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The Rockford girls basketball team had just beaten Traverse City Central in a Division 1 regional final last week and when they players gathered in the locker room, coach Brad Wilson delivered his state of the program address.
“OK Red champs,” he proclaimed.
“Yep,” the players responded in unison.
“District champs,” he said.
The players answered: “Yep”
“Regional champs.”
“Yep!”
“And hot of the press, your new, the 2025 Miss Basketball is Rockford’s ... Anna Wypych,” Wilson said while turning and pointing to Wypych.
Well, the locker room nearly exploded as the players went berserk in celebrating their teammate as the 44th recipient of the Mick McCabe Miss Basketball award.
The award is given by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan to the state’s top senior.
Only BCAM members are permitted vote for the award and Wypych accumulated 3,148 points.
Harbor Springs’ Olivia Flynn was second with 1,976 points, Alli Zajac of Tecumseh was third with 1,756. Detroit Edison’s Isis Johnson-Musah was fourth (1,447) and Colleen Bryant (1,321) of was fifth.
Coaches must vote for three candidates and of the 1,072 votes cast, Wypych earned a walloping 444 first-place votes, more than double any other candidate.
The news caught Wypych, who signed with Butler, by surprise.
“My mouth dropped wide open,” she said. “I was like shocked, I didn’t really know what to say. I was speechless.”
Wypych lets her play on the court do the talking. This season the 6-foot senior is averaging 22 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 4.5 steals heading into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal game against Grand Haven at Muskegon Mona Shores.
For her career she has scored 1,564 points.
Winning this award was never on Wypych’s bucket list until recently. She isn’t built that way.
“To be honest, I never really thought about the award like that,” she said. “I was focused on the stuff as a team because I know it’s a goal of ours to win another state championship.”
It finally became a goal this year, but only at the insistence of Wilson.
“I guess my senior year, Coach Wilson kind of would always bring it up,” she said. “We’d set goals together and that was one I set because I know it’s a pretty cool award.”
Wilson knew long ago Wypych had what it takes to be Miss Basketball. It was just a matter of getting her to think in those terms.
“I knew skill-wise in her junior year she had the potential, but she really needed to grow up and come into her own and be a leader,” Wilson said. “She really worked on that a ton in the offseason. This is the most confident I’ve seen her play in her career and within the first two or three games I was thinking this was going to be a special year.”
To be accurate, this is Wypych’s fourth special year. A victory Tuesday and Wypych will be making her fourth consecutive trip to Division 1’s final four.
And Wypych made the most of her first three trips to the Breslin Center. Unlike most freshmen in that position, she wasn’t happy just to be there.
She was an impact player as a ninth grader.
Wypych scored 11 points and had five assists in a 66-63 loss to West Bloomfield, which featured twins Summer and Indya, who are now freshman at Georgia.
As a sophomore she was clearly the best player on the floor when she scored 20 points with eight rebounds in a 40-36 upset of West Bloomfield.
Last season she had another 20-point effort in a 55-47 semifinal overtime loss to West Bloomfield.
Her mother, Jenny, was an All-America player at Michigan Tech and is Wilson’s assistant. In hindsight, she believes that state title her sophomore year was the turning point of her daughter’s career.
“Her sophomore year is when we won the state title and we played against West Bloomfield against the twins and she took at them and kind of took over the game,” her mother said. “That’s when people started saying: ‘Oh wow, when she’s a senior she might be a candidate.’ I was thinking: ‘Yeah, right.’ ”
Well, they were right.
Older sister Alyssa Wypych is a sophomore on the team at Michigan Tech and helped clear the way for her sister when it came to playing basketball.
“Having an older sister and with teams we had with her, when we needed players Anna would fill in,” Jenny said. “When she was in fourth grade she’d be playing against sixth graders, kids two years older than her and she would not be scared to attack or not be scared to shoot and was very fast.
“Then it was ‘Wow, she can play above her age.’ ”
Despite her success at an early age, confidence came gradually for Wypych. Initially, she was a reluctant recruit to the varsity when she was younger.
“My freshman year I came up midway through the year to play on varsity,” she said. “Truthfully, I was a little bit scared to play on varsity as a freshman. But after my freshman year, I made the big leap my sophomore year.”
