The success of every great team has a greater leader. Former New England Patriots Coach Bill Belicheck led Tom Brady and the team to 9 Superbowl games, with 6 wins. Players like Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal listened to coach Jerry West to build the dynasty that is the Los Angeles Lakers.
What about the men’s basketball team for Schoolcraft?
Meet Coach EJ Haralson, a coach, and a former player, who wants to give back to the community.
Coach Haralson, a former basketball player, decided to become a coach as he “wanted to do the same thing his coaches did for him when he was a player” as he pays it forward, investing in the players.
Prior to being named the Head Coach at Schoolcraft, Haralson spent 19 years, serving various roles, including Interim Head Coach, at Wayne State University. Prior to Wayne State, Haralson was a coach at Finney High School for 4 years, spending the first two as an assistant and the last two as the head coach. As head coach, Finney won the first Public School League title in school history to go along with a district and regional championship. In the 2002-03 season, Haralson was named the Detroit Public School League Coach of the Year and was awarded the FHS Outstanding Achievement Award. He had five seniors move on to play collegiate basketball.
The third year coach focuses on instilling confidence within his players. He builds structured work ethics and pushes every player to bet on themselves, forces his young players to understand hard work, education, and working together to accomplish their goals.
A strong foundation is key for the Ocelots.The team starts their practices with stretches followed by basic skill warm-ups and daily workouts to train their body.
Haralson heavily wants the players to build the foundation, focusing on widening their offensive and defensive philosophy. He wants the players to “put themselves out there to be a good team.”
Freshman Andrew Kimbrough understands the expectations of his coach. Kimbrough dedicates his time working hard at the gym to make Haralson proud. That’s one of the reasons why he chose Schoolcraft.
“Coach Haralson cares about the players, and wants the best out of every player,” said Kimbrough about how much his coach invests in his players.
Haralson’s biggest core value is working hard. He pushes his players to work hard on the court, in the gym, in school, at home, everything in life. “I encourage my players to work as hard as you possibly can, because you don’t know where your next opportunity’s gonna come from.”
Another core value is being grateful for the now. Haralson always reminds his players that, as well as to treat each other the way you want to be treated. With these two key principles, he creates a mutual respect between player and coach and starts a deeper relationship between person to person.
Haralson cares about his players both on and off the court. He emphasizes his team’s academic success above everything else.
Haralson knows the importance of academics comes first. “No matter how good you are at basketball, if you don’t have the academics, none of your goals will be accomplished, because academics will last longer than basketball skills,” said Haralson.
Sophomore Kechan Johnson cares about his academics. His dream job is to become a principal, just like his parents. Johnson’s advice for the first year players is to keep working hard with coach and perform better. “You don’t know who’s watching you,” said Johnson.
Every season is a journey. There will be accomplishments and setbacks. Haralson helps his players identify the problems so they can learn from them. Haralson and the players view past tape recordings on their practice and games and use that as a tool to elevate the team’s performance.
He enjoys waking up everyday, coming to Schoolcraft and practicing as a team and teaching the game of basketball to his players.
Sophomore player Marshall Thorn aims to “make every opportunity count this season.” This year, he is focused on scoring more and working on communicating better with coaches and teammates. Thorn appreciates his coach for giving him an opportunity to play at Schoolcraft. “Coach Haralson is the best coach he’s ever had,” said Thorn.
Following his first year’s record of 2-22, in his first full offseason cycle, Haralson and the Ocelots improved their record to 14-15, including a berth into the Great Lakes District C Tournament in 2022-23. In 2024-25, Haralson was well on his way to building back the program and taking the program to new heights in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association.
For more game schedules, rosters and up to date information, go to www.schoolcraft ocelots.com.
