Notes this week: FH Eastern guard Aiden Sullivan is a track star, too
Forest Hills Eastern senior Aiden Sullivan dribbles past an East Grand Rapids player at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament. Sullivan scored 16 points in a 63-51 win on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
Notes for the week of Dec. 19, 2022. Check back daily as this will be updated as news occurs.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Aiden Sullivan has always loved basketball. But the Forest Hills Eastern senior has other plans for college.
He will be running track and cross country at the University of Michigan.
“Basketball has always been my love,” Sullivan said. “Growing up, I always wanted to play college basketball. I think that’s something, sadly, that I had to make a choice on. Picking up track in middle school and realizing that I had a lot of natural ability, I had to decide If i wanted to run on a big stage. Since my freshman year of track to my senior year, my love for track has grown.”
Forest Hills Eastern basketball coach Jason Yelding is all for Sullivan playing two sports.
“His ability in cross country and track is a reflection of his work ethic,” Yelding said. “That work ethic extends to the basketball court as well. The way he balances his time demonstrates what every multi-sport athlete looks like. He’s a great student, as well. For him to be a state champion in track and a leader on the cross country team, it’s great for him to carry that over to our basketball team.”
Sullivan, who won the state title in the 800 meters last spring with a time of 1:56, had an indoor meet last Saturday and then a basketball game on Monday.
“We want our kids to compete as much as possible,” Yelding said. “Obviously, it has to be within our team concept. But this past weekend, he had the opportunity to go and run (indoor), and I support that 100 percent.”
Doing both isn’t easy, though.
“It’s tough,” said Sullivan, who runs up to 10 miles every morning. “It’s adjusting my body to basketball has been difficult. When I get in the gym, my knees aren’t adjusting to the stop and start of basketball.”
He’s a pretty good guard, though. Sullivan had 16 points on Monday as the Falcons beat East Grand Rapids.
CORNERSTONE HOLIDAY TOURNEY: The games on Friday, Dec. 23 were all wiped out by the snow store at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament. They are hoping to reschedule.
FERRIS STATE: Ethan Erickson (Forest Hills Northern) was named GLIAC Player of the Week after two big games for the Bulldogs. The sophomore guard had 25 points on seven 3-pointers against Findlay and six 3-pointers and 20 points against Michigan-Dearborn. He’s averaging 13 points per game.
GODWIN HEIGHTS: Jakhary Towns had his second 30-point game of the young season on Monday in a 59-57 win over Reeths-Puffer at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament. The senior hit four 3-pointers.
KENOWA HILLS: Javion Otten scored a season-best 30 points as the Knights beat West Catholic 61-55 at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday. The senior forward has committed to play basketball at GVSU.
OTTAWA HILLS: Senior forward Keymarion Gibson has five offers to play college football. “He’s actually the running back for the Ottawa Hills football team,” coach Derrick King said. “He wanted to shed some pounds. He’s got some offers for football. We figured we could use his size. He’s big and physical and takes up space in the paint. And he’s just athletic.” Gibson, who is 6-foot-2, 265 pounds, has football offers from Army, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Grand Valley State.
NORTHVIEW: A lot of Northview grads showed up at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 22 to see the Wildcats beat Grandville 59-37. Kyler Vander Jagt (Belmont) and Jalen Charity (GVSU), who were on the Northview team last year, sat on the end of the bench to support their former classmates.
UNION: Grand Rapids Union stunned Benton Harbor on Monday with a 72-63 victory over the perennial basketball power. Marquan Ross led the team with 26 points.
WAYLAND: Brett Bultsma hit a buzzer-beater to upend Hamilton 66-65 on Tuesday. He dribbled end to end and hit a floater from the free throw line to win it. The senior finished with 25 points to help the Wildcats improve to 3-0.
WEST OTTAWA: The Panthers honored the team that won the district title last season. The corps group of seniors from that team returned to be honored at halftime on Tuesday: Kobe Haglund, who now plays football at Trine, Brady Bosma, who plays basketball at Heidelberg and Colin Shriver, who plays basketball at Trine.
WMU: Blake Bosma, who was a forward on the the West Ottawa basketball team last year, is now playing football at Western Michigan University. Bosma, a 6-foot-5 tight end, was named Academic All-MAC. He has the highest GPA on the team with a 4.0.
