New Godwin Heights coach is familiar with the program

Braima Hai was a star basketball player at Godwin Heights and now he’s the new varsity basketball coach. (Graphic from Godwin Heights).

WYOMING, Mich. - Braima Hai is the new boys basketball coach at Wyoming Godwin Heights High School, but he isn’t new to the program.

Hai graduated from Godwin Heights in 2013 as a dynamic point guard and has coached in the Wolverines program at the lower levels for the past five years.

So he was a good candidate to replace Bernard Varnesdeel after the season. Varnesdeel left to become the coach at Grand Rapids West Catholic.

“It’s very fun,” Hai said after Godwin Heights played in a team tournament in late June. “They make it exciting for me. I’ve actually coach a lot of these kids at the lower levels. So it made the transition easy for me. I’m excited to see how we’ve improved from summer to November.”

Hai’s top returning player is Isaiah Guyton, a talented 6-foot-6 forward who is a good scorer and rebounder. He was happy to have Hai again as a coach. 

“I’ve been with Braima for at least five years now,” Guyton said. “He’s a great coach and trainer and he knows the game.”

Hai played for five years at Davenport University, where he is fifth on the school’s all-time assists leaders. He would get a four-year degree and a masters from Davenport.

Godwin Heights was 13-10 last season, including 10-4 in the O-K Silver Conference.