Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit ( la, Archidiœcesis Detroitensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is ...

, the school is operated by the

Congregation of St. Basil , image = Basilian_Fathers.png , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSB , nickname = Basilians , formation = , founding_location = Annonay, France , founders = , type ...

. The school was originally located on Harper Avenue in Detroit with an enrollment of 280 students; the school has made several moves in its history and now has an enrollment of over 1,000 students at its campus in Novi. Detroit Catholic Central is currently ranked as the 4th best Catholic High School in the State of Michigan.

History

The current campus, built for $30 million, opened in August 2005. At the time it had 920 students.

Athletics

The Shamrocks compete in the Central Division of the

Catholic High School League The Catholic High School League (CHSL) is a school athletic conference based in Detroit, Michigan, led by director Victor Michaels. Most member schools are also members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), the governing body fo ...

and in Class A/Division I (largest schools) of the

Michigan High School Athletic Association The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is a service organization for high school sports in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Unlike ma ...

. *Baseball (3 state titles: 1979, 1987, and 1999) *Basketball (2 state titles: 1961 and 1976) *

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

(1 state title: 2010) * Cross country (6 state titles: 1983, 1984, 1989, 2001, 2009 and 2010) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(10 state titles: 1979, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2009) *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

(5 state titles: 2003, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022) *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

(15 titles: 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022) *

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

(1 state title: 2018) *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(2 state titles: 2017, 2020) * Swimming and diving *

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

(3 state titles: 1985, 1986, 2010) *

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

(15 state titles: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1978, 1983, 1988, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) Catholic Central's athletic rival is Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills.

Notable alumni

Vince Banonis Vincent Joseph Banonis (April 9, 1921 – October 23, 2010) was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Detroit Mercy where he was selected as a first-team All-American in 1940. He also played in the National ...

, All-American collegiate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, All-NFL player, inducted into

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

* Jack Berry, sports journalist * Thomas E. Brennan, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, founder of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School *

Doug Brzezinski Douglas Gregory Brzezinski (born March 11, 1976) is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Boston College and was draf ...

, college football and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player *

Michael J. Byrnes Michael Jude Byrnes (born August 23, 1958) is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as Archbishop of Agaña from 2019 to 2023. He was previously an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit from 2011 to 2016. Biography Early ...

, Metropolitan Archbishop of Agaña and former Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit * Steve Campbell, ATP Tennis player * Mike Cox, Michigan Attorney General * Sean Cox, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan *

Andy Dillon Andrew Dillon is a Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. While Dillon is a Democrat, he was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, to be the state's treasurer. Before serving in the Cabinet, Dillon was speaker of ...

, Michigan Treasurer, Michigan Speaker of the House *

James Finn Garner James Finn Garner (born 1961) is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of ''Politically Correct Bedtime Stories'',

, satirist and author of ''

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories ''My Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times'' is a 1994 book written by American writer James Finn Garner, in which Garner satire, satirizes the trend toward political correctness and censorship of children's literature, wit ...

'' *

Joshua Gatt Joshua Alexander Gatt (born August 29, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays for Gold Star FC. Club career Early career Born in Plymouth, Michigan, Gatt played varsity for four years at Detroit Catholic Central H ...

, winger/fullback for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

soccer team *

Bryan Gruley Bryan Gruley (born November 1957) is an American writer. He has shared a Pulitzer Prize for journalism and been nominated for the "first novel" Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Career Gruley studied at the University of Notre Dam ...

, author and Chicago Bureau Chief of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' *

Charlie Haeger Charles Wallis Haeger (September 19, 1983October 3, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He was one of the few knuckleball pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB) during his career. He played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, San ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher *

Stan Heath Stanley Heath III (born December 17, 1964) is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for Eastern Michigan. Heath formerly served as head coach at the University of South Florida, the University of Arkansas and Kent State ...

, college basketball head coach *

Ray Herbert Raymond Ernest Herbert (December 15, 1929 - December 20, 2022) was an American former professional baseball pitcher. He appeared in 407 Major League Baseball (MLB) games over 14 seasons (–; –; –) with the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athle ...

