Nancy Barbo

By CHRIS LARICK

Geneva’s entire sports community was shaken when Bob Herpy died so suddenly of a heart attack in 1994.

But most Eagle fans knew that Tom Koehler, Herpy’s long-time lieutenant and sidekick on the football team, would do a good job in Herpy’s place, a confidence that proved to be well-deserved.

Few, including the person herself, knew what to expect of Nancy Barbo taking over for Herpy as head girls basketball coach.

“I worked under Bob Herpy as a JV coach for two years,” said Barbo, who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation’s Hall of Fame as a coach in April. “He was a staple in Geneva, (his family still is), and really took me under his wing. His unexpected, tragic death was a real blow to me, our school, our community and of course his family.

“I did not feel like I was ready to take over as head coach. However, many people, such as my parents and husband encouraged me to give it a try. But the person who truly convinced me was Bob’s wife Susan Herpy who said, ‘He would want you to be the one to take over the program.’”

Barbo proved she was more than up to the task, posting a 341-148 record in 22 years as head coach. She shared Division I-II state coach of the year honors one season, allowing her to coach in the North/South All-Star game sponsored by the OHSAA, the first Ashtabula County basketball coach, male or female, to be so named. Over her tenure she had nine conference championships to go with 11 sectional titles and three district crowns, one of which got the Eagles to the regional finals. She was named several times as Star Beacon Coach of the Year and several times as ACBF Coach of the Year.

She first became interested in the game while attending games coached by her father, a high school basketball coach at Mansfield St. Peters, Lexington High School, and Mansfield Madison for 29 years.

“I was constantly attending high school boys' basketball games and watching my dad coach,” Barbo said. “On the weekends I would sit with my dad and watch game film on the old film reels. Out of my four older siblings (two sisters and two brothers), I was the only one who showed a real interest in the sport. Of course now I joke with my dad that I am his favorite since I followed in his footsteps being both a teacher and a coach.”

She began playing on organized teams in the fourth grade.

“My elementary principal and a parent of a player were my coaches for most of my elementary years. Fundamentals were always emphasized and I constantly worked on them in my basement, driveway, or garage.”

She played point guard her entire career on a Mansfield St. Peter’s team that was always competitive, with winning records. Two of the three years she played varsity her team reached the state semifinals. Among her playing honors was All-Ohio her senior year.

During her high-school career, Barbo scored 940 points, averaging around 15 points per game. She also held her high school’s assist record until it was surpassed about eight years ago.

She was coached at Mansfield by Jeff Strang, who helped her when she started coaching herself.

“He worked us hard and he knew how to motivate us,” Barbo said. “He was one of the first people I contacted after being hired as a varsity basketball coach. He shared so much with me, both material and guidance.

In addition to basketball, she played volleyball and softball and swam for a local pool in the summer.

She was recruited to play basketball by Division III colleges like Heidelburg, Hiram and Westminster, but wound up at the University of Akron instead.

“I knew I wanted to attend a big school but the only ‘big’ school that showed a real interest in me was Bowling Green,” she said. “I chose Akron knowing that my chances of playing basketball were slim, so I did not play in college.”

At Akron, she took a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a concentration in Specific Learning Disabilities K-12.

Geneva hired her as a tutor in 1992. She took the job for what she thought was “to gain some experience before moving on.

“Before I knew it, I was coaching basketball and working as a special education teacher at Geneva Elementary. Thirty years later, 24 of those years coaching girls basketball (two years as the JV coach working under the late Bob Herpy), I continue to work in the district as an intervention specialist at Geneva High School.”

Becoming a head coach under such traumatic conditions proved difficult for Barbo.

“Taking over for Coach Herpy, who suffered such a tragic and unexpected death, was the most daunting challenge for me,” she said. “I did not want to let him or the school down. In addition, I simply felt like I had so much to learn about running a program.

“I attended basketball clinics, bought numerous basketball books and literally studied like I was taking a college course. I sought out advice and guidance from veteran coaches: my dad, first and foremost, my former high school coach, area coaches Eric Seufer and Ray Force, and most notably, Norm Urcheck and Brad Ellis, which continued throughout my entire stint in coaching.

“I would ask Norm to evaluate our games and give me a breakdown of what we could have done better/differently. Coach Ellis allowed me to borrow his basketball videos and gave me samples of his practice plans, offenses, and defenses. When he retired from coaching, I solicited his assistance in our practices, where he was given the nickname ‘Doctor D.’”

Every now and then it seems, the union of coach and high school program works out perfectly. That may be true in Barbo’s case.

“The program could only be as successful as the players' hard work allowed it to be,” she said. “Over time, player involvement in the off-season increased which allowed us to increase the challenges we presented to them, and luckily they responded. All the people mentioned earlier are reasons for any success that came to the program, along with the coaching staffs I worked with over the years. Some of the long-term coaches on staff included Chip Sorber, Ron Carter, my husband John, Rob DiPofi and Scott Torok, and the rewarding experience of adding former player Krista Blake to the coaching staff. I had great working relationships and friendships with them all, and the longevity of us being together helped keep the program organized and consistent. Rob played an integral role in our future successes. He is a great X and O guy and I greatly valued his opinion and trusted him completely.”

“And of course, my husband John, who worked as the eighth-grade girls coach for 18 years, providing more support than anyone. He was the glue that held everything together. You don’t do anything well without having great people around you, and I was blessed to have that with both the coaches I worked with and the players I coached.”

Nancy and John have been married for 28 years. They met in college through a mutual friend who attended Eastlake North High School with John.

“She thought that we were related because we have the same last name, so she was determined to introduce us,” Nancy said. “My maiden name is Barbao (pronounced Barbo… how it is spelled and pronounced since being married). ‘Barbao’ is Spanish (my dad is 100% Spanish). ‘Barbo’ is Italian (John’s dad is 100% Italian). We dated for four years before getting married and waited thirteen years before having a child. We have one son, Luke, who is 15 years old and a sophomore at Geneva High School. He plays football and basketball for the school.”

Barbo retired in 2007, still at the top of her game.

But she doesn’t regret the decision.

“I felt like it was time,” she said. “My son was entering middle school and was active in sports. I put in a lot of hours year-round for the program and no longer felt like I could continue giving up that time anymore. For me, if I'm not all in, I feel like I'm not doing my job well.”

She doesn’t think she’ll return to coaching, as others have before her. “It crosses my mind to coach again at times, but when I consider the time commitment, I know I cannot do it,” she said. “I was blessed to coach such amazing young ladies over the years, many of whom I keep in touch with today. Others have taken up coaching themselves, which has been an amazing process to watch.”

