This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. The hottest team in the Southern Conference, our conversation with Mercer's Ryan Ritter starts now. All right, Coach Ritter, it is an honor to have you here on the SoCon Fast Break podcast. And we're excited because we're getting to talk to the coach with the most efficient, high-octane offense in the Southern Conference right now. The numbers you're putting up, it's absolutely mind-boggling. And sometimes it's almost like numbers as a coach you dream about, Coach Ritter. Yeah, we're on a little bit of a hot streak offensively right now. So, man, it's an honor to be with you guys. You know, it's funny, you know, I'm sitting here looking at SoCon Fast Break in the back and, you know, I pinch myself every once in a while, like an opportunity to be here and just speak about basketball. So I appreciate you guys having me. Oh, no question about it. It's an honor to have you with us here. And so the first thing that we do have to talk about though, I do want to dive into just some of the numbers because the numbers right now, just from an offensive efficiency standpoint, again, as I said, are mind-boggling, the numbers that you're shooting. And then also now you've had two players back-to-back, SoCon players of the week with Barakko, Kojé, and Armani Mighty, and the numbers that they're putting up are absolutely ridiculous. So did you expect these type of outbursts and these type of production in terms of numbers for these players and not only this team, Coach? Well, it's funny, you know, obviously, Barakko and Armani felt very strongly about them when we recruited them. They thought they had a chance to be, you know, two of the better players at their position in the league. Now, if I said that I thought, you know, we'd have guys having 29 points and 12 assists or average of 19 and 19 for the week, I'd probably be lying on that one. But no, the truth is, man, those guys have been really good all year. They're getting better and better. We knew early on we had good players and, you know, the kind of the follow-up to your other question, it's, in the summer and fall, I actually thought we were much better defensively and I sat there and said, guys, I don't know how we're gonna score, man, but we can guard, you know? And so I guess something flipped from June, July, August to January and we got a nice little groove going offensively right now. Yeah, so is it go back to all your aerospace studies? They're at Embry Riddle, that you were able to figure these things out? Yeah, yeah, direct correlation, you know, that aviation and aerospace studies degree is going real into play on offensive efficiency. That's right. All right, so what were you gonna do if you weren't a college basketball coach with that type of degree? It's funny, I actually get that question a lot. So when I was at Embry Riddle University, my dad's actually the basketball coach there. And so I went there to play for him and back then they didn't really have a lot of diversified programs. It was just, you know, purely aviation, engineering. And so aerospace studies is actually kind of like a liberal arts degree from Embry Riddle University. So it sounds like, man, you could go fly some airplanes. That's actually aerospace science. Mine is aerospace studies. So I got a well-rounded education there, but I think it maybe sounds a little more impressive than it actually is. Oh, well, you're a hooper at heart then. There is no doubt from that side of things. And speaking of that, I mean, your dad is well known, but also you have your brother there, Reed, and he was just named there to the top 100 most impactful mid major assistant coaches by the Silver Wave media. How special is that? Because I know as a former assistant, and Darren was a former assistant, and obviously you've been an assistant, sometimes they don't have enough recognition, at least in my opinion, for the coaches that are helping the head coach. Yeah, I say it all the time. I mean, I've got a tremendous staff. I mean, you know, obviously you mentioned Reed, but Jonathan was named, he was invited to the Top Connect this summer. One of the top, I think it was top 50 assistants in the country. So we've got some really good people on staff. And then, you know, in terms of Reed, it's always, you know, it's funny working with your brother. He doesn't get the credit, man, but if you really look back, since he's joined us at Martin, came in, we won 19 games, helped us recruit Jacob Cruz, who's now in Missouri. We win 21 games, win the league, and then, you know, it's a collective effort on our staff to put our teams together, but you know, he's definitely heavy in the mix, really recruited Baraka and Armani. And so there's no doubt that he's got a major impact on, you know, our program and helping shape, you know, he talked about offensive efficiency. He does a lot on that side of the basketball. So happy for him to finally get some recognition because he absolutely deserves it. Yeah. Now at family dinner, are you guys have any type of rules where, OK, we're not going to talk basketball for the next hour? Or is it ever get to a situation where you can even do if you can even go an hour without talking hoops? Well, this thing is funny. We all, you know, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, we