Ashton Tomassi will be example for future Brighton basketball players

BRIGHTON — Long after he’s graduated, Ashton Tomassi will be used as an example of what hard work can accomplish for future Brighton basketball players.

Tomassi came to the varsity as a junior last season following a year on the junior varsity and wasn’t even a starter for the first few games.

He became Brighton’s best player in at least a decade and the Bulldogs’ first two-time Livingston County Player of the Year, as selected by the Livingston Daily, since Chris Grimm in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

“He was a JV kid, a good JV player,” Brighton coach Mike Griest said. “I thought he was a good varsity player as a junior starting the year. It took some games for it to click. Once it did, he got it rolling.

“Definitely in the future, I can talk to guys that, ‘Your game is going to elevate if you put in the time like Ashton. Your game can elevate during the season.’ A lot of it comes from offseason stuff. He’s definitely a role model I can talk about emulating to other guys.”

After averaging 16.2 points and scoring at least 27 points five times as a junior, Tomassi came into his senior year with a target on his back.

He didn’t feel undue pressure to carry the Bulldogs, however, because fellow seniors Eddie Millington and Ben Anderson or junior Trevor Viau could carry the team offensively when needed. Millington averaged 13.0 points, Viau 9.3 and Anderson 9.0.

“It helped a ton having Ed and Ben being able to score,” Tomassi said. “I can get pressure and I can give them the ball and feel fully confident in all of them.”

With their combined forces, the Bulldogs went 18-6 for their best season since the 2010-11 team went 18-3. They fell short of their first district championship since 2008 with a 60-47 loss to recent nemesis Ann Arbor Skyline in the title game.

“It was a good year for us,” Tomassi said. “Obviously, not the way it ended; it wasn’t how we wanted it to end. We had a good year, we had fun. I don’t think there’s anything we would’ve done differently.”

Until well into the fall, Tomassi was trying to choose between basketball and football for his college future. He was also a first-team All-Livingston County selection as a wide receiver, catching 41 passes for 552 yards and seven touchdowns. His 41 catches were the most by a Bulldog since Zach Nichols had a school-record 78 in 2005.

That’s the second time those names have been spoken in the same sentence. A year ago, Tomassi became Brighton’s first basketball Player of the Year since Nichols in 2005-06.

Late in the fall, Tomassi decided to go the basketball route and sign with Cleary University, a business school in Howell which will begin its basketball program next winter.

“I wanted to stay close to home,” he said. “That, and Cleary’s a great business school. I really liked the coach; the coach is a great guy. I’m looking forward to the next four years. Being the first year Cleary has a basketball program, I thought it was kind of cool to be part of the first-ever team.”

Tomassi’s scoring output was nearly identical each of his two seasons, as he bumped his average to a county-leading 16.5 as a senior. His biggest strides were as a 3-pointer shooter, improving from 30% to 43.2%, and a distributor, improving from 1.3 assists to 2.8 assists.

“He’s one of the best basketball players I’ve ever coached here at Brighton,” Griest said. “He’s a pleasure to coach. He’s a hard worker, has a good basketball I.Q., is obviously extremely talented. Coming into this year, he was really marked, because he was our leading scorer last year. It was no different this year, but he was still able to contribute at a high level, despite being doubled or denied or whatever they tried to do.

“He never let it frustrate him. He’s an even-keeled kid who doesn’t get too emotional. He just calmed us all the time on the floor. He knew he was going to make a big shot. He’s a special player you don’t get every year, for sure.”

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Ashton Tomassi will be example for future Brighton basketball players