Asked what rivalries she will remember as time goes on, she begins with Geneva’s Northeastern Conference years and its battles with Jefferson during their “twin towers” (Kelly Kapferer and Becky Hamper) years.

“A few of the games were standing-room only, and the atmosphere was electric,” she said. “As we switched to the PAC, our rival became Eastlake North. Then, in the CVC, I remember several intense battles with Perry for the conference championship.

“Our first district championship game against Kenston is a very memorable game for me. But one of the most emotional and overwhelming games for me was the win against the Number One seed East Tech for a district championship. This game and the emotions that came with it will stick with me forever.”

These days she keeps busy with her teaching schedule and her family.

“I no longer play any sports competitively aside from random basketball games such as knock out or pig,” she said. “I used to play one-on-one with Luke, but he is just a tad too strong for me now. Haha.

“I work out at home or Snap Fitness and take other work-out classes at Main Street Gym. I enjoy reading, going on walks and hikes, and visiting some of the local wineries.”

John Bleau

By CHRIS LARICK

In a season filled with a sense of impending doom, St. John guard John Bleau was a ray of light.

Those old enough to remember how the Youngstown Diocese decided to pull its funding support from the school in November 1991.

That was just a little more than two years after the Heralds basketball team had celebrated its greatest season ever, going 18-3 and sharing the Northeastern Conference championship with Ashtabula after the 1988-89 season under coach John Bowler.

That team was paced by Hall of Famers Steve Hanek, Dave Golen, Augie Pugliese and a young Jim Chiacchiero (all Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Famers).

The Heralds were more than competitive the following year, going 17-6.

Bleau (pronounced “Blue”) will be inducted into the ACBF Hall of Fame himself on Apr. 2.

He saw limited action as a sophomore and was a third wheel to Chiacchiero and Golen as a junior. With all of St. John’s other stars graduated in 1991, he became the team’s main offensive threat at 5-foot-10, under 160 pounds.

The Heralds won just one game that year, an early-season victory over Ashtabula. But Bleau led the county in scoring with 24.3 points per game. He set a school scoring record with 43 points against Jefferson on January 28, 1992 (a mark that stood for 27 years, until 2019), was in double figures in all but two games and scored 20 points or more in 16 of 22 games.

“John’s doing a real nice job,” St. John Coach John Bowler told the Star Beacon’s Mike Scully during that senior year. “He has taken control of our offense. He passes the ball well, grabs a few rebounds and helps on defense.”

Like many boys his age, Bleau, the son of Dawn Bleau of Rock Creek, started playing basketball in his driveway with friends at an early age.

He began organized team basketball at St. John under Coach Jerry Kaydo.

“He taught us and the guys great fundamentals like teamwork, love for the game, and personal accountability,” Bleau said of Kaydo.

Bleau recalls playing with Golen, Chiacchiero, Matt Peet and John and Don Costello. His senior year Chris Silva and Scott Koproski played the role of big men.

“I was a guard throughout school,” Bleau said of his role. “My teammates did not stay the same throughout, but all of us made up a good team.”

“His penetrating moves are among the area’s best and he is a deadly shooter from 12 feet and in,” Bowler said. “He’s a proficient ball handler but he’s forced to go against double teams especially designed to stop him.”

Most teams found success using a box-and-one defense against Bleau to make it difficult for him to get open.

For his part, Bleau liked Bowler’s “communication and competitiveness. We would always have open gyms in the summers that coaches and former players would come back for and it got real competitive.”

His senior year he was named first-team All-Ashtabula County, All-Northeastern Conference and All-District (Division IV) in basketball, as well as third-team Associated Press All-Ohio. He was also selected as the Gazette’s MVP.

Bleau also played football and baseball for the Heralds. In baseball he batted .345 and stole 29 bases in 30 attempts and was a first-team all-county and all-league choice.

After graduating from St. John, Bleau began college at the University of Toledo but didn’t play basketball there.

He wound up not taking a degree.

“I ended up not being ready for college at the time,” he said.

For about 19 of the last 25 years he has worked at UPS in Toledo.

He met his wife, Stephanie, through mutual friends during college in Toledo. Stephanie is now the store manager at Soma in Perrysburg, a suburb of Toledo.

“She’s doing what she loves,” Bleau says.

The Bleaus have been married for 20 years and have two daughters, Lexi, 21, and Ava, 18.

“Lexi is now an esthetician, working in skin care and full body waxing,” John said. “My youngest daughter, Ava, is graduating high school this year top of her class and attending college to study sonography.”

Bleau doesn’t participate in any sports now.

“I do love listening to live music outdoors, especially The Grateful Dead,” he said. “I also vacation every year on Lake Erie with my family, so enjoying the outdoors in the water or anything in the sun is my ideal activity.”

“I was Uber competitive and sports was a huge part of my life during high school,” he said. “I went from football to basketball to baseball to playing legion ball in the summer. Sports have taught me many valuable lessons that have served me well throughout my life.”

Don Childs

By CHRIS LARICK

If a basketball player who scores 1,000 points in an Ashtabula County high school becomes a member of the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame, what does someone who scores 991 points become?

A member of the ACBF Hall of Fame, in most cases.

That’s exactly Don Childs’ situation. A leader on both the basketball court and football field, Childs, a 1992 Grand Valley graduate, totaled 991 points for the Mustangs in his senior season, 1991–1992.

Childs, who began all three sports—football, basketball and baseball—at GV at a young age, learned under coaches Ralph Turk and Jack Scott in elementary school. He moved up to play for ACBF Hall of Fame coach Tom Henson in high school. Another Hall of Famer, Mick Zigmund, was Henson’s long-time assistant with the Mustangs.

“He was a very good coach,” Childs said of Henson.

A 6-foot-1 point guard/forward, Childs played on a Grand Valley team that also included Jim Brady, Drew Becker, David Derryberry, Tony Robinson, Troy Smith and Ed Pawlowski. He won four letters in basketball, making first-team All-ESC and All-Ashtabula County honors as a senior, in addition to second-team all-district in Division III and team MVP. He played on two all-star teams after the season: the WRBCA (Western Reserve) and Star-Beacon Senior Classic.

In addition to the 991 points he scored, he had a game-high of 33 points, averaged 70 percent at the foul line and had 170 career assists and 166 career steals.

In football, Childs played quarterback, leading the Mustangs to a 7–3 record in 1991 and winning that season’s last five games. He was team MVP that year and won first-team all-district honors. He made it MVP in three sports when he took those honors in baseball, capping his four-year lettering career with a Golden Glove season.

