As you might guess, the usual standouts have the majority of possibilities on this team.
Remember, we're introducing a potential All-Decade team each Thursday until December, when, based on your comments and my original groupings, we'll come up with our All-Decade teams for each sport. Check out the links at the bottom of this post to contribute to all of the conversations so far. Alex Forger, Okemos (2005, Michigan State): Named LSJ Player of the Year after each of his final three seasons. Won the Division 2 state title his final two seasons, going 20-0 without losing a set as a senior.
Scott Schultz II, Okemos (2007): Finished his high school career 96-15 including playing 1.5 seasons at No. 1. He made the state semis at that flight as a senior, won at No. 2 as a junior, was runner-up at No. 3 as a sophomore and a semifinalist also at No. 2 as a freshman. He made the LSJ Dream Team after three seasons and was Player of the Year as a senior. Vinny Gossain, Okemos (2001, Michigan): Shared LSJ Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior, going a combined 36-9. He was the Division 2 state runner-up as a junior and a Division 1 semifinalist as a senior. Harry Jadun, East Lansing (2011): With a season to play, Jadun has been named LSJ Player of the Year twice and won the Division 2 state championship this fall. He made the semis as a sophomore and played No. 3 as a freshman, when he also made the semis at that flight.
Shawn Savage/Michael Kebler, Okemos (2006/2007): Went 47-7 combined in 2005-06, winning the Division 2 state title in the latter after making the semis in the former. Kebler then went 26-2 with Dan Dantus as a senior as they finished state runners-up.
Blake Brogan/Bobby Cawood, East Lansing (2008): Went 29-3 as seniors and won the Division 2 state championship. Cawood had been an all-area No. 1 singles player before joining Brogan, who played No. 2 doubles as a junior.
Chris Chepy/Dave Swan, Okemos (2000): Finished 22-4 and won the No. 1 doubles state title in Division 2 as seniors after making the semifinals as juniors.
Finley Huston/Rohit Narayan, Okemos (2004/2003): Finished 25-2 in 2003 to win the Division 2 state title at No. 1. Both losses were to the eventual Division 1 state champs.
Others in the conversation: C.J. Griffin, Portland (2008, Penn State): His high school time was limited, but he went 16-0 without losing a set after re-joining the team as a senior after playing as a freshman. He won the Division 4 state title his final season. Tommy Cawood, East Lansing (2008, Denison): Named LSJ Player of the Year as both a senior and sophomore while taking off his junior year. Both of those seasons ended for him in the Division 2 state semifinals.
Kevin Borzenski, Lansing Catholic (2001, Pepperdine): Named co-LSJ Player of the Year as a junior when he went 20-3, but just made the Dream Team as a senior when he won the Division 3 state championship at No. 1 singles with a 17-4 record.
David Bubenicek, Eaton Rapids (2001, Indiana): An exchange student from the Czech Republic, was co-LSJ Player of the Year as a senior going 22-2, winning a Division 1 regional title and advancing to the state semifinals.
Jordan O’Neill, Lansing Catholic (2005, Aquinas): Posted a 63-10 record over his final three seasons, making the LSJ Dream Team after all of them. He won the Division 4 state title as a senior.
Peter Sienko, Williamston (2010): Named to the LSJ Dream Team all four seasons. He went 68-11 over those seasons, twice finishing Division 4 state runner-up and the other two times losing in the semifinals.
Adam Dumas/Tyler Sporer, Portland (2005): Combined to go 51-8 over their final two seasons. Still unseeded as seniors after making the Division 4 quarters as juniors, Dumas and Sporer made the state semifinals and dropped only five sets during their final season.
Matt Hagbom/Ben Sinder, East Lansing (2000/2003): This pair was 14-2 and the Division 2 state runner-up in 2000. Hagbom was part of a No. 2 quarterfinalist as a junior, while Sinder went on to make the LSJ Dream Team two more times at singles.
Peter Lindman/Andrew Campbell, Lansing Catholic (2006/2007): This pair finished 19-4 in 2006 and won the Division 3 state title at No. 1. They were runners-up at No. 2 the season before, and quarterfinalists at No. 4 the season before that.
Adam Jadun/Steve Wolff, East Lansing (2010/2008): These two combined to go 25-3 and win the Division 2 state title during the 2007 fall season. Wolff made two other state tournaments at other flights, while Jadun was a No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles state semifinalist the last two seasons, respectively.
Evan Pan/Alex Salvadori, Okemos (2010): The duo combined in midseason and went 12-3 while earning the Division 2 state title. Both had other state finals successes, Pan with other doubles partners and Salvadori in singles.
Dan Dantus/Evan Pan (2008/2010): Dantus was No. 4 runner-up, No. 3 champion, No. 2 runner-up and a No. 1 semifinalist, all with different partners. With Pan he played No. 1 as a senior in the fall of 2007.
And the coaches: High school tennis coaches at the highest levels often inherit well-trained singles players, and so are charged more with developing doubles, teaching the mental approach and managing the thing as a whole. Okemos’ Bryan Polston was an assistant on the 2000 championship team and then led the Chieftains to four state titles from 2004-07. Also in the conversation: East Lansing’s Erik Anderson led the Trojans to state titles in fall 2007 and 2008. Lansing Catholic’s Ron Landfair has built quite a program, especially on the doubles side, and Portland’s Jim Niebling also has built a powerhouse with much less help from the club side of the sport. Williamston’s Phil Brillantes led his program to many first this fall including a runner-up finish in Division 4, and Mason’s Dee McCaffrey deserves mention while now having to battle strong football and soccer programs for players. Other All-Decade blogs so far:
Here's what I've got so far for boys tennis:
