Men's basketball team honored by EFSC administration

One by one, head coach Jeremy Shulman recognized each one of his men's basketball players during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Eastern Florida State College.

The team just finished up a historic season, winning a school record 31 games, winning a fifth straight Southern Conference title, making the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament for a third straight year and reached the championship game for the first time in school history.

And on Wednesday they found themselves in the Board of Trustees meeting room being recognized by EFSC Board of Trustee members, President Dr. Jim Richey and other college administrators.

"What an awesome and exciting experience for Eastern Florida basketball and our guys," Shulman said of the ceremony. "The administration here, led by Dr. (James) Richey, Jack Parker and (Associate Vice President of Athletics) Jeff Carr are so supportive, we are truly blessed. It was a great opportunity to celebrate such a phenomenal year by Team7."

The players, all wearing the bright green 5-peat shirts, were each recognized for their part in the historic season as coach Shulman talked about each one during the celebration.

Shulman then presented the NJCAA National Runner-Up trophy to Dr. Richey who then presented coach Shulman with a plaque honoring the historic season.

The plaque read: Your passion, love for your players and the game have catapulted you and your team to the greatest men's basketball team to ever play at Eastern Florida State College. No other basketball team has won 31 games of made it to the national championship game.

You, your team and coaches will go down in history in Eastern Florida athletics.

Thank you for a great ride!

Dr. Richey then congratulated the team for a fantastic season that saw them win a fifth-straight Southern Conference title as well as a third straight bid to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament, where they went all the way to the championship game for the first time.

"You exemplify the proud tradition of student-athletes at Eastern Florida State College and I can't wait to see what all of you will do in the future, both on the court and off," Dr. Richey said.

"I am going to be monitoring how many bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and PhD's we get out of this group. I will be watching you guys!"

The team is also doing well in the classroom, posting a 3.31 GPA in the fall semester and all three sophomores, Austin Awad, Kareem Brewton and Joan Duran will be moving on to four-year schools.

The trio have led the program to 59 wins which is more than any sophomore class has had.