Long associated with Kent State basketball, associate head coach Lori Bodnar is in her 24^th season with the Golden Flashes in 2011-12 and begins her ninth campaign in her current role as associate head coach.

Since her first season with Kent State in 1988, Bodnar has been a crucial part of a program that has produced three Mid-American Conference Tournament champions, 13 20-win seasons and four NCAA tournament appearances.

“Lori is the backbone of the success of the program,” Head Coach Bob Lindsay said. “She has been instrumental in the development of a number of all-conference posts through the years. She has an excellent relationship with players and coaches throughout the state of Ohio. Lori also coordinates the in-state recruiting plus European athletes.”

Bodnar’s main responsibilities with the program include her role as recruiting coordinator and the coaching of Kent State’s post players. The University of Rio Grande graduate oversees fundraising, community service and public relations for the program. Bodnar also helps out with the monitoring of the team’s academic performance.

Bodnar’s passion to connect with the community has not gone unnoticed. During the 2009-10 academic year, Bodnar was one of a select few on the Kent State campus to earn one of the first Kent State President’s Excellence Awards. President Lester A. Lefton awarded Bodnar her honor in February, finding the long-time coach on the practice court while tutoring KSU student-athletes.

Since arriving at Kent State, Bodnar has proved her value to the program by recruiting and coaching 14 All-MAC selections and two MAC tournament MVPs.

One of Bodnar’s greatest successes at Kent State is no doubt the mentoring of former forward Lindsay Shearer to three consecutive first-team All-MAC honors as well as Player of the Year accolades in 2005-06. Under Bodnar’s instruction, centers Andrea Csaszar and Julie Studer achieved MAC Tournament MVP honors in 2002 and 2000, respectively.

For 19 seasons Bodnar has been the director of the Kent State Women’s Basketball Camps. One of the largest team camps in Ohio, it draws nearly 1,000 attendees annually.

Before starting her coaching career, the Blaine, Ohio native was a four-year letterwinner as the starting center at the University of Rio Grande in Rio Grande, Ohio. Bodnar graduated from Rio Grande in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in business education.

Bodnar belongs to both the National Basketball Coaches Association and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Outside of the Kent State program, Bodnar has worked with the Portage County Special Olympic track and field program for the last 16 years. She is also a committee member for the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life.”

Bodnar started her coaching career at Buckeye Trail High School in Old Washington, Ohio, where she had two successful years at the girls’ junior varsity and assistant varsity basketball coach.