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.

