It's a sad day in 'Yaktown.

Mychal Covington, who many pointed to as the heir apparent to the coveted Pontiac High School boys basketball head coaching job, has left the Phoenix program and accepted the head coaching position at Class C power Melvindale ABT.

A star player at Pontiac Northern in the late-1990s under Robert Rogers, Covington played college ball at Oakland University before joining Rogers on the bench with the Huskies and then the Pontiac Phoenix, following the school merger.

Covington's player-development skills shined as Rogers' associate head coach, successfully helping the likes of Tim Williams (South Alabama), Bryan Smothers (Wayne State), Juwaan Moody (North Carolina Central), Ant Adams (three-time all-OAA point guard currently at Paris CC on his way to a D1 slot in 2013), among others, turn into next-level recruits.

Melvindale ABT won back-to-back state titles in 2009 and 2010, although the '09 banner was vacated by the MHSAA for usage of an ineligible player in the team's tournament run.