Childs was recruited by Hiram and Mount Union and eventually attended Hiram College.

He has worked for Childs Farm Automation, 84 Lumber Company, and presently works for JKey Commercial Roofing Company out of Athens, Georgia.

Childs and his wife, Brandi, have been married for six years and live in Monroe, GA. He has two stepchildren, Nate, 23, and Jake, 18.

His interests include his family, fishing, travel and golf. He played travel softball until 2017.

Barbara Gamble Gleason

By CHRIS LARICK

Barbara Gamble Gleason can trace her basketball roots back for 100 years.

Gleason's own career is much shorter than that of course, but her grandmother played on the Pennsylvania state championship team in 1923.

A 1985 Conneaut graduate, Gleason will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame on April 2, along with 10 other male and female candidates.

She began the game of basketball in early elementary school.

“My older sister played in elementary school and I would hang around the gym during the practices, chasing balls and learning to dribble and shoot,” Gleason said. “I would say my earliest coaches were my siblings. My older brothers also played basketball and we spent many hours in the driveway shooting and playing.

“I remember my oldest brother, Doug, making me work on my layups over and over and over again. They had no qualms about fouling either, so I learned to play an aggressive style of basketball.”

When she reached the seventh grade she began organized play at St. Francis Cabrini School in Conneaut. She played under Paul Ruland as a freshman in high school. Like Gleason, Ruland was in his first year with the Spartans.

“Mr. Ruland was a smart, tactical coach and I found him to be very motivational. I enjoyed playing basketball under his tenure as coach.

“Conneaut was a three-year high school when I attended in the 1980s,” Gleason recalls. “I played alongside Terri Notte, Bobbie Hagstrom, Jill Marshall, Heidi Litwiler, Stacy Clover and Stacy Malekar to mention a few.”

The Spartans weren’t very good in Gleason’s early years, finishing just 5-13 her sophomore year (1982-83) and 7-11 her junior season (1983-84).

“But each year we improved,” Gleason said. “In my senior year (1984-85) we were 18-4.

“We were Co-NEC Champions that year, in what I believe was the first girls basketball conference championship for CHS! We went on to win the first game in the state playoffs, but didn’t make it any further.”

Like most of the athletes then, male and female, Gleason didn’t restrict herself to playing basketball.

“I was a four-sport athlete at CHS, lettering in cross country, volleyball and softball in addition to basketball,” she said.

Whichever sport she was playing at the time she did well in. She was named to the All-Ashtabula and All-Northeastern Lakes District teams in softball and volleyball. In basketball, she was named second-team all-county and all-district as a sophomore, then moved up to the first teams her final two years with the Spartans, playing forward at 5-foot-9 (or a “4” in today’s terminology).

“I was awarded the top rebounder, top scorer and MVP for basketball my sophomore and junior years and top scorer and MVP my senior year,” she said. “I set new school records for scoring (778 points) and rebounding (574) in the three years of high school.”

As a result of her efforts in so many sports, Gleason was named the top female athlete award at Conneaut High School both her junior and senior years and was inducted into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

A versatile scholar-athlete, she was also president of the student council and choir, played in the school band and graduated in the top five percent of her class.

Though several colleges, including Cleveland State and Kent State, reached out to her with potential offers her senior year, she was interested in attending a smaller college.

“I had already accepted an academic scholarship to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.,” she said. “I also received a basketball scholarship and played as a forward all four years at SVC.”

The Bearcats were PAC conference champions in two of her four years. They competed at the National Catholic Basketball Tournament in Iowa. Gleason received Academic All-American honors in 1986 and 1987 there.

She also played softball for two years at St. Vincent, where she earned her BS in Biology.

Gleason went on to earn a Masters of Physical Therapy from Arcadia University in Glenside, PA, near Philadelphia. She has worked as a physical therapist for 30 years in many settings including outpatient, acute care and home health.

“I have been married to my high school crush (Jeff Gleason, a tennis player and golfer at CHS who graduated in 1981),” she said.

“We never actually dated until I was in college, but we have been together for many decades now.”

The Gleasons have been married for 32 years and have two daughters: Erin (26) and Brynn (24).

“As an adult I spent seven years coaching middle school girls basketball and eight years as an assistant coach for the local high school girls lacrosse team,” Barb said. “I had the privilege of coaching both my girls while they were in school.

“As an adult I have stayed active and currently enjoy playing tennis, road cycling, open-water swimming and pickleball. My family has made Fairview, Pa our home for the past 23 years.”

Mike Ginn

By CHRIS LARICK

Mike Ginn was a member of one of the most gifted couple of classes ever to attend Harbor High School.

Dana Schulte, a member of both the ACBF (Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation) Hall of Fame (2015) and Ashtabula County Touchdown Club Hall of Fame (2014), was the point guard on the Mariners basketball team and the quarterback on the football squad. Schulte would go on to play football at West Virginia Wesleyan and Ohio Wesleyan.

Dean Hood, Schulte’s best friend, starred at Harbor and Ohio Wesleyan and was named to the Touchdown Hall of Fame in 2010. He became a head college coach at Eastern Kentucky University and is now head football coach at Murray State University in Kentucky.

On April 2 Ginn, a year ahead of those two as a 1981 Harbor graduate, will join Schulte in the ACBF Hall of Fame.

“My teammates were all awesome, including Dana Schulte, Tom Quinn, Chris DeCamillo, Jeff Gran, Robbie and Jamie Laveck, Kirk Wilburger and Dean Hood,” Ginn said of his role with the team. “With that much talent on the floor I had to get offensive rebounds just to get a shot in!”

Ginn managed to get his share of shots in, though, many of them coming after the offensive rebounds he mentioned.

Like many if not most of the good basketball players of his day, Ginn got started playing basketball with a hoop his father installed in his driveway when he was a kid.

“Then I got a decent bike and made it over to Brooker Field just about every day to play with the guys,” he said.

Though he played basketball in both elementary and junior high school, Ginn remembers Andrew Isco as his freshman coach and John Higgins as his high school coach as his greatest influences.

“Coach Isco worked me countless hours under the basket and also taught me how to box out,” Ginn said. “Coach Higgins made everything about the game fun.

“Coach Isco and Coach Higgins were the best. I remember Coach (Ed) Armstrong and Coach (Bob) Smart, too. We were blessed to have all of them as life mentors and basketball coaches.”

Though not extremely tall, maxing out at about 6-foot-2, Ginn was the Mariners’ most effective rebounder.

