Grand Rapids Catholic Central hires new boys basketball coach
Chris Pearl works on a drill with a young basketball player at the Northcoast Premier gym in Hudsonville on Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School has a new boys basketball coach.
The school announced on Wednesday that it hired Chris Pearl, who was an assistant coach with the Cougars last season.
“I’m definitely happy,” Pearl said. “It’s something I’ve worked for and really wanted and the hard worked has paid off. I did not think for one second that this would come to fruition. But sometimes God leads you to the doors that you didn’t know you had the key to.”
Pearl replaces T.J. Meerman, who spend the past 11 years as the Catholic Central head coach. He stepped down to spend time with his young family.
“I'm so excited for Coach Pearl,” Meerman said. “He did the best job on our staff, and he has a great basketball mind and passion for the game. But most important, to me, was that the coach they hired was a high-character person on and off the court. And Catholic 100 percent got that with Coach Pearl.”
Pearl graduated from Otsego High School, where he was a three-sport star. In basketball, he averaged 15 points a game his senior year and helped the Bulldogs to a 22-4 record. He then played parts of four years in college. He played his freshmen and sophomore years at Siena Heights, then transferred to Grand Valley State. He played for the Lakers his junior year then redshirted the next season. He then transferred to Davenport University for his senior year in 2019-20.
Pearl, 27, got his degree in communications from GVSU and a masters in business administration from Davenport.
Durral Brooks, who graduated from Catholic Central in June, loves the new hire.
“Perfect fit,” Brooks said. “He was around the team all last year so the players don't really need to make a huge adjustment. And being close with TJ, it's not like he'll be all on his own. He’s got people by his side that'll help if needed.”
Brooks, who was named the 2024 Michigan Mr. Basketball, credits working with Pearl every day in practice for helping him have a huge senior year.
“Me and him guarded each other in every single practice. Basically in every single rep. So playing against a former pro everyday just helped me prepare for what's next. It also helped me keep my composure at times.”
Brooks now is a freshman on the basketball team at the University of Michigan.
Pearl spent a few seasons playing semi-pro basketball around Michigan after college, including with the Kalamazoo Galaxy.
Pearl has been training youth basketball players for a while. He’s coached AAU teams, including recently with Northcoast Premier. But coaching a high school team wasn’t in the plans until last year.
“At the beginning of this past season working with T.J. I was basically just an extra practice player,” Pearl said. “Then I started having more of a passion for (coaching), especially after watching how T.J. coaches. It looked like something I wanted to do.”
He said it helps that he’s familiar with the Catholic Central players already.
“A big part of it is the relationship I have with the players, the parents and the Catholic Central community,” Pearl said. “It helps me as the first-year coach. I’ve seen what T.J. did with this group. We’ve got a lot of key players coming back, which helps.”
Pearl still gets the itch to play, however.
He played in the Belding Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournament with NBA legend Chris Kaman this summer. Pearl had been training Kaman’s kids.
“He’s got a place in Belding,” Pearl said. “He asked if I wanted to play. And I said ‘only if you want to win. It’s not too often do you get to play with a 7- footer like him. It was fun. A lot of kids that I train know I played in the Macker. They said I was cheating playing with Kaman.”
Chris Pearl played with NBA legend Chris Kaman in the Belding Gus Macker on Aug. 3, 2024. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
