Kate Glusko begins her second season as head coach for women’s basketball at Francis Marion University.

In her first year in Florence, she guided the Patriots to an 18-10 record, a third-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference's East Division standings, and the program's fourth consecutive NCAA Division II National Tournament appearance.

Glusko, 27, is the 11th head coach in the storied history of the Francis Marion program, and was the youngest (then 25) new coach since Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell took over the coaching reins as a 23-year-old in 1975.

The State College, Pa., native comes to Francis Marion after two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Gannon University in Erie, Pa.  In 2009-10, the Lady Knights were 37-1, advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four, and ended the year ranked second in the national Top 25 poll.  The 37 victories set a Division II record for wins in a season and most consecutive wins (37) in a single season.  Gannon also won the PSAC championship and was ranked No. 1 for six weeks.

In 2008-09, Gannon was 26-5, advanced to the round of Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament, was ranked 20th in the final Top 25 poll, and was 12th in the WBCA Top 25 Honor Roll with a 3.497 team grade point average.

Prior to joining the Lady Knights’ staff, Glusko served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Concord University for two seasons.  Concord posted records of 20-9 in 2007-08 and 21-9 in 2006-07, the first time the program registered back-to-back 20-win seasons.

During her four seasons as an assistant coach, she helped develop two All-Americans, 14 All-Conference selections, and seven players who reached the 1,000-point plateau. Her teams posted a combined 104-24 record.

Glusko is a 2006 graduate of West Virginia University, where she earned the bachelor of business administration degree in management (cum laude).  As a 5-10 guard, she played on the 2003-04 WVU squad that was 21-11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the 2004-05 team that was 21-13 and appeared in the championship game of the WNIT.  She suffered season-ending injuries as a freshman and senior.  In the classroom, Glusko was a two-time Big East Academic All-Star and a four-time WVU Athletic Director honor roll member.

She later earned the master’s of education degree in behavioral science while at Concord.

She is a product of State College (Pa.) High School, where she was a two-time All-State performer.  She set the school’s all-time scoring record with 1,630 points, while scoring in double figures 60 consecutive games and leading the Lady Little Lions to an 85-22 record and four straight appearances in the Pennsylvania State Quad-A Championships.  At State College High School, Glusko led the Lady Little Lions to an 85-22 record, four straight appearances in the Pennsylvania State Quad-A Championships, and two District VI Quad-A championships. She also set school records for points in a season (634) and game (43) and highest single-season scoring average (21.1).

Her accolades also included 2002 District VI Quad-A Player of the Year, McDonald’s All-America nominee, 2001 Street and Smith’s All-American, 2001 USA Today Player to Watch, and 1999 WBCA/Reebok Underclassman All-American.

Glusko is a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

The Francis Marion program has an all-time record of 768-364 in 38 seasons.  The Patriots have captured two national championships, the 1982 AIAW Division II title and the 1986 NAIA title, and also advanced to the 1998 NCAA Division II Final Four.  The program made five straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances between 1997 and 2001, in addition to appearances each of the past four seasons.

    Kate Glusko and FMU director of athletics Murray Hartzler