“I was mostly a power forward or small center,” he said. “I was lucky to play varsity for several years with lots of great players, some older and some younger than me. I remember we got better every year — even after I graduated, which made me proud to be part of such a great program.”

The Mariners went 17-7 and got to the districts Ginn’s senior year. The following year, Schulte’s senior year, they went 18-4. Then, in 1983-84, Andy Juhola’s team took Harbor to the regionals.

“Geneva was always our toughest opponent in the old Northeastern Conference (NEC),” Ginn said.

“No specific games really come to mind. I played hard no matter who we were up against. I think one or two games I got lucky and scored 30 or 40 points, but still missed free throws, so I always had something to work on.

“I didn’t really track my points. I was always more proud of rebounds and free-throw percentage. Most of my points were off the pick-and-roll or under the basket from an offensive rebound. But by the end of the game I always seemed to have 18-20 points— and four or five fouls, too.”

Ginn remembers getting “Mr. Hustle” team awards in addition to first-team All-Ashtabula and All-NEC honors.

“I think I made either honorable mention or second team (All-Ohio) when we made (districts) against Warren JFK,” he said.

Though Ginn played some football and track at Harbor, he always concentrated on his favorite sport.

“I played some football and track but focused on basketball,” he said. “I was able to make varsity as a freshman which made me want to get better and better.”

Ginn’s athletics and academics got him accepted by the U.S. Army at West Point.

“But I really wanted to go to the Air Force Academy since I was a young kid,” Ginn said.

Unlike West Point and the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy hadn’t been founded until 1954, so there was still some glamor to it.

“I decided to skip the military academy and go to Hiram College instead,” Ginn said. “I am a proud graduate of Hiram and played basketball there in 1982 with a great group of players from all over. We played against some All-Americans from Akron and Youngstown State.

However, Ginn broke his right ankle while at Hiram.

“That slowed me down a bit on the court,” he said. “But during recovery I took up tennis and also got scuba certified.”

At Hiram he took a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

“That has helped me a ton as a manager of numerous, very successful business teams,” he said.

“I worked at FirstEnergy for 18 years and then ended up being recruited by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California as a manager.”

Ginn met his wife, Carrie Anne, in 1990 and the couple married in 1994.

“We settled in Avila Beach, CA in 2002, which has been a great place to raise our son Anthony, who just turned 21.”

Now 60, Ginn continues to stay active, playing tennis two or three times a week, singles and doubles.

“I play USTA (United States Tennis Association) leagues with our team in Avila and we have had some pretty good success getting to sectionals against teams in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern CA,” he said. “I golf a little and hike a lot with our golden retriever, Scout.

“I am very honored to be considered for the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame,” he concluded. “I still have family in the area and look forward to getting back home for the banquet.”

Haley Kapferer Tegey

By CHRIS LARICK

Jefferson’s Kapferer kids — Kelly, Kurt, Haley and Jamie — grew up competing against each other, two against two in a game they liked to call "Aladdin and Jasmine basketball” after Walt Disney characters.

Years later, those kids have established themselves as one of the best groups of siblings who ever graced Ashtabula courts. Kelly is already in the ACBF Hall of Fame. Haley (now Tegey) will join her this year. Kurt shared 2002 NEC Player of the Year honors with Adam Schumann and Jamie was an outstanding player at St. John.

“Being number three of four siblings, I was always the annoying little sister who was just trying to keep up,” Haley (Kapferer) Tegey said of her role in the group. Tegey, who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation on April 2, finished her career at Jefferson in 2007 as the second-leading scorer in the county, male or female, with 1,733 points to Diana Davis’s 1,934.

“We spent hours playing and usually only stopped because one of us ended up crying or yelling and then my dad had to intervene,” Tegey said of those early years.

Following her sister Kelly in the Falcons’ program and from a tall family (she would become 6-foot-2 by her sophomore year), Haley progressed in sports enough to be noticed early by Jefferson head coach Rod Holmes, among others. She began playing organized basketball at the YMCA in the third grade. In the fourth grade, she was recruited to play on a travel team.

“We were coached by a few of the fathers of girls on the team and we stayed local but always had so much fun,” she said. “We also went to fundamental camps which were hosted by the high school girls' teams, and I remember being starstruck because we treated them like royalty. I felt like I had a backstage pass since my sister Kelly was there and I felt like I knew the players, but I'm sure I was just annoying.”

Tegey (then Kapferer) was just one link (though an important one) on a Falcon team that also included Kelcie Helmer, Lindsey Jividen, Sara Febel and Tegey’s sister, Jamie, who all played together since the fifth and sixth grades.

“There of course were many other wonderful people that I played with as well throughout the years,” Tegey quickly adds.

Like most of Holmes’s teams, they were enormously successful.

Tegey didn’t keep track of her high school statistics, but state records show her as the state of Ohio’s leading career shot-blocker with 563 between 2004 and 2007 and fifth in career rebounds in the state with 417. Jefferson won the Northeastern Conference championship in 2006-2007 with a 9-0 league record (15-3 overall) to go with a multitude of championships Holmes’ teams won. Not surprisingly, Tegey was the Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

“I led the (Jefferson) all-time scoring record which meant the most to me because my sister Kelly had set the record a few years previously,” Tegey said. “She has always been an inspiration and motivation to me and I was proud to live up to her caliber.

“I'm sure 16 years ago a vivid memory would have come to mind, but at this point, my fondest memories were all the times spent with my teammates off the court and the friendships we had during summer camp, locker room dance parties, long bus trips and sleepovers.”

Basketball was never the be-all, end-all to Tegey anyway. She played whichever sport was in season at Jefferson.

“I tried to keep busy and in shape in high school,” she said. “I played volleyball, basketball and participated in track and field. Along with varsity sports, I was involved in club sports as well. I played JO volleyball eighth grade throughout my senior year. I also was on a traveling AAU basketball team until my junior year, when my dad and I had a heart-to-heart and we discussed which direction I wanted to go. I decided then that I wanted to pursue volleyball in the off-season where I was committed to working toward recruitment for college.

“I was a four-year letter recipient in three sports. I earned a full-ride scholarship to Youngstown State, where I played volleyball. There were some school records broken, but I'm sure they have probably since been surpassed."

Like most, if not all, of the Falcons he tutored, Tegey attributes much of the team’s success to Holmes.

“He was all about consistency and the basics,” she said. “We were never fancy but kept it simple with success. I attribute this to having played on a team with the same people for so many years; we definitely had a strong bond. I remember Coach Holmes coming to my seventh and eighth grade practices/games where he was taking notes on the players who he would be able to coach in the future and encouraging us to participate in open gyms over the summer. I remember being so scared to go to a high school open gym over the summer before freshman year, but we all went and we pushed ourselves to grow and play with the older girls.”

