ATLANTA — Michael Willis told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen even when you’re the basketball coach, there are some things that are more important than the game.
“To have a roof over your head, to have the academics. You need that before you need athletics. That’s your home spot. That’s what you need first,” Coach Willis said.
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Willis is the head coach and athletic director at Centennial Academy Charter School.
Channel 2 Action News first introduced Willis and Centennial’s middle school basketball team last summer. Centennial has the highest population of homeless students in Atlanta. Coach Willis works “off” the court to help those kids and their families, getting them essentials like food and clothes.
He has also worked hard “on” the court. Centennial won the city basketball championship in their first year as a team. The Atlanta Hawks honored Willis for all he does at the school as their Jr. NBA Coach of the Year.
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At a recent home game the Hawks awarded him a jersey, a trophy, and a great big ring that’s the perfect match for the one he received for coaching his team to the title. He can’t wait to show his students.
“It will be a lot of high five’s going on. I have some students--when I come down the hall—they’re always showing me their jump shot form,” Willis said. “That’s the norm. I tell them, you’re in the third grade. Three more years and you’re with me!”
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