She has continued to improve each season and over last summer made another leap by letting go of her mistakes and move on to the next play.
“In the past if there was some adversity,” Wilson said, “whether she turned it over or missed a few shots she would get down on herself and it would affect her body language and affect future plays.”
But those days are gone now and she is enjoying basketball more now than ever.
“Once she was able mentally to get over that hurdle,” Wilson said, “and let herself just play and enjoy it and be a leader and understand that even the great ones miss shots from time to time and truly believe in that is when her talent really began to shine.”
That talent has shone like the North Star this season in helping Rockford to a 25-1 season.
“Her ability to attack the basket and finish is unlike any player that we’ve had,” he said. “We know she’s going to get by the first one, whoever’s guarding her, but then her ability to Eurostep or spin or get around the (second) defender and score is unlike any player that we’ve ever had or I’ve seen as a female athlete.”
Wypych is humble, almost to a fault. She constantly refers to team goals and you get the feeling she wants to be thought of as just one of the players on the team.
Well, that has gone out the window with the Miss Basketball award.
When pressed on what significance the award carries with it, she paused and shyly squealed:
“I’d like to say the best player in Michigan.”
She’d be right.
2025 Anna Wypych, Rockford (Butler)
2024 Gabby Reynolds, Holland West Ottawa (George Washington)
2023 Macy Brown, East Grand Rapids (Michigan)
2022 Ruby Whitehorn, Detroit Edison (Clemson)
2021 Damiya Hagemann, Detroit Edison (Michigan State)
2020 Gabrielle Elliott, Detroit Edison (Clemson)
2019 Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison (Mississippi State)
2018 Jaida Hampton, East Lansing (Wichita State)
2017 Jordan Walker, Muskegon Mona Shores (Western Michigan)
2016 Kysre Gondrezick, Benton Harbor (Michigan, West Virginia)
2015 Tania Davis, Goodrich (Iowa)
2014 Lexi Gussert, Crystal Falls Forrest Park (Michigan State)
2013 Tori Jankoska, Freeland (Michigan State)
2012 Madison Ristovski, G.P. Liggett (Michigan)
2011 Jasmine Hines, Central Lake (Michigan State)
2010 Klarissa Bell, East Lansing (Michigan State)
2009 Jenny Ryan, Saginaw Nouvel (Michigan)
2008 Kellie Watson, Ionia (Notre Dame/Grand Valley)
2006 Brenna Banktson, Frankfort (Western Michigan)
2005 Allyssa DeHaan, Grandville (Michigan State)
2004 Tiffanie Shives, Lansing Christian (Michigan State/Gonzaga)
2003 Krista Clement, St. Ignace (Michigan)
2002 Danielle Kamm, Saginaw Nouvel (Marquette)
2001 Liz Shimek, Maple City Glen Lake (Michigan State)
2000 Tabitha Pool, Ann Arbor Huron (Michigan)
1999 Vicki Krapohl, Mt. Pleasant (Duke)
1998 Kristen Koetsier, Grandville (Western Michigan)
1997 Aiysha Smith, Redford Bishop Borgess (St. Johns/LSU)
1996 Deana Nolan, Flint Northern (Georgia)
1995 Maxann Reese, Redford Bishop Borgess (Michigan State)
1994 Kim Knuth, St. Joseph (Toledo)
1993 Sally Sedlar, Manistee (Toledo/Central Michigan)
1992 Erinn Reed, Saginaw (Iowa/Kansas)
1991 Lisa Negri, Flint Powers (Ohio State)
1990 Markita Aldridge, Detroit King (UNC-Charlotte)
1989 Peggy Evans, Country Day (Tennessee/Ohio State)
1988 Jennifer Shasky, Birmingham Marian (George Washington)
1987 Dena Head, Plymouth Salem (Tennessee)
1986 Daedra Charles, Detroit DePorres (Tennessee)
1985 Franthea Price, River Rouge (Iowa)
1984 Emily Wagner, Livonia Ladywood (Stanford)
1983 Michele Kruty, Manistee (Dayton)
1982 Sue Tucker, Okemos (Michigan State)
1981 Julie Polakowski, Leland (Michigan State)
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @mickmccabe1. Save 30% on his book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” by ordering right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Anna Wypych of Rockford named 2025 Michigan Miss Basketball
Continue reading...
