State Women Basketball Coaches Induct Four Into Association Hall of Fame   Posted on: Mar 2 2000 2:45PM Two former community college standouts, Catherine "Koko" Lahanas of Los Medanos College and Karleen Shields of Contra Costa College, a championship coach, Tami Yasuda of American River College, and a two-time director of the women's state championship tournament, Orange Coast College administrator Doug Bennett, are the 2000 inductees into the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The quartet is to be enshrined at a barbecue luncheon Friday, March 10, at San Joaquin Delta College at 2 p.m., prior to the start of the semifinal round of the Hyundai-California Community College State Women's Basketball Championships. Tickets for the hall of fame event are $5 each. Doug Bennett, Orange Coast College Doug Bennett, executive director of Orange Coast College's Foundation for the past 14 years, is being inducted for his "outstanding record of achievement and enthusiastic work towards the advancement of community college women's basketball in California." A resident of Orange County since 1963 and a former wrestler at Magnolia High School who earned his BA at Cal State Fullerton, Bennett, who has three daughters, is a big supporter of women's athletics. Since 1989, Bennett has been the announcer for all home games played by OCC's women's basketball team. He chaired the 1995 state women's tournament, held in the college's Basil Peterson Gymnasium, and again chaired the tournament last year, when it was staged at Concordia University in Irvine. Bennett personally funds a scholarship each year for a graduating sophomore on the women's team who is transferring to a four-year college or university. He's an active supporter of all of OCC's athletic teams, and has been involved in a host of fund raising programs and projects to benefit Orange Coast athletes. He served as director of the Simple Green Orange County Bowl football game for seven years, from 1991 through 1997. Bennett, his wife, Mailei, and three daughters, Tiffany, Erika and Sarah, live in Tustin Catherine "Koko" Lahanas, Los Medanos College Don't look for Catherine, or as she is better known — "Koko" — at this weekend's induction celebration. Six years after graduating from Diablo Valley College, the sister college of Los Medanos, Lahanas is still heavily involved in the game. Currently, she is playing in Marbury, Germany. After concluding her community college playing career, Lahanas went to play at Cal State Fullerton, earning All-Big West honors in 1995. During the 1994-95 season she led all Division I players in scoring at 26.8 points per game. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in English she took her game overseas, where she continues to flourish on the basketball court. Karleen Shields, Contra Costa College To say that Karleen Shields' two years at Contra Costa College were productive would be a complete understatement. Over the course of her two years at the college, Shields led the Comets' program to 43 wins, two playoff appearances and a Bay Valley Conference Championship. And in doing those things, she set (and still holds) the national collegiate single-season scoring record in 1993 with 1,267 points. She also holds the all-time national junior college scoring record (men and women) with 2,241 points. She led the state in scoring in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She scored 50 points or more seven times, including 59 against Sierra College during her sophomore season. But what is more impressive is that her all-time scoring low in her two years at Contra Costa was 29 points. Needless to say, she was well rewarded, winning Kodak All-American honors as well as being named the CCC Player of the Year in 1993. After earning her degree in liberal arts, she took her game to the University of Southern California. In 1994, she helped the Trojans to the Pac-10 Championship and a spot in the NCAA Elite Eight. As a senior, she started every game as once again the Trojans advanced to the NCAA Tournament. After graduating from USC with a degree in sociology and psychology, she went to work for the Los Angeles Sparks in their team operations office. The mother of two children — Ayesha (13) and Keisha (12) — Shields volunteers as a mentor for at-risk children. Tami Yasuda, American River College Coach Tami Yasuda spent 14 years at American River as the women's basketball coach and in those 14 seasons the Beavers won 251 games (against 141 losses), a state championship (1989) and a conference title. In all, only one team coached by Yasuda failed to make the playoffs. She earned a number of honors for her efforts at American River. Among them, in 1990 she was named the California Coaches Association Coach of the Year and the winner of the Jerry Conway Award. Coach Yasuda is a product of the California Community Colleges, having graduated from San Joaquin Delta College. She later earned her undergraduate and graduate degree from Cal State Sacramento. In 1971 she landed her first coaching job at Bella Vista High School, where she quickly made a name for herself in coaching circles. In her five seasons at the high school her program won 72 games against just seven losses. In 1976, she took over at American River College. She resigned her coaching duties at American River in 1990. However, she has remained active in the sport by coaching in the Sacramento Asian League.