Gymnasium to Stadium - Ryan Ashton's Coach Career

[Tolarchykj10]

The Journey

It all started ten years ago at the age of 16. Ryan Ashton first made his mark in the AAU circuit out of Phoenix, Arizona as one of the top coaches in club basketball. In his first year he won 3 of the 4 tournaments his team would play in, falling short in only one of them to that years National Champion. In just his second year he would coach his group all the way to Orlando to play in the AAU National Championships. Not knowing what to expect he told his boys to give it their all and play their hearts out. Little did he know, he had something special. They would run the course, beating team after team. Only playing better as the tournament went on. Ryan Ashton had won his first AAU National Championship as a 17 year old coach. Coach Ashton would lead his same team back for the next few years to come.

At the age of 21, getting ready to enter his Junior year of college at Robert Morris University he received a call from a little high school in Rayland, Ohio. Ashton was in shock, his parents alma mater had come calling. He saw they were looking for a new Varsity head coach so he had applied. Ashton had never expected anything back but they called. Ryan Ashton could now resume his name Coach Ryan Ashton as the head coach of Buckeye Local High School.

Buckeye Local High School, a team that plays in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference at Class 4-A had gone a horrendous 0-18 last year. They had only won 13 games in the past 3 seasons. Coach Ashton knew it was going to be tough, but it was a challenge he was willing to take. The first day of tryouts consisted of non stop running, Ashton wanted to see where he stood with players who were committed. He knew that the year would be tough but he was determined.

Coach Ryan Ashton focuses on a pressure defense, he pressures the ball the whole length of the court. Full Court Zone defense in a 2-2-1, then he falls back in to a 3-2 trap. Offensively he runs a 3 out 2 in set. Focusing on feeding the post and beating teams up to draw in the double team where they can start to kick the ball out for the open three.

In Coach Asthon's first year at Buckeye Local he lead the team to a 9-9 record, something he wasn't happy with but knew it was good coming off of an 0-18 season. They lost in the first round of playoffs to the tournament champs. In his second year, Buckeye Local went 13-5 losing in the state championships on a buzzer beater. Coach Ryan Ashton was named Coach Of the Year. Now at the age of 23, he knew that this year he had something special. He started a lineup of 5'11, 6', 6'2, 6'5, 6'9. The chemistry was there. It was their season to lose. The team went undefeated in regular season play, and would run through the playoffs winning the championship by 20. Buckeye Local would go on to win the championship for the next two seasons as Coach Ashton would lead them to a 3-peat.

Coach Ryan Ashton would receive his first call. It was from his home town of Dayton, Ohio. The Wright State Raiders had offered him a job. He more than gladly accepted. It was official, he had finally made it to the college level.


The year was 2007, and Coach Ryan Ashton would finally get a look at his roster for the first time...

[milldaddy35]

Ill be following! Good luck!

[Tolarchykj10]

Wright State Raiders Roster

Starters:
PG: Bill Newton #34 - Bill is a returning Junior, coming into his third year we expect him to be a key role to our roster for this year and next year.
SG: Rick Mueller #44 - Rick being a starting Sophomore is big for us, he is our only outside threat so he will be vital to my offense.
SF: Derek Clinton #21 - Derek is only a Sophomore and is the standout player on this years roster, we don't have much to offer but Derek will be a player the people love to watch. He is all over the court when it comes to the stat sheet.
PF: Anthony Gordon #50 - In his Senior year we hope that Anthony can have the best year of his career. He is our dominant force inside the paint. As long as he can produce consistent numbers I am sure we will be okay.
C: Howard Camp #15 - Only a Freshman but also the only Center on this years roster. It means that Howard will rack up a lot of minutes pending an injury strikes.

6th man: Brenden Nash #2 - In his senior year Brenden will be a big part of the rotation this season. We lack scoring in our bench this season but hope he can give us a spark here and there.
7th man: Madu Simon #11 - The only true PG on this years roster, pending his play he could sneak into the starting lineup but being only a freshman we want to see what he will provide off the bench to start.
8th man: Anthony Barker #3 - Being a freshman he could be a valuable asset in years to come, he will get his chances but wouldn't be surprised if his minutes lack behind Muller and Newton.

Best of The Rest:
Bryan Puckett #33 - Only a junior but doesn't offer much of to the team, he can rebound well but isn't a scoring threat in anyones eyes.
Adam Ollie #40 - A Sophomore and the only other big man we really have, he will have to provide a valuable effort in his time off the bench as he is really the only option.
Fred Roach #30 - As a sophomore and the depth of SG's we have I doubt that Fred will see many minutes this year.

Redshirt:
John Pham #4 - A freshman that can knock down the three. Don't be surprised if next year he is our starting SG.



I have to head off for work now, will post Schedule, Recruits and Game 1 either tonight or tomorrow.

