When it was time to replace its longtime head coach for women’s basketball, Schoolcraft College had only to look to its bench.

Kevin Brathwaite, an assistant under Karen Lafata for the past four years, steps into the head coaching position as Lafata moves on to Wayne State University, where she has accepted a job as an assistant coach with the women’s team. His appointment to the head coach position is effective immediately.

Brathwaite played two years of basketball at Moraine Valley Community College in Illinois and did his undergraduate work at Chicago State University. He coached at Our Lady of Angels in Chicago and Old Redford Academy in Detroit. He is a former Detroit police officer who currently resides in Detroit.

“Kevin has a deep passion for the game,” said Schoolcraft Athletic Director Sid Fox. “He has been instrumental in the recruitment process and has helped to bring quality student-athletes to our campus during a very successful run for our program.”

That run included two trips to the national tournament, resulting in a second-place finish in 2009 and a third-place finish in 2010.

These recent national tournament appearances served as exclamation points on Lafata’s successful tenure at Schoolcraft. Beginning in 1998-99, she led the Ocelots for 13 seasons, accumulating a 326-77 record for a .808 winning percentage.

Her teams were Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Eastern Conference champions eight times; MCCAA state champs 6 times; and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District winners three times. Her teams’ three NJCAA national tournament appearances included a sixth-place finish in 2001 and the previously mentioned second- and third-place finishes in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

"The Schoolcraft college community recognizes the outstanding women’s basketball coaching career of Karen Lafata, whose numbers reflect her loyalty and dedication to the college and the student-athletes she served,” said Fox. “Karen epitomizes the very best of what college educators provide on a daily basis, that balance of academics and athletics.  We wish her the very best at Wayne State University.”