Meet Coach Jay
Great Lakes Basketball was founded by certified USA - AAU basketball coach Jay Valadez.
Sports and athletics have always been a central part of his life, from playing, to 17+ years coaching and training. Currently Coach Jay is training over a dozen D1-D3 collegiate athletes, recently has coached: Lorain County All-Star game, trained the last 3 Lorain County Miss Basketball players, Head Coach of Amherst High School Varsity with a district finals appearance and 3 sectional championships, trained one of the 2020 Female Athlete's of the Year for the State of Ohio & brought Andrews Osborn High School Academy Varsity team to the National Championship in 2017.
Currently, Coach Jay is turning Great Lakes Basketball into a catalyst for players to find focused basketball training and take their game to the next level.
Club Owner/Coach
Meet Coach Claire
Claire Orsagos played four years of Varsity basketball at Saint Joseph Academy from 2013-2017. She went on to play collegiately at Ohio Northern University for one season before transitioning into a management role for the team her final two seasons. She has four years of coaching experience: one season at the middle school level in Ada, OH, and three seasons at Saint Joseph Academy coaching the Freshmen team. She is now entering her fourth high school season as the Assistant Varsity and Head JV Coach at Fairview High School.
Basketball has played a tremendous part in Coach Claire’s life, and she’s excited to have an opportunity to share her knowledge through the Great Lakes program.
Club Director/Coach
The Gym
"The higher we are placed,
the more humbly we should walk"
- Cicero