Expectations High As Titans Open Season Saturday
By Space Coast Daily // October 29, 2013
EFSC men's basketball team opens at Webber
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Think of all the clichés pertaining to following a special season and they all apply to Eastern Florida State College’s men’s basketball team.
After all the Titans went 26-7 last season, captured their first Florida College System Activities Association Southern Conference title since 2001 and advanced to the championship game of the FCSAA state tournament where they lost 63-58 to eventual national champion College of Central Florida.
Now the 2013-2014 Titans face a similarly tough schedule and similarly high expectations with a mix of returnees who remember last season’s accomplishments and what it took to achieve them and new players who not only want to continue the tradition but also establish their own identities.
So, enter the clichés: big shoes to fill, tall order, big mountain to climb.
Head coach Jeremy Shulman, in his fourth season at Eastern Florida, has heard them all. He realizes what occurred last season is past and that what matters now is what happens this season. And that’s in the hands of his current team.
RANKED FIFTH IN COACH’S POLL
The Titans open the season at 2 p.m. Saturday against the Webber International junior varsity in Babson Park, FL. They are ranked fifth in the first Florida College System Activities Association coaches poll this fall.
Shulman likes what he sees but at the same time acknowledges work remains.
“This year is a work in progress so far,” Shulman said.
“We’ve got all the talent to be my best team since I’ve been coaching college basketball for seven years. The chemistry is still developing. It’s still in the early stages. I guess that’s a good thing. We wouldn’t want to peak right now in October. We’re hoping to do that a little more in conference season.”
To that end Shulman is looking to three players to set the tone: sophomore returnees 6-3 point guard and sharpshooter Ben Patrick of Clearwater, FL, Dunedin High and Impact Academy, 6-8 forward and three-point and rebounding standout Jure Gunjina from Zagreb, Croatia and 5-11 sophomore transfer, point guard and shooter Torrance Rowe from Atlanta, GA and Holmes Community College in Mississippi.
They will be pushed and supported by 6-7 sophomore forwards and returnees Julian Adams from Palm Bay, FL and Bayside High, and Mike Kirkland from Ocala, FL and West Port High.
TALENTED FRESHMAN CLASS
Newcomers expected to play large roles are 5-8 freshman point guard Jermohn Queen from Stuart, FL and Martin County High, 6-3 freshman guard T.J. Cromer from Albany, GA and Westover High, 6-2 freshman guard Cam Scott from Raleigh, NC and Word of God Christian Academy, 6-6 freshman forward Landus Anderson from Tallahassee, FL and Florida High, 6-8 freshman forward Tyrek Coger from Raleigh, NC and Word of God Christian Academy and 6-2 freshman guard Demetrius McReynolds from Louisville, KY and Butler High.
