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PODCAST

Fast Break with Bret Bakita

96.1FM (WMAX-FM)

Bret Bakita interviews coaches, players and even sports broadcasters local and nationally recognized.

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All Episodes

25:38

Fast Break - Episode 38 - Aaron Sagraves -...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2021/01/22

Earlier this month, Cornerstone University announced that they are adding a men's wrestling program next year as their 20th varsity sport! West Michigan features some of the best high school programs in the state of Michigan, which seems like a natural fit for creating a local collegiate program, and the funding is there from private donations. Also, I talked to Aaron about the local small college sports scene in West Michigan, which makes our sports landscape so unique when you talk about the

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29:44

Fast Break - Episode 37 - Matt Steigenga - Former Mr....

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2021/01/15

He was the first ever Mr. Basketball from West Michigan with a standout senior season back in 1988 that led his South Christian team to the Class B State title! As a McDonald's All-American, Steigenga could have gone anywhere in the country to play, but finally decided on MSU over North Carolina and playing for Jud Heathcote. In 1990, playing with the likes of Steve Smith and Mike Peplowski, Steigenga was a part of the 1990 Big Ten championship team for the Spartans and went on to get drafted by

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26:59

Fast Break - Episode 36 - Derek Pennington - Former...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2021/01/08

After 4 seasons as the head football coach at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, Derek Pennington wanted to move to West Michigan and take over a program in the OK-Conference. He took over a Zeeland East program that was (1-26) the 3 previous seasons before he arrived, and made it a powerhouse over the next 13 years...having 12 winning seasons, 10 playoff appearances, 4 conference championships, 2 district titles, 1 regional title and in 2018, they advanced to the Division 3 semifinals! All while having to

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32:05

Fast Break - Episode 35 - Bob Kaser - Voice of the...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/12/28

In this episode, Bob chats with me about his 41-year career in hockey that started as a kid in Jacksonville, Florida, and then brought him to Grand Rapids where he has been behind the mic calling Griffins games for 20 seasons now! In that time, he has called both of Grand Rapids' Calder Cup championship series wins, and even got his own NHL call-up to Detroit to broadcast games on radio & TV for the Red Wings!!

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33:18

Fast Break - Episode 34 - Josh Helmholdt - Rivals.com...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/12/19

With the early signing period happening this week for high school football players around the country making their choices of where they want to play football in college, I thought it was time to catch up with West Michigan's own Josh Helmholdt, who has spent most of his professional career writing about and covering college football and recruiting for Rivals.com! Hear some of the names that Josh has seen in high school who are now playing in the NFL. Plus, his thoughts on the transfer portal, the

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28:32

Fast Break - Episode 33 - Mona Shores Head Coach Matt...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/12/11

For this episode, I decided to double dip with 2 guests, as I am joined by Mona Shores head football coach - Matt Koziak and his star senior and recently named M-Live High School Football Player of the Year in the State of Michigan, Brady Rose! We talk about everything from last year's state championship team, to beating Muskegon this year, Brady being named the M-Live Player of the Year, and what life is like now in playoff limbo as the Sailors are trying to defend their Divison 2 state

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28:32

Fast Break - Episode 32 - Tim Lester - WMU Head...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/12/04

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 at Ford Field later this month!

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36:08

Fast Break - Episode 31 - Jason Hutton - Fox 17...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/11/25

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 championship games being played this weekend!! Plus, find out how Jason got nicknamed "The Book", and

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28:25

Fast Break - Episode 30 - Kim Elders - Career Win...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/11/20

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 now Cornerstone University, the home of 3 National Champion men's basketball teams and one runner-up.

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23:51

Fast Break - Episode 29 - Kevin Wolma - Hudsonville...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/11/13

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, were the numerous challenges and difficult situations that parents, coaches and student-athletes go

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26:51

Fast Break - Episode 28 - Sean Baligian - Longtime...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/11/06

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 franchises who not too long ago were playing for championships! We touch all the bases on this inside the park

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28:25

Fast Break - Episode 27 - Noel Dean - 3x - State...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/10/30

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 of Lowell, and will Coach Dean come back to coaching again? Find out by listening to this week's

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32:17

Fast Break - Episode 26 - John Johnson - Retiring...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/10/23

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 uniqueness and importance of high school sports and how things have evolved over the years in the

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23:25

Fast Break - Episode 25 - Cody Francis - Hopkins Head...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/10/16

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 seasons under Francis, and his career record is (63-32)...a winning percentage of 66.3%!! This week Francis

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24:53

Fast Break - Episode 24 - OK Conference Commissioner...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/10/09

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, to talk about the current state and health of high school sports in the West Michigan area, and what

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38:20

Fast Break - Episode 23 - Dan Dickerson - Tigers 2020...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/10/02

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.

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52:27

"Fast Break with Bret Bakita" - Episode 22 - Tim...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/09/25

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!! Before coming to Grand Valley in 1996, Selgo graduated from and played men's basketball at the

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30:19

Fast Break - Episode 21 - Chuck Martin - 2x- National...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/09/18

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 berth in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama. In December of 2013, Martin was named the

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29:18

Fast Break - Episode 20 - Xavier Tillman - FHC, GR...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/09/11

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 Break" podcast series!

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38:38

Fast Break - Episode 19 - Jim Jarecki - V.P & General...

Fast Break with Bret Bakita ·

2020/09/04

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 vice president and general manager and good friend, Jim Jarecki, sits down with me in this week's episode

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