“OK Red champs,” he proclaimed.
“Yep,” the players responded in unison.
“District champs,” he said.
The players answered: “Yep”
“Regional champs.”
“Yep!”
“And hot of the press, your new, the 2025 Miss Basketball is Rockford’s ... Anna Wypych,” Wilson said while turning and pointing to Wypych.
Well, the locker room nearly exploded as the players went berserk in celebrating their teammate as the 44th recipient of the Mick McCabe Miss Basketball award.
You must be registered for see images attach
The award is given by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan to the state’s top senior.
Only BCAM members are permitted vote for the award and Wypych accumulated 3,148 points.
Harbor Springs’ Olivia Flynn was second with 1,976 points, Alli Zajac of Tecumseh was third with 1,756. Detroit Edison’s Isis Johnson-Musah was fourth (1,447) and Colleen Bryant (1,321) of was fifth.
Coaches must vote for three candidates and of the 1,072 votes cast, Wypych earned a walloping 444 first-place votes, more than double any other candidate.
The news caught Wypych, who signed with Butler, by surprise.
“My mouth dropped wide open,” she said. “I was like shocked, I didn’t really know what to say. I was speechless.”
Wypych lets her play on the court do the talking. This season the 6-foot senior is averaging 22 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 4.5 steals heading into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal game against Grand Haven at Muskegon Mona Shores.
For her career she has scored 1,564 points.
Winning this award was never on Wypych’s bucket list until recently. She isn’t built that way.
“To be honest, I never really thought about the award like that,” she said. “I was focused on the stuff as a team because I know it’s a goal of ours to win another state championship.”
It finally became a goal this year, but only at the insistence of Wilson.
“I guess my senior year, Coach Wilson kind of would always bring it up,” she said. “We’d set goals together and that was one I set because I know it’s a pretty cool award.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Wilson knew long ago Wypych had what it takes to be Miss Basketball. It was just a matter of getting her to think in those terms.
“I knew skill-wise in her junior year she had the potential, but she really needed to grow up and come into her own and be a leader,” Wilson said. “She really worked on that a ton in the offseason. This is the most confident I’ve seen her play in her career and within the first two or three games I was thinking this was going to be a special year.”
To be accurate, this is Wypych’s fourth special year. A victory Tuesday and Wypych will be making her fourth consecutive trip to Division 1’s final four.
And Wypych made the most of her first three trips to the Breslin Center. Unlike most freshmen in that position, she wasn’t happy just to be there.
She was an impact player as a ninth grader.
Wypych scored 11 points and had five assists in a 66-63 loss to West Bloomfield, which featured twins Summer and Indya, who are now freshman at Georgia.
As a sophomore she was clearly the best player on the floor when she scored 20 points with eight rebounds in a 40-36 upset of West Bloomfield.
You must be registered for see images attach
Last season she had another 20-point effort in a 55-47 semifinal overtime loss to West Bloomfield.
Her mother, Jenny, was an All-America player at Michigan Tech and is Wilson’s assistant. In hindsight, she believes that state title her sophomore year was the turning point of her daughter’s career.
“Her sophomore year is when we won the state title and we played against West Bloomfield against the twins and she took at them and kind of took over the game,” her mother said. “That’s when people started saying: ‘Oh wow, when she’s a senior she might be a candidate.’ I was thinking: ‘Yeah, right.’ ”
Well, they were right.
Older sister Alyssa Wypych is a sophomore on the team at Michigan Tech and helped clear the way for her sister when it came to playing basketball.
“Having an older sister and with teams we had with her, when we needed players Anna would fill in,” Jenny said. “When she was in fourth grade she’d be playing against sixth graders, kids two years older than her and she would not be scared to attack or not be scared to shoot and was very fast.
“Then it was ‘Wow, she can play above her age.’ ”
Despite her success at an early age, confidence came gradually for Wypych. Initially, she was a reluctant recruit to the varsity when she was younger.
“My freshman year I came up midway through the year to play on varsity,” she said. “Truthfully, I was a little bit scared to play on varsity as a freshman. But after my freshman year, I made the big leap my sophomore year.”
She has continued to improve each season and over last summer made another leap by letting go of her mistakes and move on to the next play.
