Hooked on HOOPS
"If you got good people around you, you will be good, because they won't let you fail." - Mike Mayfield
Matt Daniels
Issue date: 1/27/10 Section: Sports
Mayfield has a huge advantage when it comes to recruiting because of the coaching position he held before coming to Madison College in 2006. He spent 23 years coaching women's basketball at Monona Grove High School before joining coach Pelzel in her first season at Madison College. He coached the girl's freshman team for 17 years before taking over the girl's varsity team at Monona Grove. He established connections over the years that now benefit him when it comes to recruiting at the college level.
"It was a five minute interview and I was there for 23 years," said a smiling Mayfield about the interview for the coaching position at Monona Grove. He was playing basketball during a lunch break and ran into a kid playing with a Monona Grove basketball. Mayfield inquired if there were any coaching positions available and before he knew it, he had put in a 23-year coaching stint at Monona Grove.
Growing up in Washington D.C., Mayfield was not always a basketball player. He grew up playing baseball. But when he saw how much fun people had playing basketball, he was determined to learn how to play the game. He would go out and play in his Sunday shoes and at times, get nothing but laughs from observers.
Instead of giving up, he put in work and got assistance from a man by the name of Elmer Winters who was a friend of National Basketball Association Hall of Famer and current mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing.
Winters taught Mayfield everything he had learned from his Hall of Fame friend. It wasn't long after working with Winters that the laughter turned into amazement as Mayfield was team captain and named the most valuable player his senior season of high school.
"He taught me how to play basketball. He taught me the fundamentals like in the Oscar Robinson days," said a thrilled Mayfield.
After playing college basketball at the College of Eastern Utah and at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., his interest in basketball shifted. Mayfield became interested in officiating. He went to a tryout in Detroit where potential NBA officials worked high school games to demonstrate their officiating skills.
"It was a five minute interview and I was there for 23 years," said a smiling Mayfield about the interview for the coaching position at Monona Grove. He was playing basketball during a lunch break and ran into a kid playing with a Monona Grove basketball. Mayfield inquired if there were any coaching positions available and before he knew it, he had put in a 23-year coaching stint at Monona Grove.
Growing up in Washington D.C., Mayfield was not always a basketball player. He grew up playing baseball. But when he saw how much fun people had playing basketball, he was determined to learn how to play the game. He would go out and play in his Sunday shoes and at times, get nothing but laughs from observers.
Instead of giving up, he put in work and got assistance from a man by the name of Elmer Winters who was a friend of National Basketball Association Hall of Famer and current mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing.
Winters taught Mayfield everything he had learned from his Hall of Fame friend. It wasn't long after working with Winters that the laughter turned into amazement as Mayfield was team captain and named the most valuable player his senior season of high school.
"He taught me how to play basketball. He taught me the fundamentals like in the Oscar Robinson days," said a thrilled Mayfield.
After playing college basketball at the College of Eastern Utah and at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., his interest in basketball shifted. Mayfield became interested in officiating. He went to a tryout in Detroit where potential NBA officials worked high school games to demonstrate their officiating skills.
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