all, all our families, we do a family vacation in August. And I think we set out to try not to talk about that. And even my brother-in-law, who married my sister, played for my dad. So he's a hooper, too. So I think we set out to it. We go about four or five minutes into it and somehow it comes back to basketball. But no, it's it's it is it's it's definitely very lively. Coach, you know, you mentioned, obviously, having a great staff and you mentioned building it at UT Martin. Talk to us a little bit about how you go about building a program because this is now becoming a track record for Coach Ritter to be able to build programs and have quick turnarounds. This is not a coincidence, obviously, the turnaround that you have had in year two here. So can you talk to us a little bit about how you go about building a program when you come in, maybe what are some of the core values, things that you really want to set the tone so that, you know, you are able to do the things that you've done so quickly? Yeah, it's a really good question. You know, I think when I was 28, when I got my first head coaching job at Daytona State and, you know, was taking over a program that had won six games prior. And, you know, the first thing I said this the day I got the job is I want to have great people around me. And it really started with hiring staff. You know, I hired a great assistant back then. You only had one full-time assistant in Juco, I say full time, you know, in the nicest way. But really, it's always been about people and it's finding the right people and then finding your niche at the at the school. So for us, we've got some certain non-negotiables. You know, we're going to be tough together and unselfish. We're going to have guys that are great teammates. And as you're not negotiable, you have to have a flexible approach because I think the way that you went at Daytona State, with Tim Cookman, UT Martin, Mercer, it looks different. But we don't want to sacrifice on the teammate ability. We don't want to sacrifice on the toughness, but it may just look different at each spot. So for me, it's getting the right people around, starts with staff, build a genuine relationship with your players and your staff, and then finding the niche that actually works at that institution. And so, you know, obviously, what I like to have a better year, win, loss record last year and year one. But I think, you know, I remember like it was yesterday, I told our staff on the way home from ETSU, we lost at the buzzer last year and said, man, it's taken me till February, but I really understand how to win here now. And I don't have enough time to figure it out this year, but I know we're going to have a great plan going into year two. And I think obviously, you know, we did a good job on the recruiting trail and and having some early success right now, at least. Yeah, Coach, what does it take to win in this league? Yeah, it takes high IQ guys. It takes toughness and it takes unselfiness. And when you look through the league, you know, everybody's had a chance to win it from your state schools to your private institutions. Like it's not just been dominated by one form of basketball. If you look at the last 10 years, you know, everyone has either been in the top three has been the top three in offense and defense with one outlier last year. Chattanooga was just unbelievable offensively. I mean, it was it was historic what they were doing. So there's been a balance and it's not necessarily like, hey, this style wins. And I think sometimes when you when you just look at the league overall, yes, we're very good offensively. But if you look at the trend the last 10 years, you know, Bucky had it really going defensively. You know, some of those teams guys that have moved on the Forbes, the West Millers, like those guys, it's been one a variety of ways. You have to find at Mercer, how do you do it? And I think we found a an exciting brand of basketball. We play a little bit more of tempo than maybe the leagues used to. And so, you know, I think we found our niche and we got to continue to do that. Yeah. Does the defensive side, does that give you nightmares right now, though? You know, it's crazy. I'm dead serious. We, you know, we played our we won a couple of games in a row and I really felt like, man, Wofford, I thought we played decent defense. And, you know, they scored 97 points on our floor. And I didn't think it was that bad. And I would go watch the film and OK, there were some things, obviously you want to critique, but I'm telling you, man, every night like, heck, we, you know, we play UNCG and, you know, give up 92. And I'm like, man, I thought we were pretty decent for about 32 minutes. So the offense in this league is it's it's it's something I'm not accustomed to. Obviously, the last couple of leagues I've been in. So kudos to everyone in our league. But man, we can really score the ball at a high clip at our league. Well, yeah. And kind of expanding off that even more, coach, the tempo that you guys play at the reality is, is that just naturally with the tempo and flow of the game, teams are going to have more opportunities to score against you guys. And so where is that balance where you say, look, yeah, we did give up 90 points. But gosh, darn it, we did play pretty well defensively for the