“In the past if there was some adversity,” Wilson said, “whether she turned it over or missed a few shots she would get down on herself and it would affect her body language and affect future plays.”
But those days are gone now and she is enjoying basketball more now than ever.
“Once she was able mentally to get over that hurdle,” Wilson said, “and let herself just play and enjoy it and be a leader and understand that even the great ones miss shots from time to time and truly believe in that is when her talent really began to shine.”
That talent has shone like the North Star this season in helping Rockford to a 25-1 season.
“Her ability to attack the basket and finish is unlike any player that we’ve had,” he said. “We know she’s going to get by the first one, whoever’s guarding her, but then her ability to Eurostep or spin or get around the (second) defender and score is unlike any player that we’ve ever had or I’ve seen as a female athlete.”
Wypych is humble, almost to a fault. She constantly refers to team goals and you get the feeling she wants to be thought of as just one of the players on the team.
Well, that has gone out the window with the Miss Basketball award.
When pressed on what significance the award carries with it, she paused and shyly squealed:
“I’d like to say the best player in Michigan.”
She’d be right.
Here are the 44 winners of the Mick McCabe Miss Basketball Award:
2025 Anna Wypych, Rockford (Butler)
2024 Gabby Reynolds, Holland West Ottawa (George Washington)
2023 Macy Brown, East Grand Rapids (Michigan)
2022 Ruby Whitehorn, Detroit Edison (Clemson)
2021 Damiya Hagemann, Detroit Edison (Michigan State)
2020 Gabrielle Elliott, Detroit Edison (Clemson)
2019 Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison (Mississippi State)
2018 Jaida Hampton, East Lansing (Wichita State)
2017 Jordan Walker, Muskegon Mona Shores (Western Michigan)
2016 Kysre Gondrezick, Benton Harbor (Michigan, West Virginia)
2015 Tania Davis, Goodrich (Iowa)
2014 Lexi Gussert, Crystal Falls Forrest Park (Michigan State)
2013 Tori Jankoska, Freeland (Michigan State)
2012 Madison Ristovski, G.P. Liggett (Michigan)
2011 Jasmine Hines, Central Lake (Michigan State)
2010 Klarissa Bell, East Lansing (Michigan State)
2009 Jenny Ryan, Saginaw Nouvel (Michigan)
2008 Kellie Watson, Ionia (Notre Dame/Grand Valley)
2006 Brenna Banktson, Frankfort (Western Michigan)
2005 Allyssa DeHaan, Grandville (Michigan State)
2004 Tiffanie Shives, Lansing Christian (Michigan State/Gonzaga)
2003 Krista Clement, St. Ignace (Michigan)
2002 Danielle Kamm, Saginaw Nouvel (Marquette)
2001 Liz Shimek, Maple City Glen Lake (Michigan State)
2000 Tabitha Pool, Ann Arbor Huron (Michigan)
1999 Vicki Krapohl, Mt. Pleasant (Duke)
1998 Kristen Koetsier, Grandville (Western Michigan)
1997 Aiysha Smith, Redford Bishop Borgess (St. Johns/LSU)
1996 Deana Nolan, Flint Northern (Georgia)
1995 Maxann Reese, Redford Bishop Borgess (Michigan State)
1994 Kim Knuth, St. Joseph (Toledo)
1993 Sally Sedlar, Manistee (Toledo/Central Michigan)
1992 Erinn Reed, Saginaw (Iowa/Kansas)
1991 Lisa Negri, Flint Powers (Ohio State)
1990 Markita Aldridge, Detroit King (UNC-Charlotte)
1989 Peggy Evans, Country Day (Tennessee/Ohio State)
1988 Jennifer Shasky, Birmingham Marian (George Washington)
1987 Dena Head, Plymouth Salem (Tennessee)
1986 Daedra Charles, Detroit DePorres (Tennessee)
1985 Franthea Price, River Rouge (Iowa)
1984 Emily Wagner, Livonia Ladywood (Stanford)
1983 Michele Kruty, Manistee (Dayton)
1982 Sue Tucker, Okemos (Michigan State)
1981 Julie Polakowski, Leland (Michigan State)
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @mickmccabe1. Save 30% on his book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” by ordering right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Anna Wypych of Rockford named 2025 Michigan Miss Basketball
Continue reading...