Holmes, now a member of the ACBF Hall of Fame himself, became the winningest basketball coach in Ashtabula County history with 444 victories, all but seven of them at Jefferson. He died in 2016 of colon cancer.

While at Jefferson, Tegey was contacted by Eastern Kentucky University, Kent State and Cleveland State briefly about playing basketball.

“But I never really entertained the idea as I had set my mind to playing volleyball in college,” she said. “I feel very fortunate that I had the option to choose between volleyball or basketball and that there was interest from various colleges to give me the opportunity to play at the next level.”

Tegey played volleyball for YSU for four years.

“I definitely had a learning curve when I entered collegiate sports,” she said. “I was used to playing three sports year-round, and here I was so engulfed in one sport season and off-season training the rest of the year. Most of my teammates only played volleyball and club during high school. I liked being dynamic and keeping things fresh with a new sport each season.”

She graduated from Youngstown State with a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) and took a job as an RN at Cleveland Clinic’s main campus right out of college.

“My first job was on a cardiothoracic stepdown unit,” Tegey said. “I worked in the cardiac cath lab and EP lab at Hillcrest for six years. Currently I have been downtown at CCF main for the past three years in the device clinic where I work with pacemakers and defibrillators.”

Tegey met her husband, Morgan, through mutual friends in college. They have been married for 8 1/2 years.

“He still gives me butterflies,” she said.

The Tegeys don’t have children yet but have acquired a gray tabby cat named Kennedy and a German shepherd, Charlotte.

“They bring our home (in Mentor) a lot of joy,” she said.

She keeps active, participating in a sand volleyball league over the past few years.

“It is definitely more of a leisure sport these days, but I’m still having fun,” she said. “I love to cook. I recently learned how to knit and we love to imbibe on the local beverages that the Northeast Ohio microbreweries have to offer. Also the wineries; we don't discriminate.”

Lenny Lattimer

By CHRIS LARICK

When Lenny Lattimer went out for track at Pymatuning Valley High School, he made a quick discovery.

He was a very good sprinter — for 50 yards. Unfortunately, the shortest contested sprint was the 100-yard (at the time) dash.

“I never won one race,” Lattimer said of that particular event.

For some reason, he was more successful at the 220, though, and excelled in the long jump, setting the school record.

What does any of this have to do with a basketball story you ask? Well, a blazing 50 yards might not help that much in a 100-yard dash, but it can do wonders in sprinting downcourt on a fast break. And that’s what Lattimer excelled at.

The 24.1 points he averaged as a senior in 1967-68 brought him the Ashtabula County scoring championship, a first-team berth on the Regional Press All-Ashtabula County team and, eventually, status as the 1968 Pymatuning Valley athlete of the year. Lattimer has been chosen for the 2023 Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation’s Hall of Fame class.

The marriage of Lattimer’s (and his teammates’) talents and Al McClung’s conditioning drills enabled the Lakers to post an 18-2 record his senior season and a one-time 18th ranking in the state.

Lattimer came from a hard-working family of farmers who nonetheless loved their sports. Along with three brothers — Larry (named to the ACBF Hall of Fame in 2009), Ronnie and Randy — Lenny competed in almost daily two-on-two contests during basketball season.

“We only played basketball three months a year,” he said, a nod to the typical practice of athletes of his day spreading their efforts among basketball, football and assorted other sports.

The Lattimer family moved to Richmond from Logan County early in Lenny’s scholastic career. He played first at Deming under Paul Faehlin, then moved up to Pymatuning, where Jim Kardohel coached him in ninth and 10th grades before McClung took over his junior year.

He had a good junior year, finishing in fourth place in GLAC (Great Lakes Athletic Conference) scoring, while averaging 18.1 points in the conference. The same 18.1 points a game got him a fifth-place finish in Ashtabula County.

Meanwhile, McClung’s conditioning program was having an effect — a good one.

“He ran us and ran us and ran us,” Lattimer said. “As a coach, he was a marine drill sergeant. He’d turn the heat up in the gym.

“The style of ball we played was full-court press every play of every game. We had a style of ball we played. I guarded a section of the floor, with two guys behind me. I took my man as far as those two and one of them would pick him up from there. I was still out on the wing.

“(Center) Greg (Mason) would grab a rebound and we’d fast-break downcourt. You had to be a player who could run. We’d get 10-15 turnovers a game. We seldom had to set up an offense. I averaged three or four steals a game because of the press.”

At 6-foot-3, Mason, who would go on to coach at Conneaut for several seasons, was the only other senior on the Laker team. He and Lattimer were joined by juniors Garland Mills, Joe Garrick and Bob French. Mason wasn’t much of a jumper, according to Lattimer, but was a very smart player who could pass, shoot and rebound.

Even at 5-foot-10, Lattimer could outjump Mason, he said. “I had a 32-inch vertical leap and could dunk, but was not allowed to back then. I played every minute of every game, never fouled out, never sat on the bench. (Because of our conditioning) I was never tired at the end of a game.”

During his senior season the Lakers were the undefeated champions of the GLAC with their 10-0 record, while outscoring their opponents 75-60 on average. Lattimer had 24.1 points, eight rebounds and six assists per contest, finishing with 851 points for his career. He was named first-team All-GLAC, first team All-Ashtabula County and first-team All-Northeastern Ohio, along with being selected to the Cleveland Plain Dealer Dream Team.

Being from a farm family, Lattimer “never dreamed of going to college” and took no pre-college courses in high school. He gave Kent State-Ashtabula branch a shot, though, needing to pass the SAT to get in. He played basketball there, averaging about 14 points per game over 14 games.

He continued to play basketball for many years, competing on a senior-pro team in Springfield, OH and later in a 50-and-over league in 2001. Despite the fact he had moved south by then, he came back to PV and played in an alumni game in 2007 and 2008, being named MVP in 2007.

After his time at Kent State-Ashtabula he married Linda Dixon from Jefferson and moved back to Logan County. The Lattimers had one daughter and two sons while living there.

He started a construction business in 1974 (Lattimer Builders, still in business). In 1982 he took his business to Manassas, Va. After 40 years his first marriage ended in divorce. Lattimer moved to Pennsylvania, then Maryland, where he decided to make one of his dreams come true, building a log cabin in the Allegheny Mountains in Maryland. His wife didn’t care for the mountains and the couple amicably split.

