Jeff was twice named an All-Ohio basketball player at Portsmouth High School, where he led the Trojans to a State Championship in 1978.  Jeff was named the State Tournament MVP, a member of the PHS Hall of Fame.  He attended college at Miami Ohio University where he lettered four years in basketball. He was Team Captain, Defensive Player of the year, Marshall North Award Winner. 

 

After two tryouts in NBA Camps, Jeff decided to get into coaching where his first coaching position was at the Columbus Technical Institute now known as Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. After a successful three seasons with the Cougars Jeff decided to return home to Portsmouth, Ohio where he joined the staff at Portsmouth High School and helped lead the Trojans to another State Title in 1988.

Jeff's passion for the game and willingness to give back to the community never waivered as he held several events in Portsmouth from his senior year in High School in 1978 to the present time. The most memorable being the Bannon Park Classic and The Jeff Lisath Summer Basketball League for all age groups including adults.  Jeff was also the founder of the community's first "Just Say No" program during Nancy Reagan's campaign. 

 

The campaign against drugs became Reagan's most memorable achievement —thought by some as showing the destruction of addiction, yet condemned by others who say it helped lead to mass incarceration and demonized black communities, during this era many who thought the message was naively simplistic and ineffectual. Yet Lisath use the message for teen prevention and became well-known in Ohio for creating alternatives to "street life" and education on the dangers of substance abuse among teens. 

Jeff received his AA, BA, and MA degrees at Miami University and Ohio Christian University. Now working as Assistant Superintendent at Northridge Local Schools after retiring as Prison Warden in 2016 for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

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