The 2023-24 team matched the 2012 state champs by finishing the regular season unbeaten before falling to eventual state champion Detroit Edison in the state quarterfinals. Photo courtesy of Goodrich High School Athletics.
While taking part in a phone interview as some of his players work the concession stand during a middle school football game, Goodrich High School girls basketball coach Jason Gray speaks glowingly of how the community takes a keen interest in the program.
“This has been a great area, a great school district to coach in because people are invested in our team’s success,” he says. “It’s really nice how often I’m asked about our team.”
Not long after Gray makes that statement, as if on cue, a passerby raises his voice, inquiring about the Martians’ prospects for the upcoming season.
“Hey Coach, good to see you! How are they (the team) looking this year?” he asks.
Gray conveys to the man how optimistic he is about the 2024-25 Martians, the vast majority of whom are returning varsity players, including four all-league performers.
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe I’ve been leading this program for a little more than half my life.
Jason Gray
Community support is just one aspect of guiding Goodrich that Gray has treasured during his long tenure which enters its 26th season next month.
Gray has earned that support along with the respect of his players, admiration from other coaches and the enthusiastic backing of school administration thanks to a wildly successful run from day one in 1999. It has yielded banners galore, including a pair of state championships, eight regional titles, 14 district trophies and 18 conference crowns.
With a 499-96 record, Gray is one win away from becoming the 17th girls basketball coach in state history to reach 500 victories and just the second to achieve the milestone at a Genesee County school, joining Kathy McGee, who led Powers to a 599-153 mark from 1976-2006.
“Coach Gray spends a lot of time in the gym working on player development and is very intentional and detailed with workouts, doing a great job tracking results so players have goals to strive for,” says Goodrich Athletic Director Rob McRae, who coached Grand Blanc’s varsity boys team from 2013-17. “He has high expectations for his athletes and supports them in every way to help them succeed,” McRae continues. “Coach Gray has done an exceptional job of creating a successful program. The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan even invited him to present on the topic ‘Building a Program’ at its (2024) conference.”
Under Gray, the Martians have never had a losing season and have finished a season with more than eight losses just once.
“We’ve had many great players, which covers much of why we’ve been successful,” states Gray, who has also taught history at Goodrich for the past 27 years. “But, again, I credit our community because it’s a great one in which to foster that sort of environment for success. Great, supportive parents of players have also been crucial along with our youth programs and fall league that kids keep showing up for.”
Those programs produce players who reach the high school level set up for success and prepared to contribute to the style of play Gray loves – uptempo offense and tenacious defense achieved through a mix of athleticism, a firm grasp of fundamentals, deft shooting and physicality.
“We’ve been fortunate in that we always seem able to replace talented players who have graduated with other talented players who are ready to go,” Gray points out. “Our teams have been the right mix of upper class players and younger, but solid ones who know they don’t have to come in and do everything during their first varsity season. That provides them with a good environment for growth.”
That environment has produced numerous college players, including Tania Davis, who starred at Iowa after becoming just the third Genesee County player to be named Michigan’s Miss Basketball in 2015.
Photo: Goodrich High School Athletics.
Davis is in her second season as one of Iowa’s assistant coaches after helping the Hawkeyes to the national championship game last season. One of her first assignments after joining the staff last year was working closely with superstar Caitlin Clark, the 2024 College Player of the Year and recent WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Davis is quick to credit Gray for helping her achieve playing and coaching success at the collegiate level.
“One of coach Gray’s strengths is his ability to adapt to players,” Davis says. “He understands that every team is not the same, every player is not the same. I thoroughly remember him allowing us to be ourselves and he put us in positions, sets and schemes that highlighted our strengths because he didn’t over-coach us but kept it simple. I’ve always kept that with me, especially now that I’m a coach.”
Davis adds that one question, in particular, frequently runs through Gray’s mind.
“He’s always thinking, ‘what situation can I put this player in that will make her successful?’,” she says.
Kayla Hairston, the Martians’ top returning player this season, echoes those sentiments.
“Coach Gray is able to understand each players’ strengths and weaknesses,” the second-team Division 2 All-Stater shares. “Sometimes, we don’t even know all that we’re capable of, but coach Gray does and he brings out the best in us. He also values us as people, not just players, because it’s about more than basketball for him. He wants success for us on and off the court.”
Gray began laying the foundation for his coaching career while growing up in Michigan’s southwest corner, lettering in basketball and baseball at Berrien Springs High School.
