Eckerd men’s basketball head coach Tom Ryan got a milestone win while the Tritons clinched second place in the Sunshine State Conference following an 88-82 defeat of Saint Leo on Wednesday night.

The win gave Ryan 400 for his career – all of which have come at Eckerd – as he joined legendary coach and administrator Jim Harley (421) in the 400-win club.

“All the people that have come through our program, they’re the reason why we do what we do at Eckerd,” Ryan said, quick to pass credit to others.  “I couldn’t have done it without them and the coaches that have been such an important part of our program over the years.”

The EC grad is in his 27th year at the school – prior to becoming head coach in 1996, Ryan was an assistant to legendary Eckerd coach Jim Harley for nine seasons. He has led the Tritons to eight NCAA Tournament berths as a head coach and has been a part of 10 tournament teams during his overall tenure.

Ryan has been named the SSC Coach of the Year three times: 1997-98, 2000-01 and 2015-16. Ryan has coached three SSC championship teams, winning the SSC tournament title in 1994 and the regular season crown in 1995 before taking both titles in 2016.

In 2001, he was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Coach of the Year, and the NABC-Chevrolet South District Coach of the Year.

Eckerd will wrap up their regular season this coming Saturday when they host Florida Southern.