Upon the departure of head coach, Joe Sermo, the BHS basketball team was in need of a head coach. After rounds of interviews, the Berkley athletic department hired Jay McCulloh as the head coach of the varsity basketball team.

Coach McCulloh brings a wealth of basketball experience to BHS. He played in high school and college, and has coached at nearly every level: from AAU (youth travel basketball) to varsity. His coaching journey began in Florida at Alonso High School, where he served as the JV head coach. After moving back to Michigan, he joined Troy Athens as a JV assistant under current Wayne State assistant Gjon Djokaj. He later became the JV head coach at Seaholm before taking over as the head coach at Livonia Churchill, a role he held from 2016 to 2023. Most recently, he returned to Seaholm as a varsity assistant before joining BHS.

McCulloh attended Holt High School in Holt, Michigan where he was named to the All-Conference and All-Area First Teams. He then played two years at Lansing Community College right out of high school. After that, he transferred to the University of Southern Indiana where he finished his basketball playing career and studied business. Along with coaching, he runs his own HR and talent acquisition consulting business to build local organizations and ensure they are able to sustainably grow.

“I am thrilled to be the new head varsity coach at Berkley,” said Coach McCulloh. “When I moved to Seaholm as an assistant last year, I told the Head Coach that the only job I would ever consider leaving for was Berkley, since my kids will come up through the program as well.”

McCulloh is set here in Berkley where he is living and raising his family. “My kids, who are seven, in second grade, love it here. They love the community and everyone they have met,” said Coach McCulloh. “My kids love all of the student athletes they have come across so far and how great they are. They’ve fit in quickly, having “taken to the basketball program” and spending time with their “new big brothers and their families.”

McCulloh faced some challenges at Livonia Churchill over seven seasons, despite the troubles he had, McCulloh and the Bears are joining the OAA Gold division and looking to bounce back and take his new team to a district championship.

“In our meetings we have discussed two big things: We want to play fast, fun, and a free style of basketball and we want to hang banners in the gym where we are winning district titles,” said Coach McCulloh. “Every time we break from a workout, we reiterate that we want to be District Champions, and that is our mantra for the year.”

Joe Sermo was the head coach for the Bears the past eight years where he was the 2019-2020 OAA Blue Coach of the Year. In those eight years, the Bears were four-time OAA Blue League runner-up, along with being academic 8x All State First Team. Coach Sermo still has twins in the program and will still be around the basketball organization. “It is great to have Coach Sermo around,” said Coach McCulloh. “We have built up a great friendship over the years and he has been great with helping me transition into the program. Coach Sermo set up an opportunity for us to sit down as soon as I got the job to discuss the current state of the program and so we could delve deeply into the returning players,” said Coach McCulloh. “He helped me navigate who to reach out to with all of the questions I had about the inner workings of the athletic department and boosters. He also had a warm hand off for kids at his summer camp.”