His father, who coached basketball and softball, was his first influence, followed by his coaches at other levels of basketball and baseball, including former Alma College basketball coaches Bob Eldridge and Kevin Skaggs. Once Gray decided he was going to teach, he knew he was going to coach.
The Goodrich 2012 Class B State Championship squad finished 28-0. Despite graduating seven players, Goodrich repeated the next season, knocking off Powers in the state championship game. Photo by Kurt J. Schulte
“As a kid, I always liked watching Dad coach and I was really blessed to have great coaches in high school I learned plenty from, and was fortunate to be part of the Alma College basketball team and learn from coaches there,” he says. “Coaching just seemed like the natural thing to do once I decided education would be my career, just part of the gig.”
Where, however, was Gray going to teach?
“It was kind of dumb luck that I wound up at Goodrich,” he recalls. “As I was finishing my degree at Alma, I attended a teacher job fair at Michigan State and met the principal who hired me. Goodrich is clearly the place I was meant to be.”
Gray also jumped right into coaching upon arriving at Goodrich in late summer, 1997. He guided the eighth-grade boys basketball squad, the freshman girls basketball team and served as a girls basketball varsity assistant before being named girls varsity coach prior to the 1999 season at the tender age of 25.
The Martians captured 11 league championships and three district titles during Gray’s first 11 seasons before an astounding four-season run beginning in 2010-11. During that time, Goodrich went 101-7, including Class B state championships in 2012 and 2013, and brought home league, district and regional titles all four of those years.
With a 499-96 record, Gray is one win away from becoming the 17th girls basketball coach in Michigan history to reach 500 victories. Photo by Kurt J. Schulte
The 2012 squad finished 28-0. Despite graduating seven players, Goodrich repeated the next season, knocking off Powers in the state championship game.
“To go undefeated while winning a state championship was super special because it’s so difficult to pull off, but we had the right mix of talent, leadership and everything else,” Gray recalls. “The next year, we battled through replacing great players who graduated and injuries to some of our top returning players. It was nice to see us work through it all to defend our state title, which was a different, but equally satisfying, type of special.”
Those title squads included NCAA Division 1 players Davis, Aketra Sevillian (Penn State), Taylor Gleason (Illinois/Oakland), Frankie Joubran (Belmont), Jessica Ashby (Oakland) and Destiny Stephens (University of Detroit). Gleason has played professionally in Europe since 2018.
“Often, former players return to Goodrich just to catch up with Coach Gray, ” Rob McRae says. “The atmosphere he creates in our girls’ basketball program exudes a sense of community and belonging.”
What Gray has accomplished with the Martians would have been quite difficult, if not impossible without the support of parents and his family which includes wife Patti, seventh-grader son Dane and fifth-grader daughter Piper, who can be seen on the sideline with her father as one of the team’s managers.
“I’ve always sought to build a partnership with parents and I’ve really appreciated those who step up like Dave Lauinger, who has helped run our youth program for about ten years, putting in so much work,” Gray says. “It’s been great to have Piper on the bench near me, helping out players by doing things like getting them water. Dane takes care of his mom in the stands when things get intense on the court.”
The Martians have been on another march the past two seasons, going 50-5 with a pair of regional titles. The 2022-23 squad bested unbeaten Lake Fenton in the district final on the way to a state semifinal appearance. Last season’s team matched the 2012 state champions by finishing the regular season unbeaten before falling to eventual state champion Detroit Edison in the state quarterfinals.
All but two players are back this season, including Hairston, a first-team All-Flint Metro League Stars Division selection. Baylor Lauinger made second-team, all-league while Tanner Schramm and Ella Place were honorable mentions.
“Size won’t be our strength, but plenty of talent is back and we are a really close-knit group that is very motivated to improve and challenge ourselves against tough competition,” Gray says.
During the first month of the season, which begins December 2, the Martians face Division 1 state runner-up Grand Blanc and Division 2 runner-up Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
“Our biggest strength will be our defense because we all have skills to play it well,” adds Kayla Hairston. “We all play fast and have great chemistry and trust on the court which also makes our defense so effective.”
It’s obvious to anyone observing the 50-year-old Gray that his energy and enthusiasm equals that of his players, meaning there is no end in sight to his time with the Martians.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to believe I’ve been leading this program for a little more than half my life, but I’m still feeling like a younger guy,” Gray emphasizes. “I’m hoping for many more years.”
