Scott Turner
In Motion Staff Writer
Men’s Basketball at Daytona State started this season with multiple new players, an occurrence that can have an effect on a team’s performance. The team rose to the occasion and finished the season strong. Ryan Ridder, Head Coach of Men’s Basketball, and William Ransom, one of the team’s forwards, spoke on their assessment of this past season.
The team began practices August of last year and continued through September, concentrating on lifting and preparation for the more strenuous workouts. From November until March, the team had a game or practice daily, usually for several hours each afternoon.
“This has been a great first season to blend the new guys into a new system,” Ridder said
This practice and preparation has paid off, as is demonstrated the team’s win/loss ratio of 24-6. According to coach Ridder, the team is ranked sixteenth in the country.
Beyond the athletic achievement, the team has a strong focus on academics. Team members are required to attend study hall each week for a number of hours that increases or decreases according to their grades. The team finished the semester with an average 3.1 GPA.
William Ransom had some positive things to say about the season, and hopes for the next one.
“It was a fun season; we got to play the defending national champs three times. Playing here is much different from playing in Texas, though they’re both tough regions and fast paced.”
“A lot of good things happened this season and we really came together, but we could have gone further than we did and a lot of the team wishes we did.”
The coming summer months will be devoid of official practices, but the team will not be inactive by any means.
“Summer is a busy time for all of us. One of the things we have to do is recruit players to replace the ones that
are moving on. We also make sure the freshmen on the team go to exposure camps, these help raise their profile. We also help all our players get showcase games, which help them get scholarships to four year schools. While there is no official practice, we do give detailed summer work out plans to our players to make sure they’re keeping in shape. It was a great year, something to build on and to look to what the future brings. We’re definitely going to miss our sophomores,” Ridder said.
While there have been no official signings as of yet, Ridder stated that there has been some interest and that there may be three to four new players signed for the upcoming year.
In addition to academic and athletic achievements, the team is also active in community service, logging in over 100 hours of community service.