Lonn Reisman

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Lonn Reisman
Current position
TitleAthletic director
TeamTarleton State
ConferenceWAC
Biographical details
Born (1954-12-23) December 23, 1954 (age 69)
Playing career
1975–1977Pittsburg State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1978–1979Arkansas State (graduate assistant)
1979–1981Trumann HS
1981–1987Southeastern Oklahoma State (assistant)
1987–1988Connors JC
1988–2018Tarleton State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1993–presentTarleton State
Head coaching record
Overall654–261 (.715)

Lonn Eugene Reisman (born December 23, 1954) is the current director of athletics for Tarleton State University. He served as men's basketball coach at Tarleton State from 1988 to 2018.

Early life and education[edit]

Reisman was born in Cuba, New York, the third of five children to Lyle and Josephine Reisman. His father worked as a manufacturing specialist at Acme Electric Corporation. In 1969, the family moved to Lumberton, North Carolina.[1] Reisman attended Lumberton High School where he was a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball under coach Bob Ivey. Shortly before his junior year of high school, Ivey accepted the coaching position at Florida Air Academy. Reisman followed his coach to the school and became a High School All-America in football and basketball. He played basketball and tennis at Coffeyville Community College before transferring to Pittsburg State University. Reisman graduated from Pittsburg State with a bachelor's in physical education in 1977.[2]

Coaching career[edit]

After considering a career in medicine, Reisman began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Fort Scott Community College.[3] He served as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State during the 1978–79 season before coaching two seasons at Trumann High School.[4] In 1981, he was hired as an assistant at Southeastern Oklahoma State under coach Jack Hedden.[3] Reisman was scouting at Cook County College (now North Central Texas College) when he noticed a young man named Dennis Rodman who he thought had potential. After coming to another game, Reisman found out that Rodman had flunked out of school, so he called his mother after hounding the registrar's office. Despite showing little initial interest, Rodman was convinced to sign at Southeastern Oklahoma State in 1983 after Reisman mentioned a childhood friend of his attended the school. After a star career at the school, Rodman became an NBA Hall of Fame player.[5] Reisman coached at Southeastern Oklahoma State until 1987, when he was offered the head coaching job at Connors Junior College. In his only season, he guided the team to a 21–10 record, with future NBA pick Anthony Jones as its star player.[3]

In 1988, a head coaching position had opened up at Tarleton State, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) institution that had one winning season before his arrival. Despite being told by university president Barry B. Thompson, "You don't have the (guts) to take this job," Reisman accepted the position and led the team to an 18–11 record his first season.[6] Reisman claimed three straight Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) titles, followed by two NAIA regional titles. He credits this initial success to the foundation of the Texan Club, a booster club for the athletic department.[3] He was named assistant athletic director in 1989, and was named athletic director on September 1, 1993, following the resignation of Ron Newsome.[7] In 1994–95, Tarleton State made the move to the NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference.[8]

During the 2001–02 season, Reisman guided the Texans to their first 20-win season as a Division II member. The following year, Tarleton state finished 29–4, won the LSC North Division Championship, and advanced to their first-ever Sweet 16. In the 2003–04 season, he won his first LSC Tournament title.[4] He earned TABC Small College Coach of the Year, NABC Regional Coach of the Year, and LSC Coach of the Year honors in 2004. During the 2004–05 season, Reisman guided the Texans to their first Final Four appearance.[3] Between 2010 and 2012 Reisman had two of the greatest defensive teams in NCAA Division II history, holding opponents to 53.3 and 56.3 points per game.[6] His 2013-14 team began the season a school-record 18-0 and finished 28-3 and won the LSC regular season and tournament. In the 2014–15 season, Reisman guided the team to a school-record 31–4 record and he reached his second Final Four after defeating the University of Mount Olive in the Elite Eight.[8]

On January 2, 2016, Reisman won his 600th career victory, a 71–61 win over Cameron, and was presented with a proclamation from Texas governor Greg Abbott.[9] In September 2016, Reisman underwent successful surgery to remove his prostate cancer.[10] On March 23, 2018, Reisman announced he was stepping down as head coach in favor of his son, Chris Reisman. He finished his career with 691 career wins, with 654 of them at Tarleton, the most wins by anyone in Tarleton history. His record at Wisdom Gymnasium was 418–72, and his teams spent 128 weeks ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll.[6]

Post-coaching career[edit]

