Kate Glusko begins her fourth season as head coach forwomen’s basketball at Francis Marion University. In herfirst three seasons as a college head coach, she registered a40-40 mark.
In her first year (2010-11) in Florence, she guided the Patriotsto an 18-10 record, a third-place finish in the Peach BeltConference's East Division standings, and the program's fourthconsecutive NCAA Division II National Tournament appearance. The following year, FMU posted a 9-17 record.
This past season (2012-13), Francis Marion went 13-13, withthree of the losses coming by single digits and another inovertime.
Glusko, 29, is the 11th head coach in the storiedhistory of the Francis Marion program, and when she began was theyoungest (then 25) new coach since Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell took overthe coaching reins as a 23-year-old in 1975.
The State College, Pa., native came to Francis Marion after twoseasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at GannonUniversity in Erie, Pa. In 2009-10, the Lady Knights were37-1, advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four, and ended theyear ranked second in the national Top 25 poll. The 37victories set a Division II record for wins in a season and mostconsecutive wins (37) in a single season. Gannon also won thePSAC championship and was ranked No. 1 for six weeks.
In 2008-09, Gannon was 26-5, advanced to the round of SweetSixteen in the NCAA Tournament, was ranked 20th in the final Top 25poll, and was 12th in the WBCA Top 25 Honor Roll with a 3.497 teamgrade point average.
Prior to joining the Lady Knights’ staff, Glusko served asan assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Concord Universityfor two seasons. Concord posted records of 20-9 in 2007-08and 21-9 in 2006-07, the first time the program registeredback-to-back 20-win seasons.
During her four seasons as an assistant coach, she helpeddevelop two All-Americans, 14 All-Conference selections, and sevenplayers who reached the 1,000-point plateau. Her teams posted acombined 104-24 record.
Glusko is a 2006 graduate of West Virginia University, where sheearned the bachelor of business administration degree in management(cum laude). As a 5-10 guard, she played on the 2003-04 WVUsquad that was 21-11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the2004-05 team that was 21-13 and appeared in the championship gameof the WNIT. She suffered season-ending injuries as afreshman and senior. In the classroom, Glusko was a two-timeBig East Academic All-Star and a four-time WVU Athletic Directorhonor roll member.
She later earned the master’s of education degree inbehavioral science while at Concord.
She is a product of State College (Pa.) High School, where shewas a two-time All-State performer. She set theschool’s all-time scoring record with 1,630 points, whilescoring in double figures 60 consecutive games and leading the LadyLittle Lions to an 85-22 record and four straight appearances inthe Pennsylvania State Quad-A Championships. At State CollegeHigh School, Glusko led the Lady Little Lions to an 85-22 record,four straight appearances in the Pennsylvania State Quad-AChampionships, and two District VI Quad-A championships. She alsoset school records for points in a season (634) and game (43) andhighest single-season scoring average (21.1).
Her accolades also included 2002 District VI Quad-A Player ofthe Year, McDonald’s All-America nominee, 2001 Street andSmith’s All-American, 2001 USA Today Player to Watch, and1999 WBCA/Reebok Underclassman All-American.
Glusko is a member of the Women’s Basketball CoachesAssociation (WBCA).
The Francis Marion program has an all-time record of 790-394 in40 seasons. The Patriots have captured two nationalchampionships, the 1982 AIAW Division II title and the 1986 NAIAtitle, and also advanced to the 1998 NCAA Division II FinalFour. The program made five straight NCAA Division IITournament appearances between 1997 and 2001, in addition to fourappearances from 2008 through 2011.
(8-2013)
