Although it has been nearly two decades since his last appearance as Independence Community College coach, Mike Kruszynski had one of the most impressive runs in the Pirate men's basketball program. During his seven seasons at ICC from 1991-98, Kruszynski led the Pirates to five straight 20-win seasons, which included a 29-4 overall record during the 1994-95 campaign. He directed ICC to three Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division championships in 1995, 1997 and 1998. During that time, he also coached some of the great players in program history, including ICC's all-time leading scorer Ruben Patterson, who racked up 1,558 points during his two-year career from 1994-96. In his tenure at Independence, Kruszynski posted an overall record of 151-70, which ranks third in career victories in program history. Kruszynski left ICC to become the assistant coach at NCAA Division I San Jose State University, where he spent one season with the Spartan program. He jumped back into the head coaching role at Black Hills State University for six seasons (1999-2005), where he led his program to two national tournaments and as high as a No. 4 national ranking. Kruszynski officially retired from coaching in 2005. He currently resides in Palos Park, Ill., and has been teaching elementary physical education for the last 12 years.
