dr. Steve and Evelyn Rosen Stars of
Tomorrow Scholarship recipients. Jalen Rose will receive the Alvin and
Shirley Foon Inspiration Award.
The banquet will be held Oct. 29 at The J in West Bloomfield. For
ticket and sponsorship information, go to michiganjewishsports.org or
contact Foundation Executive Director Don Rudick at (248) 390-5981 or
zeedon1@gmail.com.

Birmingham Groves High School
senior football star Avery Gach
has received a ton of media
attention during his high school
career, both for his play on the
field and his college recruiting
process among national powers,
which eventually saw the 6-foot-
5, 290-pound offensive lineman
commit to Michigan over near-
ly 40 scholarship offers from
schools like Alabama, Ohio
State and Georgia.
One of the latest stories
written about Gach is on the
Michigan High School Athletic
Association website. The story,
written by Keith Dunlap, details
how the Groves football pro-
gram has never seen and per-
haps never will see a player like
Gach again.
“He’s a unicorn,” longtime
Groves coach Brendan Flaherty
says in the story. “I haven’t had
anybody like him in 24 years.

We’ve had Big Ten players
before, but Avery obviously
took it to another level being a
national guy. It’s well-deserved,
and he’s done a great job han-
dling it.”
Gach will graduate from
Groves this winter so he can
enroll at U-M early and practice
with the football team.

The Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation is celebrating its
40th anniversary this year.
After hosting another success-
ful Hank Greenberg Golf and
Tennis Invitational in June, the
foundation’s Michigan Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame banquet is
just around the corner. It will be
held Oct. 29 at The J in West
Bloomfield.
More than 50 people attend-
ed an anniversary celebration
for the foundation earlier this
year, including Seymour Brode,
the lone living foundation found-
er. Brode received a plaque
honoring him for his 40 years of
supporting the foundation. His
son Rick Brode and grandson
Harrison Brode also represent-
ed his family at the celebration.
The other foundation found-
ers were Alvin Foon, Billy
Jacobs, Myron Milgrom, Mickey
Fishman and Robert Sternberg.

Each had family members at the
celebration. Hall of Fame induct-
ees and Pillars of Excellence
award winners also were in
attendance.
The foundation has raised
more than $1.5 million through
the years for cancer research
and treatment and support-
ed many other initiatives and
programs, including the JCC
Maccabi Games that were held
this summer in Detroit.

Happy 40th Anniversary to the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation

Birmingham Groves Football Coach
Calls Avery Gach One of a Kind

SUBMITTED PHOTO
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Stuart Raider, president of the
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation,
presents a plaque to Seymour Brode,
a founder of the organization.

Avery Gach and former University of
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh

Riley Agrest looks to
pass to a teammate
during Detroit’s
game vs. Israel.