vast majority of the game. Where's that balance for you? And is that something you guys are still potentially looking for where you know, you can score it and you know that at some point, you're going to have to get stops when they really matter. But understanding that the tempo that you guys play at, there's just teams are going to have opportunities to score. And as you talked about, it's a really good offensive league. Yeah. And I don't think you can determine defense on points per game. You know, it's like, it's like determining rebounding on total rebounds. What does that mean? If we play a higher tempo, we're going to have higher rebounds. So, you know, for us, it's it's still some analytical stuff. It's still points per possession, still, you know, and even with us, effective field goal percentage, when you really look at the first six games, we've been pretty good in every area, every area except offensive rebound percentage and then three point field goal defensive percentage. Outside of those two areas, it kind of gives us a target of what we've got to get fixed on that side. But, you know, for us, like said, we we're we're we're working progress. We are playing well offensively, but defensively, you know, we got a tight game at Wofford, one possession game with with four minutes to go. We find a way to get stops and, you know, same thing with VMI. We got a one possession game with six minutes to go. We find a way to get stops. So we're I think we're better defensively than the numbers say. And hopefully we stay as hot offensively as the numbers stay as well. It's a bend, but don't break mentality sometimes. Also, I know we refer that to football, but it can be in basketball also in terms of when you get some of those stops. And to your point, you're making some of those key stops when your team needs it. And then when you score 109 points, coach, you're in a better position. And we do know that. All right. What other stats, though, are important to you and your staff when you're evaluating things and you're building a scouting report? Yeah. I mean, I think the the first thing with us is it's it's not exactly stat driven. You know, it's it's an identity based thing. We want to know who the other team is. You know, what are they trying to do? You know, because sometimes stats are misleading, especially early on in conference. You've got some teams that have played a really tough non-conference schedule. I've played a lot of high major games. Now as we're getting into the conference schedule, we've got six, you know, like opponent games. So I think you can start digging into the numbers a little bit more. But, you know, for instance, we're going to scout someone. We're going to say, man, hey, their identity is tough. They want to get to the paint. You know, the offensive rebound. Well, maybe they only offense rebound with their fours and fives. And they're, you know, so there's there's certain things that we like to target first. But then I think then you got to dig into the numbers. Hey, is this a three point shooting team? Is this a team that gets to the free throw line? Is this team that tries to turn you over? Are they heavy in the gaps? But then you use your numbers, you know, based on that. And now have you had a conversation with Dr. Michael Kross at the Southern Conference say, hey, the first six games, we've been on the road four times to start the conference slate. That's not an easy task right there, coach. Well, you know, so I didn't talk to Dr. Kross, but I did. I did. I did. I gave a little nudge to Jeff Cade because, you know, we had, you know, we had the A-Sun challenge and, and, and, you know, hey, listen, I don't care who we play, but we had to get on a flight. And I was like, Hey, man, if we're going to get on a flight, you could have sent me down to Florida. But then I, and then I saw, I had to give him a little nudge. I said, listen, I don't mind playing four or six on the road. We're going to play everybody. But we did have to go to Furman on a Wednesday and then we came back. And then we had to go to ETSU. At least you could have gave us a Thursday, Saturday, or gave us something where we didn't backtrack. So, you know, obviously, every, every coach is going to complain about it. I think that's what we do. But at the end of the day, we're going to play every team home and away. And our jobs to be playing our best, going into Asheville in March. Coach, can you tell us a little bit more about the, the way you put this roster together? You know, it looks like these guys genuinely enjoy playing together. The pieces have really fit. It seems as though the guys that you brought in, and I think everybody says this, but it's harder to do, as you know, bringing guys that fit how you want to play. This group just really seems to enjoy each other and seems to really buy into what you guys have done. Can you speak to a little bit how you went about as a staff building this roster out? Yeah, I'm glad to hear you say that because sometimes you don't, you don't know that if that's what people are seeing from the outside, that's special because I feel it. You know, the truth is we couldn't shoot the ball last year, right? Like we collectively couldn't shoot the basketball. So number one was like, Hey guys, we got to go in to the portal. We got to go to high