After being single for five years he remarried Elizabeth, who has four teenage children. Two of them are still home with them.

In the years since high school, he has become a proficient archer, becoming an indoor four-time national champion (2006-2009) and setting a new national record in 2008.

Greg McGill

By CHRIS LARICK

Like many young men of his time, Greg McGill had his college education interrupted by the Vietnam War, where he served as a sergeant in a combat infantry unit.

McGill, who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame on April 2, had graduated from Conneaut High School in 1966. His basketball skills were good enough to earn him a full-ride scholarship to Kent State. After a year and a half, McGill was drafted into the United States Army and was sent to Vietnam.

After completing his hitch in the army, McGill returned to college life, this time at Cleveland State University. He graduated from that school with a Bachelor of Human Resources. Later in life he added an MBA from Ashland University.

He began his athletic career by participating in elementary intramurals. He made the Conneaut basketball team in the seventh grade. His two junior-high years were spent under the coaching of Henry Clark and Mike Stefenik.

“They guided excellent fundamentals and discipline,” McGill said of Clark and Stefenik.

When he reached Conneaut High School, McGill and his Spartan teammates came under the coaching of ACBF Hall of Fame coach Andy Garcia. “He taught us strategy, teamwork and further discipline,” McGill said. “He was a legendary coach and an excellent teacher, disciplinarian and motivator.”

At 6-foot-7, McGill played center on a team that also included Rod Steiger, Ron Richards, Dennis Miller, Andy Raaevouri and Bob Brewster. Conneaut won the Northeastern Conference championship behind that lineup in the 1965-1966 season.

McGill was the second-leading scorer in Ashtabula County that year and made first-team All-NEC, first-team All-Ashtabula County, first team sectional tournament and was an honorable mention All-Ohio player that year.

McGill also excelled in track for the Spartans, setting the best annual times for the 1965-1966 squad in the high hurdles and 220-yard dash. He set a record in the low hurdles that lasted more than 30 years and also competed in the 440-yard relay. He received Conneaut’s Skippon Trophy for outstanding track ability.

He was recruited by Wittenberg University of Ohio and Kent State. His basketball career, as mentioned, was interrupted by the Vietnam War.

McGill has had a diverse career as a corporate executive, workforce consultant and small business owner.

“My most recent Right Management (a global workforce consulting firm) career has traversed a broad range of roles including managing two offices in Cleveland, OH and Portland, OR, teaming with clients to plan and execute time-sensitive projects involving thousands of employees, and leading and participating on numerous internal project teams to plan and deliver high-quality programs and processes consistent with ‘Best in Class’ service,” he said.

McGill is known for his expertise in coaching executives to achieve career goals in reemployment, entrepreneurship and retirement life options. In addition, he is a Certified Leadership Coach, having guided numerous executives and their teams on improving individual, team and business performance with the Talent Management practice.

Prior to his time with Right Management, he was a Retained Executive Search Consultant with Korn/Ferry International and Boyden International, and in senior HR roles with organizations in the consumer and industrial packaged goods, R&D, and financial services sectors.

McGill is currently retired and living with his wife, AJ Pfander, in Durham, NC. The McGills have been married 29 years and have no children.

“We are planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April,” Greg said of being unable to make the ACBF banquet. “We enjoy outdoor activities, including hiking with our seven-year-old yellow lab and four-month-old golden retriever.”

McGill also enjoys fly fishing for trout, steelhead and salmon, especially around Yellowstone National Park, Oregon and Washington (state).

Willie Osborne

By CHRIS LARICK

Willie Osborne will be proud to be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame on April 2. He just wishes that one of his former teammates would be there to greet him.

“I am honored to be inducted,” Osborne said in a recent interview. “However, it seems incomplete and not substantial if Roosevelt Corpening is not an inductee. He was our starting Point Guard and the best at that position. There would not be an Osborne, Tim Bowler, Scooty Brown or Tom Hill (all past Hall of Fame inductees) if it were not for Roosevelt Corpening. I am accepting this award in honor of him."

Osborne, who graduated from Ashtabula High School in 1976, may very well have a “point,” but the one he’s making may have more to do with the position of point guard than of Corpening himself. Of all of the inductees into the ACBF Hall of Fame, that is probably the least-represented position, as is true this year.

Consider this: the most valued basketball players (by the public at any rate) are those who score the most points. Players who score 1,000 points are celebrated in headlines. When is the last time you saw a player honored similarly for collecting rebounds or amassing assists?

Assists are the yardstick by which most point guards are measured, but they draw very little attention. Many high school statisticians have difficulty even knowing when one has taken place. Osborne feels Corpening exceeded expectations for a point guard.

“For three years Roosevelt dominated that position,” Osborne said, “providing unchallenged leadership while preventing opponents from successfully pressing us in the full court. Roosevelt was known for his ability to bring the ball up court against any type of pressure or press."

Osborne’s role was more noticeable, though he had another problem: playing center at 6-foot-2. He did it well enough that he averaged between 14 and 18 points per game (he didn’t keep exact records) and was granted first-team Star Beacon All-Ashtabula County and All-Northeastern Conference and second-team All-Ohio honors his senior year.

“I started playing basketball (and all other sports) at an early age with my brother Michael Osborne,” Osborne said. “He was two years older and served as my teacher and the best athlete I have ever competed against.

“I started playing formal basketball in the fifth and sixth grades. Back then, each elementary school had a basketball team. At McKinsey Elementary, I played with an incredible group of guys (Randy Stowers, Jim Trembly, Paul Stofan, Joe Martello, Dave Moody). We were the undefeated city champions for fifth and sixth grades. We were 12-0 each year (24-0 total).”

By the time he played in high school, his teammates were Corpening (“THE POINT GUARD,” he emphasizes), guards Tim Bowler, Paul Stofan, Mike Massucci, and John Bowler and forwards Bo McMillan, Don Wells, Reggie Hood, Calvin Thompson, Larry Johnson and Phil Sholtis.

Osborne played center at 6-2. “I have remained the same height as in high school,” he quips. “As an adult, I have grown in different directions.”

In addition to his point totals, he averaged 12 rebounds and three assists. When the Panthers went to the sectional finals in 1976 against a great Brookfield team, he tallied 27 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in that game.

Osborne feels fortunate in the coaches he played for.

“I benefited from great coaches during my career,” he said. “Mr. Vanoy was my elementary coach who stressed teamwork and discipline. Roby Potts was my junior high school coach. In junior high we had great athletes coming from the elementaries. Mr. Potts blended us into a team and for the year 1970 and 1971 we were undefeated in Ashtabula County.”