, MLB pitcher *

Art Houtteman Arthur Joseph Houtteman (August 7, 1927 – May 6, 2003) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 12 seasons in the American League with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. In 32 ...

, MLB player * Tom LaGarde,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player, member of the 1976 US Olympic Gold Medal Basketball team * Mike Martin, college and NFL player *

Greg Marx Gregory Allen Marx (July 18, 1950 – October 5, 2018) was an American football defensive end who played one season with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Falcons in the second round of the 1973 NFL ...

, NFL player *

Thaddeus McCotter Thaddeus George "Thad" McCotter (born August 22, 1965) is an American politician, radio host, and a member of the Republican Party who was the U.S. representative from from 2003 to 2012. The district at the time consisted of portions of Detroi ...

, United States Congressman * John McHale, baseball general manager *

Mark Messner Mark W. Messner (born December 29, 1965) is a former American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) as a linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams during the 1989 NFL season. He sustained a serious knee injury in the 1989-90 ...

, college and NFL player * Al Moran, MLB shortstop * David Moss,

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

forward * Kevin O'Connor, co-founder of online advertising company

DoubleClick DoubleClick Inc. was an advertisement company that developed and provided Internet ad serving services from 1995 until its acquisition by Google in March 2008. DoubleClick offered technology products and services that were sold primarily to adv ...

Phil Parsons Phillip Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and current analyst for FOX NASCAR. He is the younger brother of the 1973 Winston Cup champion and former NBC/TNT commentator Benny Pars ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

driver *

James Piot James Piot (born October 14, 1998) is an American professional golfer from Canton, Michigan. In 2021, he won the U.S. Amateur. Amateur career Piot was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In high school, he led Detroit Catholic Central to three c ...

, 2021

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

golf champion *

Vasik Rajlich Vasik Rajlich (born 1971 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an International Master in chess and the author of Rybka, previously one of the strongest chess playing programs in the world. Rajlich is a dual Czechoslovakian-American citizen by birth; he was bor ...

, International Master in chess and developer of

Rybka Rybka is a computer chess engine designed by International Master Vasik Rajlich. Around 2011, Rybka was one of the top-rated engines on chess engine rating lists and won many computer chess tournaments. After Rybka won four consecutive World ...

James L. Ryan James Leo Ryan (born November 19, 1932) is an inactive senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Education and career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Ryan graduated from Detroit Catholic Centra ...

, senior judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit * Paul Rudzinski, NFL linebacker, Green Bay Packers, All-Big Ten Conference, Michigan State *

Chris Sabo Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

, MLB third baseman *

Jay Sebring Thomas John Kummer (October 10, 1933 – August 9, 1969), known professionally as Jay Sebring, was an American celebrity hair stylist, and the founder of the hairstyling corporation Sebring International. Sebring was murdered by members of the M ...

, hair stylist, murdered by Manson Family in 1969 *

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and physical therapy clinician, better known by the ring name, Alex Shelley, makes appearances with Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestl ...

, professional wrestler * Anthony E. Siegman, professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, pioneer in the fields of lasers and masers *

Frank Tanana Frank Daryl Tanana (born July 3, 1953) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. In a Major League Baseball career that stretched from 1973 to 1993, he pitched for the California Angels, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, De ...

, MLB pitcher * Bernard White, actor, screenwriter and film director *

Bill Wightkin William John Wightkin (July 28, 1927 – January 25, 1997) was an American football player. Career He played offensive tackle, defensive tackle and end for eight seasons between 1950 and 1957 for the Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a ...

, NFL lineman *

Kerry Zavagnin Kerry Zavagnin (; born July 2, 1974 in Plymouth, Michigan) is an American former Association football, soccer midfielder, who last played midfielder, defensive midfielder for the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer, and sparingly for the US ...

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and US National Team soccer player

Notes and references

External links

Official Catholic Central website

"Catholic Central High School is ready for new home in Novi"

{{authority control Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Educational institutions established in 1928 Catholic secondary schools in Michigan Schools in Novi, Michigan Boys' schools in Michigan High schools in Oakland County, Michigan Schools in Wayne County, Michigan Basilian schools 1928 establishments in Michigan School buildings completed in 2005