school. We got to go to Juca. But like we got to find some guys that can put the ball in the bucket from the perimeter. And, and, you know, so the thing was shooting IQ and toughness. Those were the three things. And if you couldn't, you had to have two of the three and it's non-negotiable. If you had three, great. But, you know, for instance, Armani might he doesn't shoot the ball, but he's, you know, he's, he's tough and he's got high IQ. So, hey, I think we're doing okay on that one. But, you know, so what we did this, that was the three areas that we wanted to target and then, you know, in terms of fit, man, we got really good young people in our locker room. And, and I don't know if they're going to be there a year, two years, three years. But I know the nine months they're guaranteed with us, they have freaking bought in to, to, to our program. And there's a genuine, like they like each other. They like playing with each other. They respect each other's game. And that's all great. The last thing's really important. They're games fit each other. And sometimes you can really like to play with someone, but maybe it doesn't fit. We got guys that fit. You know, we've got a point guard that can really maneuver the basketball. We've got shooting on the perimeter. We've got a five man that we can throw the ball to. And then we have elite glue guys. And so, yeah, I am excited about our team. We've got some confidence to us. I know there's a tough, tough, tough stretch ahead, but I think our guys are just growing and getting better. And, and it helps that they really do genuinely enjoy each other and their games fit each other. Yeah. You can definitely see it, coach. I promise you. I was there at that Furman game to start the conference slate there for you. And you could sense it there as I was right behind the bench. So there's no doubt there's, it seems like a lot of camaraderie. And you're talking about pieces fitting together, this jigsaw puzzle, so to speak. And what about Brady Shoulders though? How important is he for this team coming in? It means a sophomore, obviously with you last year, but a team captain. And I just think when you say glue guy, he's one of those type of guys also. Well, and there's, if you ask anybody on the roster, hey, man, we're going to go on a back alley, we got to come out. I mean, there, there, I know Brady Shoulders is going to be the number one pick. Guys love playing with them. I mean, the truth is I recruited him to UT Martin, signed him there, got this job. He obviously got out of his release or his letter there. And, and I told him, I said, Hey, man, I'm moving to a new league. Like, you're the first guy I want to sign. I just, I don't know how much you're going to play as a freshman, you know, it's a, it's a step up. And he was like, all right, coach. Five games last year named team captain as a sophomore. He brings so much to the game, man. He can make a shot. He can guard the other team's best players. He brings a physicality. He brings a connectedness. Guys love playing with him. Guys love coaching him. I mean, he's just, he's awesome. I mean, there's no other better way to put it. I could talk about him for the next, you know, 100 minutes, but he's been, been really, really good for our team on and off the court. Yeah. And just even from a perspective as we're talking about defense also, who's your best defender on the team? Man, you know, it's funny. I think we've got a couple of really versatile defenders. And you know, obviously Zyre Williams is, is a tough, tough perimeter fender. You know, I think Brady shoulders is a good defender. Connor Serven is, is as good as versatile defender as we have, can really, I don't say this lightly, can actually guard one through five. And, and then, you know, I mean, I think everyone's got their spirts. I mean, our mighty, mighty is averaging two blocks a game. I mean, he's, he's tremendous. You know, Broca has, has nights where he can really, really guard the basketball. So I think we've got the capabilities in each position. It's just figuring out how to collectively do it while we're scoring the basketball. Yes. That's still the most important. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Transition in a little bit, coach, what, you know, when we talk about off the floor, what, what do you do to escape? What do you do to get away and just try to take a deep breath? You know, I know how important basketball is, especially during the season with the new schedule. There's not much downtime, but what does coach Ritter do when he, when he steps away from the floor? Yeah. So, so I love coaching ball. I mean, I really do. It's, it's, it's a blast to get to go in and put the puzzle together a day, but doesn't, it's not even close in comparison to, man, I'm a, I'm a family guy. Like I'm married. I've got three kids, brand new dog for Christmas for my oldest daughter, slowly becoming mine, but that's okay. But, but honestly, man, when I'm, when I'm home, I like to be present. I like to turn off the phone. I like to be with them because at the end of the day, I'm going to be a dad. I'm going to be a husband for a lot longer than I'm going to be a basketball coach. And so it's traveling. It's, you know, playing golf, it's, you know, whatever it may be. I love being with them. You know, I like