Fast Break with Bret Bakita

From being recruited in high school by Florida and Steve Spurrier to ending up at WMU where he threw for over 11,000 yards and 87 TDs in his career, Bronco Hall of Fame quarterback Tim Lester has now made a name for himself in Kalamazoo as the head coach of his alma mater that is off to a (4-0) start this season and poised to win the MAC West division and earn a trip to the MAC Championship game a...

I have been fortunate enough to work with Jason "The Book" Hutton for over a decade now covering high school sports in West Michigan on both the radio and TV! His knowledge and passion for covering high school sports is second to none in this area, and he has come up with something special this Thanksgiving weekend for high school football fans that might be suffering from withdrawal with no state...

In his 28th season as Cornerstone University's men's head basketball coach, Kim Elders has truly been a pillar of success in building one of the strongest local college basketball programs in the country! Earlier this month, he earned his 700th career win at Cornerstone, which makes him the 20th NAIA coach all-time to reach this milestone. He helped build what was Grand Rapids Baptist College to n...

From a former high school player himself at Grandville, to a 22-year old head varsity boys basketball coach, and now the current athletic director at Hudsonville High School, Kevin Wolma has seen high school sports through a lot of different lenses, and he wanted to use this experience and these different perspectives to be a great sports dad for his own kids! But what he found and wrote down, wer...

In the last 10 days in the state of Michigan sports cycle we have had Michigan State knock off Michigan at the Big House, and what does that mean for the future of Jim Harbaugh as the coach of the Wolverines, the Detroit Tigers have hired AJ Hinch as their new manager, the Lions couldn't get over the .500 mark at home against Indy, and what is the current state of the Red Wings and Pistons franchi...

Noel Dean got his first high school football head coaching job at the age of 22 right out of Olivet College, and from there, moved with his wife, Jill, to Lowell to raise their family.....the rest is Red Arrow football history! A 19-year playoff run, 6 state finals appearances, 3 state championships and a community event like the Pink Arrow Project are now left as a legacy to the school and town o...

At the end of this year, the MHSAA will lose another pillar of its longtime leadership as John Johnson, the first communications director and now broadcasting director, will be retiring! This comes just 2 years after the man that hired him back in 1987, Jack Roberts, decided to pass the reins off to Mark Uyl as the executive director of the statewide association. In this episode, we talk about the...

A Hopkins High School alumnus, Cody Francis, is living out his career dream in his hometown following in the footsteps of some great mentors from his playing days! Now in his 10th season as head coach of the Vikings, Cody has Hopkins at (4-0) this season atop the OK-Silver division and ranked #5 in the state this week in Division 5. Hopkins has qualified for the MHSAA playoffs in 6 of the 9 season...

It is the largest high school sports conference in the state of Michigan and one of the largest in the country with 49 participating schools in 6 divisions across 7 counties in West Michigan! We are talking about the OK-Conference, which was established back in 1958 and has had tremendous growth in the last decade. In this episode, I sit down with the commissioner of the conference, Dave Feenstra,...

With the Detroit Tigers 2020 season now complete, I caught up with the radio voice of the Tigers - Dan Dickerson to recap the season and get his thoughts on Detroit's search for a new manager, and what will the 2021 Tigers roster look like as well as their minor league system! Also, will there be any changes by Major League Baseball after this shortened season to the game moving forward.

A key figure in Grand Valley State University's rise to the top of Division II athletics the last 20 years, Tim Selgo helped the Lakers win 19 NCAA Division II National Championships in a variety of sports and 173 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns! GVSU also won 11 Learfield Sports/NACDA Directors' Cups nationally and 18 consecutive GLIAC Presidents' Cup titles during his era!...

From a 2-time National Championship head football coach at Grand Valley State after serving as an assistant coach for the Lakers under Brian Kelly, Chuck Martin then had the opportunity to work under Kelly again on his staff at Notre Dame! A longtime Fighting Irish fan growing up in the Chicago area, Chuck was the offensive coordinator for ND in the 2012 season when they went (12-0) and earned a b...

