The energy inside McGuirk Arena shifted Tuesday afternoon as Central Michigan formally introduced Andy Bronkema as its next men’s basketball head coach. The longtime Ferris State leader and Michigan native arrives in Mount Pleasant ready to rebuild, reconnect and rally a program in transition.

Alongside President Neil MacKinnon and Director of Athletics Amy Folan, Bronkema was welcomed by many members of the community, staff and faculty.

“Today is about Central Michigan,” Bronkema said, holding back emotion as he acknowledged the bittersweet goodbye from his 18-year tenure at Ferris State. “But my time there will be the first thing that brings a tear to my eye. That’s my whole adult life.”

Now, Bronkema is turning the page and he’s hoping the CMU community will write the next chapter alongside him.

“We’re not trying to recreate (Ferris),” Bronkema said. “Every place has its own path… We're gonna figure it out here. It's not just going to be my experience, it's going to be our staff, the people around here and the people passionate about Central Michigan. Let's do this together.”

A Chippewa at heart

The job reaches very close to home for Bronkema, who has deep family ties to the university. His father once commuted from Ferris State to CMU for classes. His great-grandmother, grandmother, father and sister all attended Central Michigan.

“This is just in my family’s blood,” Bronkema said. “That type of fit just keeps you motivated every day to work for those types of people. That’s why this job is perfect for me.”

Building the culture

Bronkema made it clear that his culture will be defined by love, discipline and shared purpose, on and off the court.

“One of my best friends used to say, ‘The catalyst for our culture is love,’” he said. “That’s gonna be part of ours too. You do life together every day. You support each other. Then you go to work.”

While he acknowledges that the college basketball landscape has shifted dramatically due to NIL and the transfer portal, Bronkema remains focused on fundamentals.

“You’ve got to stay fired up. You can’t let it drag you down,” he said. “We’ve got to find guys that are like-minded with our vision. Central Michigan’s not the right fit for everybody, and that’s okay.”

Style of play

Chippewa fans can expect an up-tempo, aggressive, team-first brand of basketball.

“We’re going to play fast,” Bronkema said. “Fast-break basketball, early shots in the clock. If it's not there, we’ll work into a motion; creating open shots, a free-flowing offense.”

At Ferris State, Bronkema’s teams led their league in scoring, assists and offensive rebounding while pressing full-court and sharing the ball through deep rotations.

Roster and recruiting

With several CMU players currently in the transfer portal, Bronkema is approaching roster construction with care.

“You need to be a little bit urgent,” he said. “But the problem with urgency is you make mistakes. We’re going to be thorough: evaluate, check references, have real conversations. If they want to be here and they fit our vision, we want to keep them.”

When asked if any Ferris State players might follow him to Mount Pleasant, Bronkema didn’t shut the door.

“If I were a betting man, I’d say there would be (some),” he said. “But I under-promise and over-deliver. We’ll target the people that are actually a fit.”

The work begins

Bronkema acknowledged the work ahead like assembling a staff, building relationships with current players and scouring every level of the basketball landscape for talent.

“There’s talent in Division II. There’s talent in the region. There’s talent here at Central Michigan,” he said. “It’s just about finding the right pieces and building something we can all be proud of.”

“We’re gonna figure it out,” he said, with a smile. “Let’s do this together.”

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