Matt Mitchell steps away from GV football head coach position

Grand Valley State University’s former football head coach Matt Mitchell announced in a press release on Jan. 15 that he will pursue another coaching position at the University of Wisconsin.

Mitchell began his coaching career with the Lakers in 2004 as an assistant coach for defensive backs. It wasn’t until the 2010 season that Mitchell would be promoted to head coach, and since then the Lakers have clinched seven NCAA DII Playoff berths, won two GLIAC Championships (including the most recent season; 2022) and tallied a 117-31 overall record under his leadership – just one win shy of tying the most wins by a Laker head coach.

The GVSU Athletic Department also mentioned in the press release that the university would begin searching for a replacement effective immediately.

Men’s basketball splits a pair in back-to-back home games

GVSU men’s basketball hosted the Wayne State Warriors (63-72) and Saginaw Valley State University (66-62) this past week to bring their season record to 9-8 thus far.

The loss against WSU was within striking distance for the Lakers throughout the majority of the battle as 10-separate lead changes and 11 ties were recorded. GVSU held a slight advantage over the Warriors at the end of the first half with a 39-34 scoreline, but WSU would claw its way back into the game and take the lead for the first time in the second half with just under 15 minutes left in action and would ultimately finish the game with a win as GVSU couldn’t string together a last-minute comeback.

Junior forward Marius Grazulis would be the only Laker to score in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds as redshirt senior forward Isaiah Carver-Bagley (nine) and senior guard Luke Toliver (eight) would be the next leading scorers respectively.

A bounce-back effort by GVSU was seen in their second matchup of the week against SVSU as the Lakers’ underclassmen would be crucial to the team’s success.

After trailing by three points (29-32) to close out the first half and going down by as much as 10 points just a few minutes into the second half, GVSU didn’t lose hope and slowly inched their way back into the driver’s seat. The Lakers would eventually win the nail-biter against the Cardinals after two clutch free throws were sunk by freshman guard Britain Harris.

Sophomore guard Trevon Gunter tallied a game-high 19 points as Harris added 10 and freshman guard Jalen Charity contributed nine points of his own.

GVSU is now 9-8 on the season and will play their next game on the road against Northern Michigan on Jan. 19.