Longtime
area high school coach Cliff Hunt
enters his third year as the head
coach of the Lake Erie College
men's basketball program with
the 2007-08 season. In his first
two years with the Storm, he directed
them to back-to-back conference
championships, AMCC Tournament
championships and NCAA Tournament
appearances. He also led the team
to its best overall record in
program history last season with
a 25-3 mark. In 2005-06, he was
voted AMCC Coach of the Year.
Prior
to Lake Erie, Hunt spent a total
of 24 years as a head coach in
the high school ranks at West
Geauga and Perry. A former Associated
Press Ohio High School Coach of
the Year, Hunt went 356-194 in
his high school career, leading
his teams to 11 sectional championships,
eight conference championships,
four district championships, two
regional championships and two
state runner-up finishes. He holds
the record for most coaching victories
at both Perry and West Geauga
High Schools, where his teams
won 33 consecutive regular season
games and an AP Poll championship.
A
1969 graduate of Hiram College,
Hunt has accumulated more than
30 coaching awards, including
AP Coach of the Year and most
recently AMCC Coach of the Year.
While at Hiram, he was a four-year
letter winner and two-time captain
and most valuable player in both
basketball and track. He has been
inducted into the Athletic Hall
of Fame at both Hiram and his
high school alma mater of Strongsville.
He
holds a Master's of Education
degree from Kent State University
and resides in Concord with his
wife Pam. They have three children,
K.C., Kelly and Chad.
Returning
for his third season with the
Lake Erie College men's basketball
staff is assistant coach Dan D'Amore.
He has enjoyed solid success in
both men's and women's basketball
at the high school level. Prior
to LEC, he was the varsity girls'
basketball coach at Perry High
School where he went 97-20 in
a five-year run in which he led
his team to three consecutive
conference championships and three
regional appearances, as well
as a school best 22-2 record in
the 2001-02 season. He also coached
in the highly successful Wickliffe
High School boys' program as a
varsity assistant.
D'Amore
has earned coach of the year citations
from the Chagrin Valley Conference,
Lake County News-Herald, Cleveland
Plain Dealer and Associated Press.
A
1973 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace
College, he was a three-year letter
winner in baseball. He also earned
a masters degree from Cleveland
State University and currently
resides in Perry with his wife
Nancy.
After
playing for one season with the
Storm, Chad Hunt returned to the
program as an assistant. Last year,
he served as the team's graduate
assistant and this season, he is
the team's junior varsity coach
and varsity assistant.
A
two-year scholarship player for
Gannon University and one-year
scholarship player for Ashland
University, Hunt finished his
collegiate career at Lake Erie
playing for his father Cliff.
The forward experienced three
NCAA Tournament appearances, as
well as three conference championships
during his career.
At
LEC, he was part of the program's
first-ever championship and bid
to the NCAA Tournament. Averaging
7.4 points and 3.7 rebounds as
the Storm's Defensive Player of
the Year, highlights of his final
season included the game-winning
shot against Pitt-Bradford to
clinch the AMCC title, as well
as the game-winning layup against
Pitt-Greensburg to qualify for
the NCAA Tournament.
The
2006 Lake Erie graduate is currently
pursuing his master's degree in
education.
After
serving as the Storm's floor general
for four seasons, Rob Williams
will be on the other side of the
whistle this season as the team's
graduate assistant. During his
career at Lake Erie, he started
in 88 of 109 games played, averaging
10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.5
assists and 2.1 steals per game.
In his final two seasons, he helped
the Storm earn two AMCC championships
and two bids to the NCAA Tournament.
He earned AMCC Honorable Mention
as a junior and first-team as
a senior.
He
finished his playing career with
the Storm as the all-time leader
in steals with 234. He also ranks
in the top five among career leaders
in assists (2nd - 380) and points
(4th - 1,176).
Williams
earned his bachelor's degree in
education in May 2007 and is currently
pursuing a master's degree from
Lake Erie, also in education.