When he reached Ashtabula High School, Osborne came under the tutelage of Tom Carr as a freshman and Bob Walters thereafter. Both are now in the ACBF Hall of Fame.

“Tom Carr stressed fundamentals, discipline and conditioning,” Osborne said. “Coach Walters taught us pride in ourselves as young men. He stressed the importance of being prepared and performing to our best abilities. Over the course of my career, I have played for lots of coaches. Coach Walters was the best.”

As a result, the Panthers were able to excel in what at the time was a county loaded with talent.

“In 1975 and 1976 every NEC game was memorable,” Osborne said. “Gyms were packed with people sitting in the stands and on the floor. Each team had great athletes (St. John's Pete Candela, Harbor's Dan Juhola, Geneva's John Montgomery, Conneaut's Sanford brothers).”

Like most of the athletes of his time, Osborne spread his talents among several sports.

“I played football, basketball, and tennis for four years at Ashtabula High School,” he said. “I started varsity as defensive end in football in 1975 and 1976, earning awards for All-County, All-NEC and Honorable Mention for the State of Ohio. In basketball, I started varsity in 1975 and 1976. Our team was full of great athletes.”

He was recruited by more than 10 colleges for football, including Arkansas and the University of Cincinnati.

“For basketball, the offers were from smaller schools: Malone, Keystone Jr. College, Oakland University, and a few others,” he said.

In the 1976-77 school year, he attended Keystone Junior College in La Plume, Pennsylvania.

“I started on the basketball team and averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists,” he said. “I played the two or the off guard.”

The next year he entered Kent State University (main campus in Kent) with the goal of walking on but encountered “personal challenges” and didn’t play basketball.

But he continued as a student at Kent and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He has since added an MBA from the University of Phoenix in addition to Six Sigma Black Belt Certification from Philips Electronics, Amsterdam and a Certificate in Business Management from Case Western Reserve.

“My professional career can be divided into two parts,” he said. “Part one: (public: government) I served 12 years as the Chief Deputy Auditor of Ashtabula County; Part two: private. I worked for Philips Electronics, Forest City and Lubrizol, serving as Procurement Manager for key areas of spending (marketing, facilities, legal, finance and accounting, HR, travel etc.). Doing so, I had the opportunity to work in the US, Canada, Mexico, Amsterdam, France, Austria, and other European countries.”

He has been married to Diana Hudson Osborne for 34 years. The Osbornes have six children (Andre, Tia, Rashaad, Theron, Chelsea and Alex), ten grandsons and two granddaughters.

Willie currently plays tennis. He also is the JV boys’ basketball coach for Lakeside High School.

Joe Pete

By CHRIS LARICK

It takes us a while to realize the fact, but we are all given a life sentence at birth. Once we accept that, it is up to each of us to live our lives the best we can. Joe Pete, one of this year’s Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation’s Hall of Fame inductees as a contributor, made it his personal mission to live his life to the fullest every single day.

“Sports were always his main interest,” Joe’s mother, Mariann, said. “Growing up he played Little League and basketball at the YMCA. When he was eight years old, he began collecting sports cards which he continued to do throughout his entire life.

“In high school he played football at SSJP (Saints John and Paul). He enjoyed playing basketball and was good at it in his junior high years. He was very good at football and truly enjoyed tackling his opponents.”

Pete, the son of Joe Sr. and Mariann Pete, graduated from SSJP in 1985. That summer he met Pam, the love of his life who also grew up in Ashtabula, graduating from Harbor High the same year. He went on to Kent State (main campus), receiving his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and later added a license in Real Estate Property Appraisal.

“When Joe graduated from Kent he took a job as an Intake Social Worker in Lake County,” Pam said. “This was a short stay, about one year. At this job he had a hard time dealing with the stresses that came with the job while maintaining his health.”

From there he worked at a youth detention center in Lake County for two or three years. “He enjoyed working with the youth and giving his worldly advice,” Pam said.

After that, Pete became a real estate property appraiser for the county auditor, Sandra O’Brien, which he did for about 10 years. It was then that his life took an unexpected turn.

At the age of 19, Pete was diagnosed with kidney failure. He was able to get a transplant with the prognosis of living for 10 years but he ended up living for 26 years. He never wanted anyone to know how much his health impacted him, so he kept this private his entire life.

After he retired from his job, he did more local broadcasting and had his own radio sports show on ESPN 970 called The Sports Report. Pete had done some work with Keith Castle’s sports magazine/newspaper, “Sports Jam” as a side job during the 1990s.

“He would go to sporting events and write about the game, or he would interview players and, one time, as a baseball referee,” Pam said. “Through this job he met Mr. (Bob) DiBiasio from the Cleveland Indians and became friends with him. He also became friends with (Indians announcer) Matt Underwood. They both attended his funeral to pay their respects.

“He was also an usher at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium during college and, when Jacobs Field opened, he was an usher there as well. He did that for about nine or 10 years until he had children. In his youth, he started umpiring at the Ashtabula Little League. He continued into his adult years for men's baseball and women’s softball around Ashtabula. He umpired for about 20 years.”

Instead of accepting his disability as a dead end, Pete turned it into a new avenue.

“He became friends with local radio broadcaster Mark Allen on the radio station and would call in his high school football selections and why he thought the teams would win,” Pam said. “He and Donny Vincenzo would go back and forth on their predictions … they were entertaining! He then became good friends with the general manager/later owner of the radio station, Dana Schulte (inducted into the ACBF Hall of Fame in 2016).

“Dana and Joe worked out a way to broadcast games across the local TV channel as well as the radio station. Eventually the television channel was no longer available, but Joe just started to do more radio, broadcasting football and basketball. Sometimes he would do bocce when they held tournaments. I think he only did that twice before he passed away.

“He did a broadcast of the opening of Ashtabula Little League and would talk to the little kids. They liked to be on the radio. He did broadcasting from local restaurants like Los Compadres and Crow's Nest and would interview high school athletes. He liked to bring on those athletes who were also carrying at least a 3.0 GPA and would highlight their academics as well as their athletic abilities. He always would acknowledge the high school bands and thank them for their performances.”

Pete eventually began a "Pigskin Pete" scholarship to award those athletes who were outstanding in their sport and school. Applicants had to write an essay stating why they felt they deserved the scholarship.

“He read every single one, and there were so many, and then decided on a girl and boy from each school in the county,” Pam said. “He then decided to have fundraisers for it which included a basketball tournament for current high school players and former players. It was well received in the community and still continues today.

