Tournament Or Not? This Could Be Klusman's Best Coaching Job!

The problem when you have won as many basketball games as Tom Klusman has at Rollins College is sometimes the expectations are too high. So the last two seasons prior to this campaign were not easy on the staff of Klusman, Brad Ash and Kyle Frakes. Frakes has talked many times on WPRK
(the Geico Tars Sports Network) on how tough last season was on everyone involved in the program.You could make the argument that after last season Klusman should have been the Sunshine State Conference Coach Of The Year this year. He had the same roster, with just a couple tweaks. (Going from 9-19 2-14 SSC to 21-8 (12-4.) Deion Clark transferred in from Old Dominion, Sam Philpott and Eric Castaneda red shirted a year ago. Joey Galvis went from being a guy who rarely played a year ago to a guy who changes the complexion of games this season with his active hands and knack to get them in the passing lanes. Tom Ryan ended up winning the Coach of The Year in the conference. He has had a great year as well as the coach of Eckerd. Klusman (me, meeting him personally)i'm sure has no problem with giving the award to Ryan. Once again, Klusman and the fact that he has won 653 games is almost expected. Last year was an abberation.
  The Tars despite being picked to finish ninth in the Sunshine State Conference standings in the preseason ended up with a share of the title this year.  The talent is not bad, but the coaching is the biggest reason why. Every once in a while when the Tars seem to get a little too high (see 9-0 start) and last night's loss in the Quarterfinals of the SSC Tournament you are reminded that the talent level is not as good as it has been in the past. You can attribute much of the success to the coaching staff. The Tars should be safe and get in the NCAA DII Tournament South Region when the pairings are released Sunday evening. Unless something unforeseen happens (i.e.. Lynn winning the tournament.) One thing is for certain though, as long as Tom Klusman is roaming the sidelines the Tars will always compete with the best.