By Patrick Hayes

Ferndale High School is looking for a new basketball coach after Tom Staten stepped down. Staten, a former Ferndale and University of Michigan player himself, had to step aside due to work considerations, according to Mike Niziolek of the Ferndale Patch:

Staton, an Eagles’ alum, recently accepted a position with Crime Stoppers of Michigan as the company’s campus program manager. The job wouldn’t allow him to commit the time needed to coach at the high school level.

“It actually has been kind of surfacing because of some economic challenges,” Staton said. “We don’t get paid a lot to coach, I’m not part of the school system, and I wanted to be, but because of the budget cuts they weren’t able to bring me into the building.”

Since taking over the program in 2010, Staten has become a respected coach and helped turnaround Ferndale. Niziolek reports that he won’t be leaving coaching altogether, though:

Staton also received an offer to coach the Oakland County Cowboys, a semipro team in the American Basketball Association.

Coaching is Staton’s passion so he didn’t want to leave the game completely and the Cowboys’ schedule will allow him to gain some professional experience while not conflicting with his full-time job at Crime Stoppers.

“The Oakland County situation is a Saturday and Sunday situation,” Staton said. “It allows me a little more freedom and gives me some professional coaching experience under my belt.”

Here’s the ABA press release with the Oakland County Cowboys‘ announcement:

The American Basketball Association IABA) www.abalive.com today announced that the Oakland County Cowboys from the Detroit metro area will play in the league’s North Central Division beginning this November.  “Giovanni and his team filled in last season as a very competitive travel team and has decided to play the full home and away schedule this year; we’re very pleased. Giovanni Roger and Tom Staten have excellent backgrounds in business and basketball and should have a fine organization and team.”

Giovanni Rogers is an accomplished business man business man and an accomplished basketball player.  He has owned his own adult health business in the Detroit area since the age of 19 and purchased his first basketball franchise in a FIBA accredited league in Mexico at the age of 22.  “I have always been one to be up to a challenge and have been successful in all of my endeavors,” stated Rogers.  He hails from West Bloomfield, MI and stared in basketball at Lake Central High School. He was team captain at Oakland Community College and played  at Division 3 Marygrove College and professionally in Mexico.  “I want to give players from the Oakland County area a chance to prove that they are very relevant in the basketball landscape of Michigan and not all of the best players are from Detroit,” added Rogers.  “We plan to build an awesome experience for the community and show that they can have an exciting family friendly fun time.”

As one of Michigan’s most dynamic basketball coaches and motivational speakers, Tom Staton continues to inspire championship performance.  From the boardroom to the basketball court, as keynote speaker or coach, his message of commitment and peak performance energizes and motivates teams of all ages.

Coach Tom is a player-oriented, Championship-driven, high school coach who has successful coached teams of all ages over the past 15 years and assisted more than 12 seniors into next level basketball programs over the last three years, including his son Thomas, who stars for UMKC and Jody Hill, the nation’s 2nd leading JUCO scorer this past season.