The JTAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 199, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 31, 2018 Page: 2 of 8
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Cont’dfrom pg. 1
someone like that make some
comments like that about the program
and what I meant to Tarleton Basketball
and to Tarleton State. Really nice
comments from him and I appreciate his
feelings.”
Reisman began his time as a member
of the Tarleton Family when former
Tarleton president Dr. Barry B. Thompson
brought Reisman to Tarleton with
hope that Reisman would build up the
Basketball program.
According to Reisman, before becoming
head coach the Tarleton Basketball team
initially had, “one winning season in 27
years. I don’t know if I knew that when
I took the job back in those days but I
just felt like this was a special place.
There were special people here when I
interviewed for the job. They challenged
me in the interview. ‘Could I turn this
basketball program around?’ I just felt
like this was a sleeping giant that could
Lonn Reisman in his staff photo.
Photo courtesy of Tarleton Athletics
really become something special. I don’t
know what happened in it before then,
something told me that, ‘Lonn, you come
in here and you can make something
special out of this basketball program’
and we did.
“Recruiting became a priority. I
brought a lot of players in that first
year cause I needed to find the right
players that believed in my philosophy of
basketball. With the blessings of God, I
did find those people. And that first year,
we won 18 games, lost 11, won the TIAA
championships, went to the district nine
playoffs for the first time. And that kind
of set the tone, everybody’s looking at
me like ‘wow, how did we do this in one
year?’ I was very fortunate to find the
right student athletes, the right players
that believed in what I was trying to build
here and they set the tone for the future
of the program.”
Rebuilding the program to achieve
so much in his first year, as well as to
achieve even more during his 30 years
as head coach, was not something that
happened overnight. According to
Reisman, it took many long nights and a
lot of effort to train his teams to be able
to move as such on the court.
Figuratively speaking, Reisman
mentions how it took “a lot of blood,
sweat and tears...(and) a tremendous
amount of energy to turn this program
into what it is today.”
“I want to emphasize, I did not do that
alone,” Reisman explains. “It took a lot of
people on my staff, my assistant coaches.
People that were a part of this program
that were working to help build it.
They’re all a part of the success that I’ve
had. It is not a one-person show.”
Reisman also keys in on how the
student body has also played a role in
helping his teams succeed.
“Our student body has been
tremendously supportive of this
basketball program,” Reisman said.
“They have been instrumental in our
record at home. Our record at home is
phenomenal. I don’t know if anyone can
equal it all anywhere around the country.
I think since the early nineties we won
90 percent of our games at home and
I give that credit to the Stephenville
community, the Tarleton community
(and) our student body.”
While it may be easy to look at the
accomplishments Reisman has earned
during the season and on the court, one
cannot overlook the accomplishments he
has earned off season and off the court.
To be precise, the accomplishment of
helping his student athletes succeed in
the ‘student’ portion of their title. While
ensuring his teams put all their effort on
the court, Reisman has never failed in
ensuring they put the same effort in the
classroom.
The press release also makes note of
such accomplishments, highlighting his
success in, “coaching a two-time Lone
Star Conference Academic Player of the
Year, three LSC scholar-athlete winners
and nine players on the LSC academic all-
conference team.”
From this effort, many of his players
have been able to graduate from Tarleton
and have successful careers.
“I’ve got players that are lawyers,
I have players that are doctors, I
have players that are accountants”
recalls Reisman, “Many of them are
schoolteachers and coaches. Dentist, U.S.
Marshals, a lot of them are police officers
in the big cities. A lot of them play
professionally over in Europe.”
Reisman s efforts and support has
played a key role in helping his student
athletes succeed in the classroom and
become great citizens.
While Reisman may have stepped down
as head coach of the basketball team, he
carries a belief that they will still become
as successful with his son Chris Reisman
leading them.
“I think the basketball team is in great
hands with coach Chris Reisman taking it
over,” Reisman said. “He’s been here for
20 years so he knows the program.”
At the end of the day, Lonn Reisman
does not intend to slow down. He intends
to utilize the same energy from his days
as head coach to ensure that all the
athletic teams become successful.
“As the athletic director I want to see
all the programs aspire to compete for
national championships,” Reisman state.
“I want every team here to be successful,
I want every team to make sure that their
student athletes are graduating. I want
to make sure that we are teaching great
life skills to all of our student athletes so
they can be successful when they leave
Tarleton and become great alumni for
this institution.”
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The JTAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 199, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 31, 2018, newspaper, October 31, 2018; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1103496/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.