“His annual basketball tournament to raise money for the scholarship will be held at Jefferson High School on March 31st at 5pm. There is also a softball tournament that continues today with Mr. (Dan) Juhola in charge of it. Dr. Seeds at one time helped out with contributing to the scholarship as did many community members through advertisement.”

It was a full plate for someone with Pete’s health problems, but he loved every minute of it and it may have helped keep him alive.

“What Joe loved about broadcasting was it allowed him to talk about sports ALL THE TIME!” Pam said. “He loved sports. He loved watching kids who worked hard at their sport to improve, who had drive and a good attitude. He was constantly reading about local sports and college sports as well as professional sports.

“He loved high school and college best of all. He continued to do sports broadcasting up until the end of his life because it fueled him to keep moving and thinking. His friends who worked with him in the broadcast booth helped him in any way necessary to continue doing what he loved to do, local sports broadcasting. If he had not been ill, he would have gone to school to do broadcasting on TV but he was not sure he had the energy required to do it at that level. To say this job made him happy would be an understatement … he absolutely loved the job because it was not a job, it was his passion.”

Pete had other interests too.

“Joe enjoyed his family,” Pam said. “He was Italian and enjoyed the family traditions that he was brought up with. He liked to write, which is how he became a writer with ‘Sports Jam.’ He loved the sun and going in his pool every day in the summer. He also loved his pug dogs Dexter and later, Buckeye, whom he named after The Ohio State Buckeyes!”

He passed on January 26, 2012 and his legacy lives on through the many seeds he planted in the community. Joe also had a brother, Michael, who passed away at the age of 29 from kidney transplant complications.

Joe married Pam in 1993. They were together 27 years, married for 18 of those years, and had two beautiful daughters, Abby and Julia.

“They were the pride of his life!” Pam said. “They inspired him to push through the bad days. He spoke of them often on his radio show. He often brought them with him to the radio station and they have fond memories of those days.”

“Joe had a wonderful sense of humor! He was always joking around with his friends and family. He enjoyed pasta and his mom’s wedding soup! He was a good man.”

Adam Schumann

By CHRIS LARICK

Edgewood’s Adam Schumann, one of 11 2023 inductees for the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation’s Hall of Fame, credits an earlier inductee for much of his success on and off the court.

“Fellow ACBF HOF member Al Runyan (Class of 2016) was my coach for the first three years of high school,” Schumann said. “He coached some of those great mid-90's Edgewood teams with guys like Steve Kray, Scott Runyan and Donny Palm and when they graduated the program was left a little thin.

“He seemed to move the timeline ahead for a few of us and gave us quality playing time our freshman year hoping we would mature as players. I remember after an early season loss, I hadn't impacted the game at all and took one shot. He pulled me aside on our way to the locker room and in his usual humorous but to-the-point way said something like ‘Adam, you have to understand what I'm trying to do here, and if I play you the whole game you have to actually do basketball-related things on the court.’”

It wasn’t just Runyan’s basketball coaching that made the Edgewood players appreciate him, Schumann said.

“Apart from being a great basketball coach, I looked up to him, and still do, for the person he is. He taught great fundamentals but was also concerned with how you presented yourself to the community. He's been a positive influence on so many kids in the area and I am lucky to have been one of them. I try to emulate a lot of his qualities now as an adult.”

Kids playing basketball worldwide can appreciate how Schumann was introduced to the game.

“My parents hung one of those Nerf hoops on the back of our living room door and I would shoot nonstop,” he said. “My dad said it was the best three dollars he ever spent.”

Schumann started organized basketball in the first grade in the YMCA program. The first coach he remembers was Jim Dunn in the sixth grade.

“He was a good X's and O's coach but stood out to me because he was the first one to get a little fiery if you gave a poor effort,” Schumann said. “That woke us up to expectations and personal responsibility.”

By Schumann’s sophomore year a young Warriors team was starting to show its worth, though it took a rugged start to get there.

“My sophomore year we started 2-8 and then went 9-1 in the second half,” Schumann said. “We beat eventual NEC co-champs Ashtabula and Conneaut late in the season in back-to-back games by 20 (points) each. I remember how proud Coach Runyan was. It was a testament to his coaching ability to keep the team together after that horrible start.”

Schumann considers himself fortunate to have played with Edgewood greats like Josh Roberts and Jason Read as point guards. The Warriors started five seniors that year: Schumann, Roberts, Brian Gowday, Trevor Hoffman and Eric Cagnoli. Schumann was the leading scorer on a team that won 15 or 16 games after finishing around .500 as juniors and seniors.

The 6-foot-3 Schumann was the Northeastern Conference Co-MVP (with Jefferson’s Kurt Kapferer). He finished his high school career with 1,341 points and more than 500 rebounds.

In addition to basketball, Schumann played golf and baseball for the Warriors.

“I never broke 80, but a few of the years we fielded some good baseball teams.”

He was recruited by Division III colleges like Case Western Reserve and Oberlin for basketball.

“But I was set on pursuing a pharmacy degree so it limited my choices to either Wilkes College in Pa. or Ohio Northern,” he said. “I visited and met with both coaches and ended up at ONU.”

He played freshman basketball his first quarter at Ohio Northern but found out he couldn’t maintain his grades as he wanted to and play basketball too.

“It was a difficult decision but ultimately worked out for the best,” he said.

After taking his Doctor of Pharmacy degree, he has worked at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland since graduation in 2008.

“I work mainly as a staff pharmacist and rotate through our oncology and general pediatric departments in a clinical role,” he said.

Schumann met Amanda Wight in 2009 and the couple married in 2012. They have a seven-year-old daughter, Macie.

Schumann still plays in a basketball league in Willoughby and is part of a morning hoops run at Kirtland High School that plays a few days a week. He started sailing after college and participates in that as well.

“We race a Tartan Ten on Lake Erie out of Cleveland,” he said.

In addition to his Edgewood experiences on the court, Schumann has fond memories of another team he played on.

“AAU basketball seems to be everywhere now with each area having multiple teams but in the late 90's there weren't a lot of chances to play competitive basketball outside of the high school seasons,” he said. He is the head coach at Berkshire now, but Joe Montanaro put together the first AAU squad before our freshman year in '98.

“We had a great team with guys like Jamie Presciano from Harbor, Bert Wofford and Brian Craigo from Ashtabula and Madison, Jay Georgia and Josh Roberts from Conneaut and Edgewood. Looking back, practicing against the best players in the county and playing together at tournaments had a huge impact on our development. A big theme when I think about those years are all the coaches and mentors who took the time to make an impact on our lives.”