In today’s Daily Dirt, I mentioned that a D2 coach from the state of Michigan was in the mix at Central Michigan. This move is now official – Ferris State head coach Andy Bronkema has officially taken over at CMU. Here’s the release from the school:
Michigan native and national champion Andy Bronkema has been named the 22nd head men’s basketball coach at Central Michigan University, Zyzelewski Family Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan announced Monday afternoon. A 19-year men’s basketball coaching veteran, Bronkema has spent the previous 12 years as the head coach at NCAA Division II Ferris State University, where he won one national championship, claimed nine combined Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, and guided the Bulldogs to nine NCAA tournament appearances.
Bronkema will be introduced to the campus community in a “Fired Up to be a Chippewa” event scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday in the atrium of the John G. Kulhavi Events Center/McGuirk Arena. The event is open to the public and will be streamed live on www.cmuchippewas.com at this link.
A strong motivator and communicator, Bronkema takes over at Central Michigan after leading Ferris State to the 2017-18 national championship, three NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen appearances, nine overall NCAA tournament appearances and a 278-105 overall record. He has led the Bulldogs to four GLIAC regular season championships (2016-17, 2017-18, 2019-20, and 2021-22), five GLIAC tournament titles, 10 20-win seasons and a 166-73 record in GLIAC play. He has guided the Bulldogs to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
“Andy’s ability to raise a program to excellence and sustain it at the highest level is impressive,” Folan said. “He is a Michigan native who has built his whole career in this state and is well-respected in the coaching ranks at many levels. He is the perfect fit for what we need at Central Michigan and at this time in intercollegiate athletics. Excellence and innovation are qualities that a coach needs to be successful in this current collegiate environment.”
“I want to thank Amy and President MacKinnon for the opportunity,” Bronkema said. “Through the process, our visions aligned well and I look forward to working with them. I’m excited about becoming a member of the Mount Pleasant community and putting a team on the floor that everyone can be proud of and enjoy.”
“Coach Bronkema clearly understands how to create and sustain a winning culture that prepares student-athletes for tremendous success on the basketball court, in their educational careers and for life after the game,” CMU President Neil MacKinnon said. “We are Fired Up to welcome him and his family to our community as he continues pushing for success as a CMU Chippewa.”
His 2024-25 Ferris State team finished 25-9 overall and 14-6 in the GLIAC and earned its fourth straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. His 2023-24 team won the GLIAC Tournament Championship in 2023-24 and claimed the Midwest Regional Championship en route to an NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance.
During a four-year period from 2015-18, Bronkema led the Bulldogs to four-straight GLIAC tournament championship games and NCAA Tournament appearances.
In 2017-18, he led Ferris State to one of the most historic seasons in NCAA Division II men’s basketball history as Ferris State claimed the school’s first National Championship with a memorable 38-1 record, tying the all-time mark for most wins in school history. For his efforts, Bronkema was a consensus choice as the National Coach of the Year and led the Bulldogs to a second-straight GLIAC regular-season crown and the school’s fourth tourney title in a row.
The Bulldogs posted their sixth-straight 20-win campaign in 2019-20 while recapturing the GLIAC Championship and earning yet another NCAA Division II National Tournament berth. In 2016-17, Ferris State posted a then school all-time best 28-5 overall record under Bronkema’s direction while capturing both the GLIAC regular season and tournament championships. FSU advanced to the Midwest Regional Semifinals and led the country in blocked shots for the second-straight year. The Bulldog men’s basketball squad closed a memorable 2015-16 campaign with a 24-10 overall record. FSU also reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen while finishing with its first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the late 1980’s. The Bulldogs made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament under his direction in 2014-15 after claiming the league tournament title.
Before earning the head coaching job at Ferris State, Bronkema served as the Bulldogs’ top assistant coach for six years from 2007-13. He was named interim head coach after the resignation of former head coach and colleague Bill Sall, who accepted the head coaching position at fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) counterpart Northern Michigan. An individual with championship experience at every stop of his prep and collegiate playing and coaching career, Bronkema was heavily involved with all phases of the program as the top assistant coach, including recruiting, scouting, on-floor coaching and administrative tasks in addition to running the summer camp program, assisting with fundraising efforts and monitoring the program’s academic progress.
In his first year as the program’s top assistant in 2010-11, the Bulldogs won the GLIAC North Division Championship and reached the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen. FSU followed up the memorable campaign by winning a share of a second-straight GLIAC North Division crown in 2011-12. The Bulldogs made five-straight league tournament berths in Bronkema’s tenure as an assistant coach and FSU recorded more victories in the competitive GLIAC North than any other school in his three years as the top assistant. Bronkema helped recruit, coach and develop seven all-conference players and a pair of All-Americans in his stint as an assistant coach, including the 2010-11 Division II National Player of the Year Justin Keenan.
He worked three seasons as an assistant on the Bulldog staff from 2007-10 while also teaching elementary physical education at Crossroads Charter Academy in Big Rapids. The Bulldogs averaged 15 wins per year and twice reached the GLIAC postseason tournament in that stretch as he assisted in all aspects of the program with an emphasis on player development.
Before his arrival at FSU, Bronkema was a collegiate standout at NAIA Division II member Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich. A two-time All-America student-athlete at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., he served as team captain in both his junior and senior seasons. Bronkema was voted All-Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) three times and twice garnered NAIA Honorable Mention All-America laurels. He was also chosen as a Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Scholar-Athlete Award recipient and was a two-time academic all-conference honoree. In his four years of college hoops, Bronkema led Cornerstone to two regular-season WHAC Championships, one WHAC Tournament crown and four national tournament appearances, including a NAIA Final Four showing. He concluded his collegiate career with 1,725 points, 982 rebounds, 336 assists along with 140 steals.
As a prepster, Bronkema was a three-sport athlete and competed in football, basketball and baseball at McBain High School in Northern Michigan. He was part of 14 championship teams while at McBain and helped the Ramblers to a state hoops title in 2002 in addition to a state football runner-up effort in 2001.
A member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Bronkema also holds membership in the BCAM, the Michigan High School Coaches Association and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Education from Cornerstone University in 2007 and earned his Master’s Degree in Education at Ferris State in 2016. While at FSU, he’s also served as an adjunct professor for the College of Education and Human Services.
Bronkema’s father Joel, sister Emily Michalak, great grandmother and grandmother are all Central Michigan graduates.
