Tusculum College Athletic Staff Directory

Administrative Staff | Athletic Training Staff | Sports Information | Coaching Staff

Tusculum College Athletics Administration

FRANKIE DeBUSK(email Frankie DeBusk)
Director of Athletics

Frankie DeBusk is beginning his second year as athletic director at Tusculum College. He was named interim director of athletics in August, 2007 and was later named to the full-time post later that year. DeBusk is also beginning his 11th season at the helm of the Pioneer football program.

DeBusk oversees the day-to-day operations of the Tusculum athletic department and the 14 sports that the College sponsors.
In his first year at his new post, DeBusk guided Tusculum Athletics into one of its most successful seasons in school history. Six teams advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason as the department posted a combined 196-96-2 record (.670 winning percentage). Ten of the 14 sports posted winning seasons, including three South Atlantic Conference championships and two Food Lion SAC Tournament titles.

Tusculum finished 83rd of 272 NCAA Division II colleges and universities in the 2007-08 U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings, TC’s best showing in school history. The Pioneers earned a total of 214 points, which are awarded by virtue of national postseason success.

Tusculum also finished runner-up in the chase for the South Atlantic Conference Athletic Excellence Award. Wingate University edged out Tusculum by a 75-to-74.5 point margin in one of the closest races in league history. Wingate had a seven-point lead over Tusculum heading into the spring season, but the Pioneers put together a strong finish, picking up 34 points in the final three months of the academic year. Eight teams finished in the top half of the conference, including seven in the top third of the league.

Tusculum student-athletes and coaches have garnered numerous individual accomplishments during DeBusk’s brief watch. In 2007-08 alone, 45 student-athletes earned All-South Atlantic Conference honors, including 17 All-Region picks and six All-Americans. Three were selected as SAC Players of the Year, while two garnered Conference Freshman of the Year accolades.

DeBusk has also stressed academic excellence in the department, resulting in 73 SAC Commissioner Honor Roll recipients and a school record 11 named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team. A league-best five earned the prestigious South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete Award for their respective sports, including baseball’s Dustin Morrow, who was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® College Division First Team.

Three TC head coaches were either named Conference or Region Coach of the Year during the 2007-08 season. Tommy Arnett (men’s tennis) and Brett Teach (men’s soccer) were named SAC Coaches of the Year, while Missy Tiber was selected as the Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

DeBusk has overseen numerous athletic facility enhancements during his tenure as both football coach and athletic director at Tusculum. In 2007-08, championship banners were installed in Pioneer Arena, honoring the success of Tusculum athletics, both past and present. The Pioneer Arena playing surface was redesigned and refinished during the summer of 2008, while historic Rankin Hall, which houses the TC athletic department, experienced renovations to its main lobby area. The Pioneer football locker room also experience a major renovation with the installation of new lockers and floor.

DeBusk, the winningest football coach in Tusculum history, has built the Pioneers into year in and year out contender in NCAA II, resulting in seven winning seasons in the last eight years. His 59-48 career record at Tusculum also makes him the sixth winningest football coach in South Atlantic Conference history.
Over the past eight seasons, TC has posted a 52-33 mark including a 9-2 tally sheet in 2003, while claiming the program’s first ever South Atlantic Conference Championship. From 2000-05, the Pioneers recorded five consecutive winning seasons, a first in school history.

The 2003 team finished listed in the top 50 nationally in 10 statistical categories and finished the year ranked 19th in NCAA Division II. That squad also featured five All-Americans, including Harlon Hill Trophy national finalist and Pittsburgh Steelers’ second round draft pick Ricardo Colclough. Colclough was the 38th overall pick by the Steelers, becoming the highest drafted player in South Atlantic Conference history. Colclough became the first player in school history and the third in SAC history to earn a Super Bowl ring as the Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Colclough is beginning his first year with the Carolina Panthers.

DeBusk, a 1991 Furman University graduate, established 11 school records at quarterback for the Paladins, while compiling an impressive 31-6 record. In 1988, DeBusk led Furman to a 13-2 mark while capturing the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship. His collegiate career also included three Southern Conference titles and three trips to the NCAA I-AA playoffs.

He is not the first member of the DeBusk family to garner the TC black and orange. His brother, Doug, was a Tusculum Hall of Fame point guard for the Pioneer basketball team from 1991-95.

In 2003, DeBusk was the recipient of the prestigious Art Argauer Award, which is presented to the Tusculum coach of the year as selected by his peers.
Frankie DeBusk is married to the former Jennifer Coffey of Bristol, Tenn. They are the proud parents of their seven-year-old son, Ty.

DEBORAH DAVIS (email Deborah Davis)
Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator/NCAA Compliance

Deborah Davis is in her 14th year on the Tusculum College Athletic staff. Davis, a native of Milan, Tenn., has served the Pioneer athletics department in a variety of roles. Davis holds the titles of Associate Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator and oversees NCAA Compliance for Tusculum’s 14 intercollegiate sports.

As Associate Athletic Director, Davis is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the athletics department. Davis is entering her fourth year as Tusculum’s NCAA Compliance Officer. She is responsible for tracking student-athlete eligibility and Tusculum's continued compliance with NCAA rules and regulations.

