Coach Corey Williams - 5th Grade
Coach Williams is a graduate of Astronaut High School in Titusville, FL where he earned a basketball scholarship to the State College of Florida (formally known as Manatee Community College).
He later transferred to Allen University, located in South Carolina, where he graduated Cum Laude in 2011, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services.
Establishing the Space Coast Stars in 2016, Corey has opened the doors for youth mentorship programs to help teach our youth life lesson skills on and off the court. Coach Williams served as an Assistant Coach for Astronaut High School in 2012. Head coach for Bethany Christian Academy in 2015, where he helped lead the Eagles to a winning season. In 2017 Coach Williams started the Space Coast Stars Jr. Magic league, to help train and teach the basic fundamentals(floor spacing, defense, shooting, importance of teamwork and knowing your role on the court) of the game for kids 5 to 18 years old. Coach Williams was offered the opportunity in 2018 and 2019 to coach and help build up 3 academies in China. In 2019 he was awarded the Jr. NBA coach for the Orlando Magic. In 2021 he won Lead Brevard's 4 under 40 Award. Coach Williams serves on the Palm Bay Youth Advisory Board, Hey Blue Advisory Board, sits on Evans Center Board, and continues to use his platform to inspire change for the next generation.
He now consults with athletes about the business of the game of basketball, how to market themselves as athletes, and what it takes to be a leader on and off the court.
"Providing Optimism and Opportunity through Knowledge, Diversity and Leadership "
Coach Antreet Connor - 6th Grade
Coach Connor brings a wealth of passion and commitment to the program. He has earned multiple varsity letters in basketball and track in high school, helping lead both programs to conference championships. His ability caught the eye of multiple junior colleges, but he opted to attend North Carolina A&T State University to pursue his dreams of becoming an engineer. In college is where he discovered a love for training and developing the youth.
He coached AAU and travel basketball for over five years and has won multiple league, tournament, and state championships in Florida and Missouri.
Coach Connor and his wife Rosie are the proud parents of T’yanna, a recent graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, and RJ, a dual sport athlete, playing travel football and basketball.
With over 10 years of on-hand basketball training and development experience with kids aged 14 and under, Coach Connor prides himself on the betterment of young athletes on and off the court. He specializes in training basketball fundamentals, basketball IQ, and speed and agility. His ability to assess, train, mentor, and educate young players has been a valuable asset to the Space Coast Lightning Family.
Coach Kyle Weldy - 7th Grade
Coach Kyle started his basketball career in middle school and played basketball through his senior year in high school and college. He started his coaching career for a middle school and worked his way up to coach at the varsity level.
Coach Kyle moved to Florida in 2010 where his coaching career was placed on hold. In 2015 he started coaching for the UPWARD program until he started coaching for the Space Coast Lightning 2 years ago. This will be his 3rd year coaching the same boys since they were in the 5th grade, and he could not be more excited!
Coach Kyle:
My coaching strategy is simple, if you listen and learn, you will develop into more than just a great basketball player, you will also develop into a better person.
Basketball to me is not just a game, it is a growth opportunity. Playing the game of basketball makes you test different areas of your confidence level and can make you step out of your comfort zone and grow as an individual. Basketball has taught me a lot of life lessons and that is all I want to give back. There is no better feeling than using what I have learned and accomplished on and off the court in my coaching strategy and seeing that being produced and being successful is a wonderful thing. That is the sole reason for doing what I do! Some may say that I can be a little tough in how I coach and that may be true but at the end of the day I will do whatever it takes to ensure that my boys learn what it feels like to take on self responsibility and push them to become leaders on the court, which also in return will teach them to be leaders off the court.
I have told my teams repeatedly; I am just your coach. I cannot play the game for you so no matter how good of a play I may draw up, or how much I may yell, you must go out there and take responsibility and play to your highest caliber the moment you step on the court, and that goes for practice as well as games. We Fight Together, We Lose Together, We Win Together!
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there"
Coach Roscoe Johnson - 8th Grade
Born and raised in Sterling Virginia coach Roscoe is a 6 year Army National Guard Veteran and attended Southern New Hampshire University. He is a motivational speaker, basketball player, entertainer, actor and ambassador/owner of Mission 4 life LLC.
Coach Roscoe has played for the AND1 live tour (2 years), Harlem Globetrotter (2 years) and the Harlem Wizards (7 years). He has traveled to 49 US states and 18 countries. He was the Sprite Slam Dunk contest runner up in 2008 and 2011 and has been featured on Ballislife, Slam Magazine, Forbes, Commercials and Movies.
Coach Roscoe is considered one of the most powerful dunkers in the world with 13 broken backboards and over 1 million views on YouTube.
Follow coach Roscoe
IG: @roscoeizballin_
TikTok: @roscoeizballin
YouTube: @roscoeizballin
Twitter: @roscoeizballin
Coach Andrew Washington - 7th Grade
Coach Andrew hails from Detroit Michigan he graduated from Westside Christian Academy WCA. Where he was a 3 sport athlete Basketball, football and cross country. Upon graduation Andrew enrolled in South Carolina state university in Orangeburg SC. There he was a walk-on on the men’s cross country team where he competed for 2 years.
His love for the game of basketball was still prevalent however was not skilled enough for the division 1 level even still he wanted to be apart of the sport. And thus applied as the team’s manager where he helped the team with equipment maintenance and team drills as needed. After one year of being a manager he was recognized as the top manager of all sports teams on campus.
The following year he was promoted to assistant director of basketball operations. In this role he was responsible for team film exchange and the managers beneath him. The following year he was given even more responsibility as the teams Director of basketball operations were in addition to his previous responsibilities was in charge of logistics regarding team travel. Acting as a liaison between opposing teams, Hotel hospitality staff, Air travel and other behind the scenes work. Upon graduation he was offered many graduate assistant positions but due to financial reasons could not take any of the offers.
Returning to Detroit Andrew worked many jobs non basketball related. However his desire never went away for the sport. In 2016 he was given an opportunity to join the men’s basketball staff at university of Michigan Dearborn campus. A sister school of the university of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. This school was an affiliate division 2 school playing in the NAIA league. On the staff he was the head coach of the men’s JV team and assistant on the men’s varsity. He contributed in a number of ways with his biggest accomplishment seeing 3 of his JV players promoted to varsity. After a one year stint at the university of Michigan coach Andrew decided to serve his country and join the United States Air Force. After Basic military training where he graduated as top honor graduate he was stationed at Patrick Air Force base in Melbourne Florida where he served 5 years and recently separated in April 2022. He currently works as a contract specialist for L3harris Space and Airborne division. He looks to bring his past experience and passion for the game and youth to our organization.
Coach Laurissa Luther - 7th Grade Girls
Laurissa comes to the Space Coast Lightning having had extensive experience both in the local community and in and around basketball at most levels.
Laurissa was raised in Indialantic, Florida in Brevard County, and played basketball for the local rec leagues as well as the local travel basketball team. She went on to play guard at Melbourne Central Catholic in highschool and then played for three years in college with Florida Tech from 2002-2005. She received her Bachelors Degree in Clinical Psychology in 2005 and went on to start the first girls basketball program at Florida Air Academy (FAA). She then went on to be the women’s assistant coach at Florida Tech from 2007-2011. Laurissa has since spent time away from coaching to raise her two daughters Kaelani (on the lightning team) and Ciara, with her husband Rob.