In the past few years there hasn't been a junior college basketball program more successful than Eastern Florida College. Each of the last five years Eastern Florida has qualified for the national tournament coming from tumoltous Region 8 tournament. The man behind the unprecedented success is ten year head coach Jeremy Shulman. Shulman has accumulated over 250 wins and even has been a member of USA Basketball coaching staffs in the past. This week our staff had the opportunity to speak with Coach Shulman asking him some things about the current landscape of his program!

A list of where the sophomores signed from last years team:

• Osayi Osifo - Florida

• Jonathan Ned - Georgia

• Mikal Starks - Georgia

• Calvin Poulina - Bethune-Cookman

• Noah Louis - Georgia SouthWestern

• Amar Tiganj - Texas Weslyan

• Stephen Merritt - Florida Tech

• Johnny Bernard -Young Harris 

List of returners:

• Brian Dugazon - 1st Team All Conference as a Freshman.

• Nick Alves - 2nd Team All Conference as a Freshman.

• Brody Boyer - Started 13 games as a Freshman.

• Benny Agwu Eme - Started 5 games as a Freshman.

• Chris Roth - had 17 in a half vs Palm Beach.

Sophomore newcomers:

• Ja’Darius Harris - started for UT-Martin (D1) in OVC play

• Rron Ukaj - MVP of the 2018 FIBA Euro Championships Div C

What are your expectations for Eastern Florida College this coming year?

* Our Expectations are very high as always. We know just how ridiculously good our conference is, and the region as a whole. We play in the best Region in the nation, and there are no easy games. But we will work as hard as we can to compete for Championships. It’s a very unique year of course, and we will manage it the best we can. Overall, we just want to build the best relationships with our players that we can, and really develop our guys both on and off the floor.

How does the conference re-alignment effect the up coming season? 

* Conference re-alignment will just be one of the changes we will need to navigate this year. I think we are moving in the right direction, going from 4 conferences down to 3. Hopefully we can continue this direction and get to 2 Conferences eventually (North and a South). But I digress. Our Conference, the Mid-Florida Conference, will have the most teams in the Region with 7. And it’s a LOADED conference!!! Polk, Santa Fe, Daytona, St Pete will be especially loaded, while FSCJ is not only one of the best coached teams in the region, but has one of the best bigs, and Hillsborough has their most talented team in years. The Conference is filled with outstanding coaches, and big time players. We will do the best we can to prepare and compete.

How do you feel about NJCAA decision to move basketball to a spring session?

* I think it was a decision that absolutely had to be made. As a competitor, of course I was ready to begin in the Fall, but I don’t think the mistakes we have made in our country have allowed any other option than to move to the Spring. No country in the world has the issues with containing the virus right now like we have, and it’s more important to get this virus under control (and hopefully get a vaccine soon), than it is to play in the fall. So overall, it was a smart and necessary decision, and I personally think NCAA D1 will eventually follow the NJCAA’s lead and move the season to January. 

What players will you miss coaching the most from latest season? Who are you most excited to coach next year?

• I am going to miss all 8 of the guys that moved on to 4 year schools, as well as the 3 freshmen that didn’t return. All 11 guys were amazing kids!!! But I can’t lie - I will miss coaching Osayi Osifo as much as any. Osayi was just such a great human being, and arguably the hardest worker I have EVER coached (and that’s saying a LOT). I will miss our conversations over footwork, and attention to detail, and ceiling. What a GREAT person!! I have confidence Osayi will do very well at the University of Florida!! 

• And for this coming year, I’m honestly excited to coach ALL of them!!!!!!! I’m excited to see who will be consistent with work ethic and coachability day in and day out. 

What changes do you expect to see in all of college basketball this coming season due to COVID-19?(Non-NJCAA how it effects 4-year schools recruiting calendar)

* There are just so many unknowns. I can’t even begin to tell you what it will look like. I just think it’s going to be a long time until D1 coaches can get out to recruit. And that’s okay with me, as we try to do what’s right for the health of the people of our country. We are in unprecedented times, and we will just focus on what we can control.

Will you be open to playing more geographically located prep schools this year?

* We try to schedule only D1 Jucos on our schedule each year, and so this season, with only 22 regular season games, we will definitely only have D1 jucos on our schedule. The Preps/ Post Grads in Florida are definitely outstanding though!!!

How does the new law in the state of Florida allowing college athletes to accept endorsements effect the junior college student athlete?

* I’m extremely interested to see how the new NLI laws will effect JUCO. I think there will still be certain restrictions within either the NJCAA or the FCSAA or within an individual school, which will make navigating this new world very interesting. While I do think a lot of schools, especially in smaller towns or with big boosters, will be able to utilize this,  hopefully not abuse it. If done right and ethically, this could be a fantastic thing for some athletes at the NJCAA level.

Who would be an your all time-starting 5?  

* Zero chance I could answer this, as much as I’d like to. I have been blessed with SOOOO many great players and people over 10 years. Wow, 10 years. Going on 11…been here a long time!!!! In our run of 8 straight Conference Championships (7 of which were outright), we had 6 Conference Players of the Year, many of whom were All-Americans. We have had three additional All-State players. So that’s already 9. That doesn’t even include a whole host of other big time players that just missed the Player of the Year, All-American, All-State honors. All of that being said, I do have to mention Kareem Brewton as the best to ever play here - 1st Team All-American, 2 year player here, School’s All-Time leading scorer (at least verified and documented), Conference Player of the Year, 59 wins…and then a 2 year starter at Memphis, and now an overseas Pro. With all the GREAT players I have been fortunate enough to coach, no one quite has Kareem’s overall resume. He is our Eastern Florida GOAT.