Gulf Coast hires a championship coach to take over its men’s basketball program
Mississippi Gulf Coast has hired a championship coach to take over it’s men’s basketball program.
Tim Ryan, who worked previously at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, Fla., was announced Wednesday as the Bulldogs’ new coach. He coached the College of Central Florida to the NJCAA Division I title in 2013, piling up 393 wins and a .717 winning percentage during his 17 years in charge. He’s the winningest coach in that program’s history, but the school shuttered its basketball teams at the end of 2019-20.
“My days aren’t done yet,” Ryan said in a press release. “Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, everything I heard about it, is that it’s a great program. I feel I can come in here and make a difference on the court and off the court with our players. I’m looking forward to bringing this program to the national level.”
Ryan replaces Jason Harrison, who was ousted after just eight months on the job. MGCCC gave no reasons for his departure.
Ryan saw 60 of his Patriot players sign to play at the next level, including 34 who signed to play at NCAA Division I programs.
Nearly 20 of those are still playing professional around the world. All but two of his second-year players received scholarships to play at four-year schools.
“We are very excited to have Tim join us as head men’s basketball coach,” Gulf Coast Athletic Director Steven Campbell said in a press release. “You have to be pleased anytime you are able to hire a coach that has been both national coach of the year and a national champion, and we have done that. Coach Ryan has an incredible track record of attracting the top talent in the country and developing student-athletes. I can’t wait to watch him do the same at Gulf Coast.”
Central Florida graduated 91 percent of its players during Ryan’s time there, and he is passionate about education, not just about getting a piece of paper in a diploma holder.
“I think that too many of these kids and coaches are all geared toward a degree,” he said. “Sometimes, you lose focus that what’s really important is the education. That’s always been big with me. It’s big in my family, and it’s a core value of mine.”
Ryan’s defensive philosophy concentrates on transition defense, where in the first six seconds of the shot clock teams make their highest percentage of shots. He aims to stop layups and wide-open jump shots.
“We like to run,” he said. “I like to get up and down the court. We like to play fast, but we play with a purpose.”
Ryan played at New York City’s famed Power Memorial, where the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Len Elmore starred, and he was a teammate of Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin. Ryan played collegiately at Wilkes College, where he earned a bachelor’s in psychology. His master’s from National Louis University is in the same discipline.