She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tusculum College. In 1997, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Managment, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Davis followed that in 1999 with her Master’s degree in the same field from Tusculum.

She is married to Mr. Scott Davis and they are the parents of two children, Kandice (25) and Amber (24) and have one grandson, Ty (3).

CHRIS LENKER (email Chris Lenker)
Head Athletic Trainer

Chris Lenker is in his fifth year as Head Athletic Trainer at Tusculum College after serving as Assistant Athletic Trainer for four years. Lenker directs the overall operation and medical treatment of the student-athletes of the 14 intercollegiate sports offered by the College.

His duties include overseeing all phases of the Athletic Training program, coordination of all athletic insurance matters, direction of the College’s athletic drug testing program, prevention, management and rehabilitation of athletic injuries and the development of athletic training room policies and procedures. This year, he will continue to serve the athletic training needs of the Pioneer football and baseball programs. Since coming to the Greeneville campus, he has served as athletic trainer for men and women's soccer, men and women's basketball and baseball.

Lenker, 33, joined the Tusculum staff after serving as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at East Carolina University for two years. While at ECU, Lenker assisted in the management and rehabilitation of athletic injuries for 500 student-athletes in the 19 sports offered at the NCAA Division I program. His primary responsibilities included men's soccer, baseball and football, which played in the 1999 inaugural Mobile, Alabama Bowl.

Prior to his stint at ECU, Lenker served as head athletic trainer at White Oak High School in Jacksonville, N.C. He was responsible for the medical coverage and rehabilitation for the student-athletes at White Oak, while also serving on the faculty.

The Iowa native is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (N.A.T.A.) and is a licensed through the Tennessee Board of Athletic Training Examiners. He is a certified examiner with the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Cerification and is an approved clinical instructor with the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. He is an American Red Cross instructor of CPR for Professional Rescuers and CPR/AED/First Aid in the Workplace. Lenker was recently named chair of the South Atlantic Confernece Athletic Trainer Committee through July of 2009.

Lenker earned his Bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sports Science at East Carolina in 1997, and later earned his Master's in Health Education at ECU in 2000.

Lenker is married to the former Laura Sharp of Ocean City, New Jersey and they are the proud parents of one son Addison Cade, 1.

ROBIN TIPTON (email Robin Tipton)
Faculty Athletic Representative

Robin Tipton is in her third year serving as Tusculum's Faculty Athletic Representative.

Tipton came to Tusculum College in 2003 and teaches Environmental Science, General Chemistry I & II, and Organic Chemistry I & II.

She earned her Masters of Science Degree in Chemistry at Western Carolina University and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Science from Tusculum College. As an undergraduate at Tusculum, the former Robin Newberry lettered on the Pioneer cross country team. The Cookstown, N.J. native was a member of the Tusculum Dean's List and a recipient of the Alpha Chi Excellence award. She was also a recipient of the Duffield Academic Award.

She is currently the chair of the Environmental Science Department and also serves as advisor for the Pioneer Student Athlete Council. She just completed a two-year term on the Tusculum Sports Hall of Fame Committee.

She is a member of the American Chemical Society, the National Science Teacher's Association and the Tennessee Environmental Education Association. Robin Tipton also attends Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church and is currently the recreation coordinator for the church's Wednesday evening program, LOGOS. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor activities and spending time with her family.

Robin and her husband Steve are the proud parents of two sons, Seth, 3 and Trent, 2.

DOM DONNELLY (email Dom Donnelly)
Director of Sports Information

Dom Donnelly is beginning his 11th year as Director of Sports Information at Tusculum College. The Louisville, Ky. native is responsible for all media relations of Tusculum’s 14 intercollegiate sports. Donnelly has over 15 years sports information experience at both NCAA Division I and II levels.

He joined the Pioneer staff in June 1999 after serving one year as Assistant Sports Information Director at Elon University. While at the Elon, N.C. school, Donnelly served as the primary media contact for the Phoenix' seven women’s sports, while also assisting with all 14 NCAA Division I sports offered.

From 1997-99, Donnelly oversaw the sports information operation at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Prior to that, he served as SID at South Atlantic Conference member Lenoir-Rhyne University for two seasons. While at L-R, Donnelly also served as media director for the NCHSAA Western Regional Basketball Tournament.

Donnelly began his sports information career at Georgia College & State University where he served as Assistant SID and men’s golf coach. While at the Milledgeville, Ga. school, he led the Bobcats to an 88-44 record and finished third in the Peach Belt Conference, the best league finish in the program’s history to that date. He also served as media/tournament director of the NCAA Division II District Tournament in 1992.

Donnelly, a Western Kentucky University graduate, has worked several national events including the NCAA II women’s basketball regionals and the 2001 NCAA II Women’s Golf National Championship. In 2002, he served as media director of the inaugural NCAA II South Regional Women's Golf Championship, which was hosted by Tusculum.

He is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Selection Committee. Donnelly served as chairman of the South Atlantic Conference Sports Information Directors Committee from 2005-07. He is also in his third year serving as Southeast Region Chair for the Gene Upshaw Award, which recognizes the NCAA Division II Football Lineman of the Year. He is entering his fourth year as chairman of the Tusculum Sports Hall of Fame Committee.