UT MARTIN MEN’S HOOPS READY TO SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS IN YEAR TWO OF RYAN RIDDER ERA
11/2/2022 3:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
2022-23 Media Guide
MARTIN, Tenn. – Ryan Ridder's phone has been buzzing a lot lately. He sees the notifications and reads the chatter. It's hard not to.
The second-year University of Tennessee at Martin head men's basketball coach is aware of the preseason predictions that many pundits have laid out for his program in 2022-23. Two prominent national publications – Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and The Almanac – have proclaimed the Skyhawks as the Ohio Valley Conference favorites. A little over two weeks ago, it was announced that UT Martin tied for the most first-place votes and were selected third in the league's official preseason poll, conducted by head coaches and communication directors.
"There are people who say 'we have blinders on'," Ridder says with a laugh. "Well if you open up a newspaper or check your phone, you see where people are picking you. To our guys, I don't know if they know where we got picked in any poll. I don't think they really care. They come in knowing that we weren't very good last year from a won-loss standpoint and we have to earn our keep every single day. Our guys just come in and work – we're 0-0. They know what they want to get accomplished. Our expectations for our program are the same – we try to get better every day."
The Skyhawks showed promise in Ridder's debut season, garnering loads of individual success while enduring some close calls before ultimately ending the year with an 8-22 overall record. Their 4-14 mark in league play left the squad one game outside of the OVC Tournament picture.
An outsider's view of the situation would simply chalk up last year to the start of a rebuilding process, especially for a team that was the only NCAA Division I team to not return a single player from the previous season. But last year's finish left a lasting hunger in the nine returners, a trait that has seeped into the work ethic of the five newcomers since the start of summer.
"We've seen a group that is willing to learn and understand that this thing is a process – they know success can't happen overnight," Ridder said. "We're taking it day-by-day. Obviously, we get excited as games approach but everybody has come in willing to learn and wanting to sacrifice for each other. Our staff loves to coach these guys – we've upgraded our talent and they're trying to figure out how to utilize it and enhance each other's games."
On paper, the projected strength of UT Martin's 2022-23 squad is undoubtedly the backcourt. Preseason OVC Player of the Year KJ Simon (the only NCAA Division I player to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game last year) and Koby Jeffries (the lone Skyhawk to start in all 30 games last season) each logged heavy minutes a year ago. The newcomer trio of Parker Stewart (982), Desmond Williams (641) and Jordan Sears (493) have combined for over 2,100 career points over eight NCAA Division I seasons.
"I think the way you win now is with great guards," Ridder said. "That was kind of the focus for us this year was to get better and older in the backcourt. We have the opportunity to spread the floor and make some plays for each other a little better than we did last year in our offensive scheme. Defensively, we should be able to put pressure on teams with our perimeter defense – we can turn guys over so we can run in transition. I do think we have a collective toughness to us no matter who we play, even if we're a little smaller."
Simon is primed for a big season after earning All-OVC first team accolades in 2021-22. The 6-3 do-it-all guard went off for at least 20 points in a dozen games last season.
"The first thing you notice with KJ is how much he works," Ridder said. "He is obsessed with basketball and he stays in that gym – he's committed to getting better. He can put up stats all over the board but this year he's really locked into how can he help us impact winning? It can look different on a variety of nights because he's so capable of playing all over the floor."
Joining Simon on the Preseason All-OVC squad is Stewart, who returns to the Skyhawk program after a season at Indiana – pacing the Hoosiers in three-pointers (53) and three-point field goal percentage (.393) on the way to a NCAA Tournament berth. In 2019-20, the 6-5, 205-pound sharpshooter was an All-OVC selection after topping the league in three-point field goals made (2.8 per contest) and ranking third in scoring at 19.2 points per game.
"Parker is a great character human being," Ridder said. "We're not just bringing in a really good basketball player, we're bringing in a grown man who provides some maturity to our group. The guys love him and his ability to come in and connect with his teammates has been seamless."
Jeffries led UT Martin in assists (89) last season while ranking sixth in the OVC with 1.4 steals per game. Williams started 60 of his 84 career games at Troy, scoring in double figures 24 times over three seasons. Sears tossed in 8.6 points per game over his 57-game career at Gardner-Webb, reaching double digits in the scoring column on 21 separate occasions.
Grant Hurst (23 games played as a true freshman in 2021-22) will likely redshirt this season while Dylan Pumpian (walk-on who played in three contests last season) complete the Skyhawk backcourt.
UT Martin's frontcourt includes a pair of returning starters in KK Curry (9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds per game) and Chris Nix (7.3 points, 5.2 rebounds per outing). Curry scored in double figures 15 times last season and showed a knack for getting to the charity stripe – leading the squad in both free throws made and free throws attempted. Nix ranked in the top-10 in the OVC in blocks (1.0 per game, fourth) and field goal percentage (.527, seventh) while dialing up 10 double-digit scoring games.
Senior returner Josh Endicott was a starter at one point last season before a nagging injury caused him to miss chunks of time. The 6-9, 205-pound lefty led the Skyhawks in rebounding four times in his 17 games played and provided four games of 10 or more points.
Sophomores Josiah Morris (23 games played) and David Kamwanga (16 games played) were both playing regular minutes by the end of last season and will look for expanded roles as the youngest members of the UT Martin frontcourt.
A pair of newcomers will vie for major minutes at forward in Jalen Myers and Rifen Miguel. A 6-8, 195-pound southpaw who played his freshman season at Division I Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Myers averaged 19.0 points per game while ranking in the top-five nationally in rebounding (11.4 per game) and free throw percentage (.890) at Hinds Community College last season, securing conference Most Valuable Player accolades. Miguel shot 53.2 percent (41-for-77) last season at Troy after helping Ohio win a Mid-American Conference championship and make an NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2020-21 campaign.
A loaded roster full of talent has led to a noticeable competitive spirit during the team's preseason practices, which officially started on Sept. 26.
"You want that competitive fire," Ridder said. "When you have guys that are fighting for playing time, every drill and everything we do is critical. I tell people this all the time – we don't have starters. We have eight starters in my opinion. We're looking for closers – who are those guys that can really help us win down the stretch."
A new-look OVC is on the horizon as three programs have departed and the league welcomes in a trio of new schools. The race to the OVC Championship event in Evansville, Ind. promises to be a wild journey as exactly half of the 10 teams picked up first-place votes in the league's official predicted order of finish.
"The OVC is clearly as good a league as I've ever been in," Ridder said. "Gameplanning in this league is very unique – we have a lot of great coaches. I think 1 through 10, nobody will be surprised at how it shakes out. We're fired up to compete and have a chance to be playing our best basketball in March."
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