After stepping down from coaching, Reisman continued as the athletic director at Tarleton State. On May 5, 2019, he was inducted as the 169th member of Tarleton State's hall of fame.[8] On May 22, he hired Mike Sirianni as the seventh baseball coach in Tarleton State's modern history.[11] Reisman presided at a ceremony in November 2019 to welcome Tarleton State's entry into NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference starting the 2020–21 season.[12] On March 30, 2020, Reisman hired Billy Gillispie, who formerly coached at Kentucky, as the next basketball coach at Tarleton State.[13]

Head coaching record[edit]

Junior college[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Connors State Cowboys (NJCAA) (1987–1988)
1987–88 Connors State 21–10
Connors State: 21–10 (.677)
Total: 21–10 (.677)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

College[edit]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Tarleton State Texans (Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1988–1993)
1988–89 Tarleton State 18–11 6–2
1989–90 Tarleton State 26–5 9–1
1990–91 Tarleton State 26–5 11–1
1991–92 Tarleton State 26–10 12–0
1992–93 Tarleton State 22–11 12–0
Tarleton State Texans (NCAA Division II Independent) (1993–1994)
1993–94 Tarleton State 16–12
Tarleton State Texans (Lone Star Conference) (1994–2018)
1994–95 Tarleton State 11–15 5–9
1995–96 Tarleton State 11–16 3–11
1996–97 Tarleton State 18–10 8–8
1997–98 Tarleton State 19–8 10–4
1998–99 Tarleton State 17–12 8–6
1999–00 Tarleton State 17–9 7–7
2000–01 Tarleton State 13–13 5–7
2001–02 Tarleton State 25–8 10–2 NCAA Division II first round
2002–03 Tarleton State 29–4 11–1 NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2003–04 Tarleton State 28–4 11–1 NCAA Division II second round
2004–05 Tarleton State 25–9 9–3 NCAA Division II Final Four
2005–06 Tarleton State 27–7 11–1 NCAA Division II Elite Eight
2006–07 Tarleton State 18–10 7–5
2007–08 Tarleton State 25–7 9–3 NCAA Division II Sweet 16
2008–09 Tarleton State 18–10 6–6
2009–10 Tarleton State 24–8 9–3 NCAA Division II second round
2010–11 Tarleton State 24–6 13–1 NCAA Division II first round
2011–12 Tarleton State 27–6 15–3 NCAA Division II second round
2012–13 Tarleton State 20–10 10–8 NCAA Division II first round
2013–14 Tarleton State 28–3 12–2 NCAA Division II second round
2014–15 Tarleton State 31–4 12–2 NCAA Division II Final Four
2015–16 Tarleton State 24–9 9–5 NCAA Division II Elite Eight
2016–17 Tarleton State 22–8 13–5 NCAA Division II first round
2017–18 Tarleton State 19–11 12–6
Tarleton State: 654–291 (.692)
Total: 654–291 (.692)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chilton, Stuart. "Lonn Reisman: A Man of Dedication". Erath County Living. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Baxley, Rodd (January 9, 2016). "More than a number". The Robesonian. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Keith, Brad (January 31, 2012). "Winning 500: Reisman's legacy at Tarleton". Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Head coach Lonn Reisman". Tarleton State Texans. July 8, 2015. pp. 4–5. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Bickley, Dan (2015). No Bull: The Unauthorized Biography of Dennis Rodman. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 1250095050.
  6. ^ a b c Cox, Ryan (March 23, 2018). "Lonn Reisman moves to full-time athletic director after 30 years as coach". Tarleton State Texans. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  7. ^ Mitten, Matthew; Davis, Timothy; Smith, Rodney; Shropshire, Kenneth (2019). Sports Law and Regulation: Cases, Materials, and Problems (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. p. 869. ISBN 1543817130.
  8. ^ a b c "Lonn Reisman immortalized as 169th member of Tarleton Athletics Hall of Fame". Stephenville Empire-Tribune. May 5, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  9. ^ "Gov. Greg Abbott pays tribute to Reisman". Stephenville Empire-Tribune. April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  10. ^ McCraig, Caleb (September 27, 2016). "Misti Reisman: Lonn Reisman's surgery was a complete success". Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  11. ^ "Mike Sirianni named head coach of Texan Baseball". Glen Rose Reporter. May 22, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  12. ^ Wilson, Mark (November 15, 2019). "Dream come true: TSU celebrates leap to 'next level'". Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  13. ^ "Gillispie aiming for great comeback story with Tarleton". Austin American-Statesman. April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.

External links[edit]

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