One of our own teachers at Apex High used to be an AHS women’s basketball star. Charli Michael, one of our ninth-grade health and PE teachers, is an Apex alumni and made history when she played for the Lady Cougars. 

Up until her graduation in 2008, Michael played on varsity the majority of her high school basketball career. She was on JV for most of her freshman year before getting moved up, and while on it, their record was 21-0. 

Her sophomore year is when the women’s team made history at AHS. 

The team made it to the state championships, the first and only time the girl’s team made it that far. Unfortunately, the Cougars didn’t take home a trophy, falling behind South Mecklenburg by seven points. 

“I cherish all four years I played here; it’s probably the best memories I have of high school,” Michael says. 

When it came time for Michael to graduate, various D2 and D3 schools had their eyes on her. 

“In my senior year when it came down to making a decision about what I wanted to do, I decided I wanted to just focus on academics and let basketball go,” she responds. 

She ended up going to East Carolina University and changed her major various times. She said things just “clicked” when she joined the education school at ECU. That’s when she knew that she was going to go into physical education. 

After her graduation from college, her dream was to go back to her alma mater to teach.

“I decided to come back here because I had a great time in high school, schoolwise and sportswise,” says Michael. “Since I played basketball here, I really wanted to come back to coach and leave a legacy.” 

Coach Michael has been teaching and coaching at Apex High for four years now. For two of those years, she’s been at the Green Level building, and she noticed a decline in the women’s basketball program while at the other location. 

“I think now that we’re back here at home, kids will be more likely to come try out,” she comments. “They’ll want to represent their school.” 

Michael says she hopes to stay at Apex the next twenty-three years of her teaching career. Her goal is to “improve from year to year” and win a conference or state championship. 

“… and also just to help kids grow in the sport of basketball and in their lives, too,” she adds. 

We hope that Coach Michael will stay at AHS for the next 20+ years, and we wish the best of luck in the new 2019-20 basketball season!