From his high school days at both Forest Hills Central and Grand Rapids Christian High where he became an all-state performer and Mr. Basketball finalist, to his outstanding career that just wrapped up after 3 seasons at Michigan State playing for Tom Izzo, meet husband, father and great basketball player Xavier Tillman as he prepares for this year's NBA Draft in this week's episode of the "Fast B...

It was supposed to be the 27th Season of Whitecaps baseball in West Michigan this summer, but it never happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One staff member over at 5/3rd. Ballpark has been involved with all 26 seasons previous from parking cars, to making sure fans have the best experience possible and the grounds crew is ready if they have to pull the tarp for rain moving in. Whitecaps vic...

He has been coaching high school football in West Michigan for 36 years and counting, and currently is the head coach of the Zeeland West Dux, where he has won 4 state championships in 15 seasons! John Shillito has coached at Comstock Park, Muskegon Orchard View, East Kentwood and now Zeeland West, and all he has done is simply win every where he has been and in 2005 he was inducted into the Michi...

From Greenville High to the Michigan State gridiron and an 8-year NFL career, Ty Hallock has had a tremendous life involving the game of football, but now, he enjoys giving back by coaching at the high school ranks at Forest Hills Central and watching his kids create a Spartan Legacy for the Hallock family! Hear his story as a player, coach and proud dad in this week's episode!

For 38 years and counting now, sports fans across West Michigan have heard the voice of Rick Berkey talking about their favorite teams or doing the play-by-play of their games! From the Grand Rapids Sullivans baseball team back in the day, to the first voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps, GVSU Men's Basketball to the Grand Rapids Hoops, the Rampage to now the voice of Davenport football and men's...

This week we highlight the unbelievable coaching career of Tony Annese and the coaching tree that he has grown across the state of Michigan! Over 30 plus years as the head man on the sidelines and has won at every stop he has made, including 3 high school football state championships, 2 NJCAA Div. II National Championships at Grand Rapids Community College and has taken Ferris State to the NCAA Di...

The decade of the 1980's was arguably the best in the Grand Rapids area when it came to individual talent and teams in boys high school basketball, and one of the best to take the court in the early 80's was Garde Thompson of East Grand Rapids High School, who finished runner-up for Mr. Basketball in 1983 to Antoine Joubert! Garde went on to play for Bill Frieder at the University of Michigan winn...

After attending Grand Rapids Junior College at the time and having an outstanding basketball career for the Raiders, David knew that this was the place that he would eventually like to work one day and call Grand Rapids his home. 31 years later....he has been a constant pillar in the foundation of now Grand Rapids Community College, serving as the head men's basketball coach for 20 years and on th...

For 50 years, Mick McCabe, also known as the Son of Swami, has been covering high school sports all around the state of Michigan! Now you can hear some of his stories about the players, coaches and even venues new and old that he has been in over the years, as he has seen the finest from the Mitten State perform before they headed off to college or were lucky enough to even play in the pros!! Plus...

The story of David Kool comes full circle as this past April he was hired to be the new athletic director at South Christian High School where he starred in basketball and became the school's second Mr. Basketball back in 2006, helping lead the Sailors to 2x - Class B State Championships in his career! From there he took his talents to Western Michigan University, becoming the school's all-time le...

Almost 50 years old now, we relive the history of driveway basketball in West Michigan and what turned into the Gus Macker All-World Basketball Tour! Bret sits down with Gus Macker himself, Scott McNeal, and goes back through the memories of what started as a summer driveway tournament with 18 players in Lowell to a Sports Illustrated feature article and now tour and business that draws over 200,0...

Bret sits down and talks with Dan about bringing a minor league hockey franchise to Grand Rapids and Van Andel Arena in the late 1990's, the importance of the affiliation between the Griffins and the Detroit Red Wings, winning championships with both the Griffins and Rampage, and more!

Bret sits down one-on-one with legendary sportscaster George Blaha to talk about the "Bad Boys" and the "Go to Work" championship teams of the Pistons as well as his 40+ year career behind the mic for Detroit, and they also discuss Michigan State football and the Mark Dantonio era for Spartan Football!