TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 6, 2023) – The Florida College System Activities Association is proud to announce the Class of 2023 inductees to its Men's Basketball Hall of Fame.
- Steve DeMeo, coach, Northwest Florida State College
- Jeremy Shulman, coach, Eastern Florida State College
Both inductees will be formally recognized during the FCSAA/NJCAA South Atlantic District Basketball Tournament, March 8-11, at Northwest Florida State College.
Steve DeMeo
Steve Demeo began his second stint with the Northwest Florida State College Raiders in April 2022, following a three-year run as an assistant coach at St. John's University and East Carolina University.
Possessing three decades of experience across all levels of the college game, DeMeo's previous time leading the Raiders was nothing short of remarkable. Punctuated by a National Championship in 2015, DeMeo guided Northwest Florida State to five consecutive Panhandle Conference Championships (2015-19) and FCSAA titles in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. During his initial six-year run in Niceville, his teams produced a record of 170-27, and also advanced to the NJCAA semifinals in 2017 and NJCAA quarterfinals in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
DeMeo has collected FCSAA & NJCAA Region 8 Coach of the Year honors four times and is a six-time Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year. In the Raiders' 2015 National Championship season, he was named Spalding NJCAA Coach of the Year, received the Red Auerbach Coach of the Year award at the 2017 NCAA Division I Final Four, and was tabbed the top junior college coach in the country by Basketball Times in 2018.
DeMeo guided Oregon-signee and current Indiana Pacers guard Chris Duarte to NJCAA Division I National Player of the Year honors in 2019 while 40 of his former players have gone on to play in the Division I ranks. Additionally, 42 of his 42 sophomores graduated at Northwest Florida State between 2013 and 2019.
Prior to his initial hire at Northwest Florida State, DeMeo spent 17 years as an assistant at the Division I level, enjoying successful stints at Iona, Providence, UCF and Hofstra. He also held lead roles at Division II Newberry College, as well as NJCAA members Monroe College and Bronx Community College. To date, his overall record as a head coach stands at 288-104.
A native of Bayside, DeMeo earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Jeremy Shulman
Since arriving in Melbourne in 2010, Jeremy Shulman has built the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball program into a national power with five trips to the NJCAA Tournament over a seven-year span, including a National Championship Game appearance in 2017 and a third-place finish in 2018.
That level of success is a far cry from what Shulman inherited in 2010, when Eastern Florida was coming off a seven-win campaign and in the midst of a postseason drought that had reached 11 seasons.
Now in his 13th season with the Titans, Shulman has won at least 18 games each year and has accumulated 318 career wins – an average of 24.5 per season – eight Conference Coach of the Year Awards, and guided his team to 11 straight FCSAA Tournaments, including a ten-year run from 2013 to 2022 as champions of either the Southern, Mid-Florida or Central Conference.
Most all of Shulman's seasons in Melbourne has been marked with a milestone. He made an immediate impact, leading the Titans to 18 wins and berth in the 2011 FCSAA Tournament. Year two was highlighted by the first 20-win campaign in 12 years and, by 2013, when the win total reached 26, Eastern Florida claimed its first Southern Conference Championship in 13 years, and advanced to the FCSAA Championship Game.
In 2014, Eastern Florida made back-to-back appearances in the FCSAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years. The 2016 Titans produced a perfect 15-0 record in the Southern Conference and delivered a program-best 31 wins the following season en route to the National Championship Game. That same year, Kareen Brewton became the first Titan under Shulman to be named NJCAA First-team All-America.
In 2021, Shulman's squad delivered another top-ten NJCAA finish – this time in the classroom, earning the sixth-best team GPA among NJCAA men's basketball programs and 94 of his former players have matriculated to four-year programs, including 58 to Division I.
Prior to his arrival at Eastern Florida, Shulman spent three years as an assistant at NJCAA member East Mississippi and had a highly successful stint as head coach and program director of the Tennessee-based Midstate Ballerz AAU basketball club, where he posted 415 wins as a head coach.
A native of Nashville, Tenn., Shulman earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a double minor in athletic coaching and psychology from Middle Tennessee State University.