Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, all-male college preparatory

Catholic high school Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 201 ...

in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

, the school is operated by the Congregation of St. Basil. 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, Michigan, East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Assoc ...

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

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

(1 state title: 2010) * Cross country (6 state titles: 1983, 1984, 1989, 2001, 2009 and 2010) *Esports (1 national title: 2024 (rocket league)) *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(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 Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

(7 state titles: 2003, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2024) *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

(18 titles: 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 ) *

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact 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 w ...

(2 state titles: 2018, 2024) *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

(1 state title: 2024) *

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

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

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

(17 state titles: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1978, 1983, 1988, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024) 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, All-NFL player, inducted into

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

* 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 an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers. He played college footba ...

, college football and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player * Jerry Burns, College and NFL head coach * Michael J. Byrnes, 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 * Isaac Darkangelo, professional football player *

Andy Dillon Andrew Dillon is a Democratic Party (United States), 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 th ...

, Michigan Treasurer, Michigan Speaker of the House *

Mike Duggan Michael Edward Duggan (born July 15, 1958) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician serving as the List of mayors of Detroit, Michigan, 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan since 2014. An Independent politician, Independent, Duggan previo ...

, Mayor of Detroit *

James Finn Garner James Finn Garner (born 1960) is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of '' Politically Correct Bedtime Stories'',Politically Correct Bedtime Stories ''Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life and Times'' is a 1994 book written by American writer James Finn Garner, in which Garner satirizes the trend toward political correctness and censorship of children's literature, ...

'' * Joshua Gatt, winger/fullback for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

soccer team * Bryan Gruley, author and Chicago Bureau Chief of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' * Charlie Haeger,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher *

Stan Heath Stanley Heath III (born December 17, 1964) is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball, Eastern Michigan. Heath formerly served as head coach at the South Florida Bulls men's b ...

, college basketball head coach * Ray Herbert, MLB pitcher * Art Houtteman, MLB player * Tom LaGarde,

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

player, member of the 1976 US Olympic Gold Medal Basketball team * Mike Martin, college and NFL player * Greg Marx, NFL player * Thaddeus McCotter, United States Congressman * John McHale, baseball general manager *

Mark Messner Mark W. Messner (born December 29, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) during the 1989 season. He sustained a serious knee injury in the 1 ...

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

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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

DoubleClick DoubleClick Inc. was an American 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 primaril ...

Phil Parsons Phillip Gregory Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and analyst for FOX NASCAR since 2003. After years racing in NASCAR Winston Cup, he returned to the Busch Series where he enj ...

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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver * James Piot, 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 19 March 1971) is an International Master in chess and the author of Rybka, previously one of the strongest chess playing computer chess, programs in the world. Biography Rajlich is a dual Czechoslovakian-American citizen b ...

, 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 Wor ...

* James L. Ryan, 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, MLB third baseman * Grant Hartwig, MLB Pitcher *

Myles Amine Myles Nazem Amine (born 14 December 1996) is a freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. Born in the United States, he represents San Marino internationally. He is a graduate of Detroit Catholic Central High School. C ...

, Olympian Wrestler *

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

, hair stylist, murdered by

Manson Family The Manson Family (known among its members as the Family) was a Intentional community, commune, gang, and cult led by criminal Charles Manson that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group at its peak consisted of a ...

in 1969 *

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983), better known by the ring name Alex Shelley, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is widely known for his tenure ...

, 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, NFL lineman * Kerry Zavagnin,

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

and US National Team soccer player * Brandon Naurato, Head coach of

Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey The Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Earning varsity status in 1922, the program has competed in 102 seasons. Between 1959 and 1981, the ...

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