getting home to Florida when we get a chance, but our family likes to travel. When you don't, don't get to do it a lot. We got to pick our windows when we do it. But yeah, pretty, pretty simple guy off the court. Just like spending time with them. I like to golf when I get some free time, but I have three daughters that are three, five and seven. So not probably the ideal age to play a lot right now. Where, where, where's number one? You could, you can play one course. Where, where do you go? Probably something overseas just cause I've never played golf overseas. St. Andrew's like something like that, just because it would be so different of anything I've done. Yeah, probably that. Yeah. Okay. Now have you had hole in one? No, I have not. Now I say I like to play it. Is there a very good at it? Yeah. Yeah. We actually played mini golf the other day. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's all. I got one there. That's right. All right. When's the last time you've been able to get up some shots? All right. How often are you out on the court and say, Hey guys, let me show you how to do it. Oh, it's funny, man. So I probably shoot almost every day. That's good. Now I'm not saying I shoot a lot, but I have this really weird day and look it up. I was a horrid three point shooter in college. I mean, 19, 20, 23%. I don't know what it was. It wasn't good though, but there's something weird when I walk into the gym, my first shot percentage, I mean, it's a joke between our guys. Like I got to be at 90, 95%. I just step in and it's cash. So like they start stretching. They're like, they can't wait. They, they, and I mean, I don't remember the last time I missed. Maybe it's, maybe it's less than I remember. But I mean, I'm telling you, I feel like I'm just cash right now. So I love it. Yeah. So that's, all right. So there's needs to be a coaches shootout at some point instead of maybe the, seeing what coaching staff can bench 225. Is that right? I know, you know, I don't know, but the lights turn on. I might get a little nervous. You know, I'm not ready to put that on display yet. So I think there's probably a couple other better players in the league than I was. There you go. All right, coach. Just wrapping up here. I do know that you're a grill person. So what stakes are you putting on the grill? What's your favorite? So, you know, it's funny. I actually transitioned to, I'm cooking a lot more in the Blackstone these days. So. Oh, okay. Upgrade, evolving a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm still learning that. But you know, it's funny that this is the fifth house I've lived in the last four or five years. And so this move, unfortunately, a couple of the grills took a, took a spill. So I think the last time Christmas dinner, we always do, I had to do a big old flay. And so I think I finally got the technique on the Blackstone where I feel, feel comfortable that I can get that nice chart outside, but still get that medium rare on the inside. But that's, that's what I'm doing right now. All right. I like that a lot. All right. Last one then. All right. Getting ready for this week. What does Mercer have to do with the upcoming games to continue your stellar play right now? We got to keep going one and oh every day. And our guys are, man, they're, they're detail oriented. They're, they're coachable. They come with a clear mind, you know, every time that we step on the floor. So we got to continue to do that. Obviously we lose our first two games of the years. Things can go different ways mentally. Well, now we're on a little bit of a win streak. Like you can start doing some different things. Like we can't allow ourselves to do that. And so for us, it's just, hey, what's, what's the task at hand today? What's coach asking us to do? What's our staff asking us to do? I mean, how do we get better? And then how do we display it on Wednesday night? How do we display it on Saturday afternoon or Saturday night? And so I, you know, I love our preparation so far. Our guys are locked in and I think we're going to continue to try to go one and up. Well, coach Ritter, we greatly appreciate you being a guest right here on SoCon Fast Break and the hottest team in the SoCon right now. Best of luck. Thank you so much. Appreciate you guys having me. All right. What a great conversation there with Ryan Ritter and just a guy who understands putting the pieces together of this jigsaw puzzle for Mercer. Yeah. He's really impressive. I mean, you can tell to another guy that there's no, no surprise to me that they are doing what they're doing and, you know, offensively, we, we can't talk about it enough. No, we can't. It is not easy to score 100 points in a 40 minute regulation game. This isn't the NBA where you got an extra eight minutes. That's right. I mean, 100 points in a 40 minute game is high level offensive efficiency. No question about it. I know they're on the heater right now and that's okay because as a coach, you'll ride with it as long as you can. Ride that wave, baby. Exactly. Ride that wave. Also, you can ride the wave by following or subscribing to SoCon Fast Brake. Do that through YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, including the iHeart Radio app. Until next time, may all your jumpers hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
