A
36-year veteran in the coaching
world, head coach Bob Booher is
in his third season with the Lake
Erie College women's basketball
program. After just two complete
seasons with the Storm, he has
directed the team to its best
overall and conference records,
its highest standing in the AMCC
and its first-ever appearance
in the conference playoffs. His
team also became the first in
the program to win a playoff game
and make it to the semifinals
of the postseason tournament.
He was voted AMCC Coach of the
Year in 2006-07, while coaching
the conference Newcomer of the
Year.
Immediately
prior to Lake Erie, Booher spent
six seasons at Lakeland Community
College as the head women's basketball
coach where he led the Lakers
to five consecutive national rankings
in the NJCAA, as well as five
Region XII top-ranked Ohio team
finishes. His overall record of
129-52 included Ohio Community
College Athletic Conference (OCCAC)
Coach of the Year honors in 2003
and 2005 as his teams were consistently
ranked among the top 25 in the
nation in both offense and defense.
For
35 years, Booher was an employee
of Lakeland, retiring this past
June as the physical education
department chair and professor.
During that time, he also served
as a head coach for men's baseball
(1982-92) and women's softball
(1976-81) and was an assistant
for the baseball program (1973-75).
He became the first coach at the
institution to accumulate 100
wins in three different sports,
and to this day, is the only coach
to ever achieve such a feat.
His
additional coaching credentials
include serving as the assistant
varsity girls' basketball coach
at Willoughby South High School
for six seasons (1993-99) and
as a head coach of several USSSA
nationally-ranked women's amateur
softball teams for the past 11
years.
A
native of Painesville, Ohio and
graduate of Harvey High School,
Booher holds a bachelor's degree
from Ohio University and a master's
degree from Kent State University.
He currently resides in Willoughby
with his wife of 35 years Debbie
and has two children, Kristy and
Ross.
Darren
Jones has served as a women's
basketball coach for more than
a decade as he enters his third
year with the Storm program in
2007-08. His coaching career includes
terms at Lutheran East High School,
Laurel School, Beachwood High
School and Ursuline College. Jones
played basketball at Euclid High
School under the leadership of
Doc Daugherty before graduating
from Cleveland Heights High School.
He attended Airco Technical Institute
in San Diego, California.
A
native of Cleveland, Ohio, Jones
has a strong community and volunteer
focus. He has provided leadership
to Operation Destiny, Inc. in
the past by delivering motivational
workshops for youth in the Cleveland
area. He also served as a volunteer
coach for the Larry Doby Cleveland
Indians Traveling All-Star Baseball
Team and Parker Hannifin's women's
softball team.
He
currently lives in Cleveland with
his wife of 14 years Phyllis and
has a daughter Trena (20) who
attends Ohio University.
Assistant
Joe Perella is new to the Storm
coaching staff this season, but
has long-time ties to both head
coach Bob Booher and fellow assistant
Kristy Booher. Perella began coaching
alongside Bob Booher when they both
served as assistants to the Willoughby
South High School girls' varsity
basketball team back in 1993. The
two coached Kristy for three seasons
with the Rebels and then later reunited
on the coaching staff at Lakeland
Community College in 1999 - the
elder Booher as the head coach and
Perella as an assistant. Kristy
joined the two in 2001 as an official
member of the coaching staff where
the three remained until 2005. At
that time, Perella became the head
boys' varsity basketball coach at
Beachwood High School - a position
he retained until returning to Booher's
side at the collegiate level this
season.
Perella's
additional coaching credentials
include assistant stints with
the boys' varsity at Beachwood
and Orange High Schools and several
years with girls' youth teams
at St. Clare Church. He is a former
player for the state runners-up
Cathedral Latin High School and
is a graduate of Richardson University
with a bachelor's degree in physical
education.
A
native of Mayfield Heights, Ohio,
he resides in Lyndhurst with his
wife of 16 years Michele and two
children, Angela (14) and Amanda
(9).
Kristy
Booher joined Lake Erie College
as the director of sports media
relations in September of 2006.
At that time she became an official
volunteer coach with the women's
team after a year of assisting both
the Storm men's and women's basketball
teams with scorekeeping. He official
return to coaching marked a reunion
with her father Bob, after having
coached alongside him for three
years with the nationally-ranked
Lakeland Community College women's
basketball team.
A
graduate of Lakeland and Ohio
University's highly acclaimed
E.W. Scripps School of Journalism,
Booher graduated with honors from
both institutions. While at Lakeland,
she was a two-year starting centerfielder
for the two-time Ohio Community
College Athletic Conference (OCCAC)
champions. She earned all-conference,
All-Region XII and was the college's
first-ever fastpitch National
Junior College Athletic Association
(NJCAA) Academic All-American.
As
a broadcast major at OU, she worked
for WOUB-Public Broadcasting as
a radio and television reporter
and was inducted into the WOUB
Hall of Fame. She was also inducted
into the Willoughby South High
School Hall of Fame for her accomplishments
as a multi-year all-conference
basketball and softball player.
Today
Booher continues to play softball
for a nationally-ranked women's
softball team out of Cincinnati.
The Willoughby, Ohio native is
a fourth-year member of the College
Sports Information Directors of
America (CoSIDA).
Jenn
Neal is a second-year member of
the Storm women's basketball coaching
staff as a graduate assistant.
A 2001 graduate and basketball
player at Mentor High School,
she went on to play four years
as a forward and center at Baldwin-Wallace
College. She was involved in three
Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
championships with the Yellow
Jackets in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
She also went with B-W to the
NCAA Tournament three times and
made it into the Elite Eight in
2006 with a 27-5 overall record.
During
her career at B-W, the women's
basketball team posted an overall
record of 98-20. She earned All-OAC
her final two seasons and set
the career record for blocked
shots with 101. She earned a bachelor's
degree in 2006 while majoring
in fitness management and sport
management with a minor in business
administration. She is currently
pursuing a master's degree from
Lake Erie in business administration
with plans to become either a
director of athletics or fitness/recreation
manager.
(fax)
440.375.7474
CARL
HUGHES - VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT COACH 2nd Season
Carl
Hughes joins the Lake Erie College
coaching staff on a volunteer
basis this season as he continues
his education at Cuyahoga Community
College. A three-year assistant
for Joe Perella with the boys'
varsity basketball team at Beachwood
High School, Hughes also served
as a head coach for the eighth
grade boys' team for one season.
He also coaches girls' AAU basketball
with the 2-the-Hoop program.
A
Beachwood, Ohio native, Hughes
graduated from Beachwood High
School.
