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Eric Gajar, Monique Brown named Detroit High School Sports Awards Coaches of the Year

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Eric Gajar, Monique Brown named Detroit High School Sports Awards Coaches of the Year

Ann Arbor Greenhills tennis coach Eric Gajar and Detroit Edison basketball coach Monique Brown were named the Boys and Girls Team Coaches of the Year Tuesday night at the 2024 Detroit High School Sports Awards, presented by Detroit Area Honda Dealers. The show was produced in partnership with the U.S. Army.

The Boys Team Coach of the Year award is named after longtime Farmington Hills Harrison football coach John Herrington. The Girls Team Coach of the Year is named after Mary Cicerone, longtime Birmingham Marian basketball coach.

The show was held at the The Fillmore and honored more than 300 student-athletes from the Detroit Metro area and the surrounding counties.

The other finalists for Boys Teams Coach of the Year were Todd Heugh of Troy Athens soccer and Brandon Kaleniecki of Novi Detroit Catholic Central hockey.

The Girls Teams Coach of the Year finalists were Darrin McAllister of West Bloomfield basketball and Stefanie Kerska of Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming and diving.

Building a powerhouse is one thing. Maintaining the legacy is the hard part. But Gajar has figured out how to do it.

The Gryphons won the Division 4 title this past fall, which makes the grand total of state titles 14. This was also the second state title in a row, as the team also won the Division 3 championship in 2022.

This year, Gajar’s teams won three individual titles, runner-up in the other, and all four doubles titles in Division 4.

And while this isn’t a career award, it’s hard not to look at the fact that Gajar’s teams won eight titles in a row from 2008 to 2015.

Brown has coached Gatorade Players of the Year. Miss Basketballs. She’s led Detroit Edison to multiple state titles.

This year’s team didn’t have Dream Team members or Miss Basketball finalists, but it hard heart, grit, and Brown’s tutelage to guide them to Lansing.

On the backs of a clutch second-half performance, Detroit Edison won the Division 2 championship, knocking off the last unbeaten team in Michigan, Gabriel Richard, to claim the title.

This year was Brown’s fifth title at Detroit Edison in eight seasons. Two came in Class C in 2017 and 2018. She guided Edison to three in 2019, 2023 and this past season.

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