Ryan Ridder - Men's Basketball Coach

Ryan Ridder

Title:
Head Coach

Ryan Ridder enters his third season as the University of Tennessee at Martin head men's basketball coach in 2023-24. He was announced as the 12th head coach in program history on March 30, 2021 and received a five-year contract extension in July 2023 that will keep him on the Skyhawk sidelines through the 2027-28 campaign.

Last season, Ridder engineered the second-biggest turnaround in school history – increasing UT Martin's win total up to 19. That marked the fifth-most victories since the program transitioned into the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992. The Skyhawks additionally advanced to their fifth all-time appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship semifinals.

UT Martin tied for its third-most OVC victories in school history last season, piling up 10 league wins while defeating each OVC school at least once (including a season sweep of eventual OVC Tournament champion Southeast Missouri). The Skyhawks got off to their best home start to a season in program history as their 14 victories inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center were tied for the most in the UT Martin’s NCAA Division I Era.

The 2022-23 version of the Skyhawks ranked second in school history in scoring (2,658 points) and rebounding (1,293). UT Martin ranked in the top-15 nationally and led the OVC in defensive rebounding per game (28.7, seventh), fast break points (15.09 per game, ninth), scoring offense (80.5 points per contest, 14^th) and rebounding per game (39.18, 15^th). The Skyhawks also topped the OVC in scoring margin (+5.1), field goal percentage (.459) and field goal percentage defense (.422) a year ago.

Individually, UT Martin set a school record for most All-OVC recipients in a single season (three) and was one of only a dozen NCAA Division I programs to produce multiple National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District first team performers in 2022-23 (Parker Stewart and KJ Simon).

In Ridder's debut season as a Skyhawk, he led a team that was the first NCAA Division I squad to not return a single player from the previous season since the 2014-15 campaign. As a direct result, UT Martin produced seven of the OVC's 16 Newcomer of the Week award winners - marking the second-most honorees in that category in school history (just one shy of the 2014-15 squad).

Ridder's 2021-22 Skyhawks faced a grueling schedule that shaped up to be the one of the toughest in recent memory. Eight of UT Martin's nine nonconference NCAA Division I opponents owned a .500 record or better, combining for a 175-126 mark (.581 winning percentage). Overall, the Skyhawks played in 12 games against opponents who would eventually play in the postseason.

UT Martin showed glimpses of breaking through in 2021-22, starting the OVC season with a 2-0 record for just the third time in school history (first time since 2002-03). The Skyhawks won their first two conference road games for the first time in the school's Division I Era (since 1992). UT Martin defeated eventual College Basketball Insider participant UNC Asheville by double figures and led for 25:43 of clock time against a nationally ranked Murray State squad that ended the season boasting the best winning percentage (.912, 31-3 record) in the NCAA Division I ranks before eventually falling by a narrow 62-60 margin on Feb. 19.

Ridder coached Simon (who was a part of his Bethune-Cookman squad but sat out the previous season) in his debut season as the Skyhawks' bench leader. Simon racked up All-OVC first team and OVC All-Newcomer honors, joining two-time All-American Lester Hudson as the only players in school history to win both of those awards in the same season. Simon also chalked up National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 18 second team accolades as he was the only NCAA Division I player in the country to average at least 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

Off the court, UT Martin earned the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award in 2021-22. The Skyhawks were the only current OVC institution to earn the honor as UT Martin posted a cumulative 3.22 Grade Point Average for the year.

Ridder joined the Skyhawks after four successful seasons as head coach at Bethune-Cookman University, a NCAA Division I member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. During his tenure in Daytona Beach, Fla., Ridder set numerous school records, posted a .646 winning percentage in league play and won the 2017-18 MEAC regular season championship. He was spotlighted by ESPN to its top "40 Under 40" list of the nation's head and assistant coaches in May 2020.

A Lexington, Ky. native, Ridder owns a 170-109 record as a collegiate head coach, which also includes four seasons at Daytona State College. He boasted the most wins (48) in the first three years in Bethune-Cookman history before the school opted out of all sports for the 2020-21 campaign. From 2017-20, Ridder’s Wildcat squads posted a winning MEAC record for three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, going 31-17 during that span.

Ridder’s first season as a Division I head coach was historical as he helped guide Bethune-Cookman to just the second MEAC regular season championship in its 38-year history. For his efforts, he was named the Joe B. Hall Award winner, defeating candidates from schools such as Miami, Louisville, Oklahoma State and Washington for the honor that recognizes the top first-year head coach in the Division I ranks.

Overall, Ridder tutored five All-MEAC players, one MEAC Player of the Year, two MEAC Defensive Players of the Year and one MEAC All-Rookie team member at Bethune-Cookman. He led the Wildcats to their first-ever win over a Conference USA opponent (FAU) and increased the school’s NCAA RPI rating by over 60 points while in charge of the program.

Ridder, 38, began his head coaching career in 2013-14 at Daytona State College – accumulating a 95-28 overall record at the NJCAA level. He brought home Mid-Florida Conference championships in each of his four seasons after inheriting a program that went 6-25 during the previous season.

The Falcons were consistently ranked regionally and nationally under Ridder as he earned four consecutive conference Coach of the Year accolades. He mentored 25 all-conference performers, 16 players who advanced to play at four-year institutions and two NJCAA All-Americans while boasting a 96 percent graduation rate amongst his student-athletes.

Ridder got his start at the Division I level with three seasons as an assistant working under head coach Robbie Laing at Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, NC. He was an integral part of a Fighting Camels staff that signed the highest ranked recruiting class (64^th nationally) in the ASUN Conference in 2013-14.

By the time Ridder departed to accept his first head coaching gig, Campbell was tabbed as the Big South Conference preseason favorite and had defeated Power 5 opponents such as Iowa and Auburn. The Fighting Camels got off to their best start in school history in 2011-12 and produced the Big South Freshman of the Year.

Ridder’s first collegiate job came at Embry-Riddle University, where he was a volunteer assistant under his father Steve Ridder in 2009-10. The Eagles collected a 30-6 overall record and continued its tradition as a national college basketball powerhouse at the NAIA Division II level. Steve is still the head coach at Embry-Riddle and has tallied 759 career victories to go along with a .705 winning percentage (ninth-best amongst active head collegiate coaches with at least 600 career wins).

Ridder began his collegiate playing career at the College of Wooster in 2003-05 before finishing up under his father at Embry-Riddle. After graduating with a degree in aerospace studies in 2008, he moved to North Carolina to embark on a coaching career. He was an assistant at North Raleigh Christian, trained youth players while working for the Hoop City U basketball training academy and additionally was the head coach for numerous teams engaged in international competition with 365 Sports for the 2008-09 academic year. He earned his Master’s degree in sport management with a concentration in intercollegiate athletic administration from California University of Pennsylvania in 2009.

Ridder and his wife, the former Jen Calnan of Daytona Beach, Fla., have three daughters - Brixton, Remi and Marlee.