[pfeifere1]

Awesome stuff! Count me in to follow this. Good luck at Wright State

[Deuce2223]

I have a feeling I will be spending my entire day off just ready all the college hoops threads going on.. Good luck. Can't say I have ever seen a Wright State thread before

[JTolarchyk10]

Busy day with work and my own basketball. Will have schedule, recruiting and the first five games up late tonight!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tolarchykj10]

2007-2008 Wright State Raiders Schedule

*Used the default schedule I was given for the first year. Will start changing it in future years*

Non-Conference:
@ Wyoming 11/13/2007
@ Loyola 11/15/2007
vs Old Dominion 11/20/2007
vs Western Kentucky 12/1/2007
vs California 12/3/2007
@ Bethune-Cookman 12/5/2007
@ TCU 12/10/2007
vs #14 Gonzaga 12/14/2007
vs George Mason 12/15/2007
vs Gardner Webb 12/22/2007
@ South Alabama 12/23/2007

Conference:
vs Cleveland State 1/1/2008
@ Youngstown State 1/4/2008
vs UIC 1/8/2008
@ Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1/9/2008
@ Valparaiso 1/11/2008
vs Youngstown State 1/14/2008
@ Detroit 1/15/2008
@ Butler 1/17/2008
@ UW-Green Bay 1/19/2008
vs Loyola UC 1/22/2008
vs Detroit 1/24/2008
vs Valparaiso 2/7/2008
vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2/12/2008
vs UW-Green Bay 2/15/2008
@ UIC 2/16/2008
@ Loyola UC 2/18/2008
vs Butler 2/24/2008
@ Cleveland State 2/27/2008

Coach Ashton on this years schedule - "Sitting here and taking a look at our roster with the talent we have, I can't say this year is going to be easy. We start off the season with two road games one being at Wyoming and the next at Loyola. It is good for the program that we get to host schools like Cal, Gonzaga and George Mason. All who are teams that usually go dancing come March.
As for my views on conference play; I think it will be a good battle. Getting to play everyone twice will really help us prepare for the Conference Tournament at the end. Just have to grind it out and hope come Selection Sunday our name gets called."

[Tolarchykj10]

Recruiting Central

With only two scholarships to give out this season our goal is simple. We need another C and another PG added to the roster. With that being said, we have a group of six players we are keeping our eye on. Those being...

5'7 PG Daniel Ewing 2* out of Akron, Ohio. While he may not be the tallest, you certainly can see he has the most heart. He doesn't kill teams from beyond the arc but all around helps out his team. He averages 10 points a game with 4 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. His list of schools contain Bowling Green, Wake Forest, Wright State, Xavier and Maryland.

6'1 PG Michael Cotton 3* out of Hampton, Pennsylvania. Has the body to excel in the Horizon league with no problem, after erupting for 35 points in his first game of the season he became our most highly recruited prospect. He lacks consistency on the scoring end but averages 4 steals a game along with 6 assists per game. His top 3 schools right now are Wright State, Maryland and Ohio.

6'8 PF Ray Wells 2* out of Steubenville, Ohio. Standing 6 foot 8 and weighing in at 234 lbs he has the body to bruise people in the paint. But his shooting percentage tells us differently. In the games we have attended he has stood out, but it seems he doesn't stand out when not being watched. Lacks rebounding which this team will need in years to come. The top schools for Ray Wells in order right now are Wright State, Dayton, Kent State and Western Michigan.

6'10 C Levar Abrams 2* out of Oxford, Ohio. Only averaging 7 points a game but pulling in just over 9 rebounds a game has adapted him to become one of our favorites in the class. His potential is something that we don't see much in, after seeing his coach tell him time after time what to do he does not seem to adapt to it at all. Levars top four schools in order right now are Wright State, Valparaiso, Iowa State, and Ohio.

7'0 C Tyson Armstrong 3* out of Highland Park, Michigan. Throughout his time playing he doesn't seem to want the ball offensively. You put this kid on the defensive end of the floor and he loves the game of basketball. Tyson averages 4.5 blocks per game and just over 6 rebounds. Tysons top four schools in order are Wright State, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, and Penn State.

7'4 C Cono Ulrich 3* out of Bridgeport, Ohio. He was once a rival to the school of Buckeye Local where Coach Ashton last coached. Now, he is one of the players that Coach Ashton can't seem to stay away from. Coach Ashton himself is going all in on trying to land the recruit that use to give his Buckeye Local team problems. Could he soon be gameplaning for someone he use to gameplan against? Cono's top schools in order right now are Arkansas, Penn State, Miami and Wright State.

Coach Ashton on his recruits - "While I would love to see each of these kids to come through my program and play college ball for us I know that I can't have it like that. With only two scholarships to offer I plan to give it to the two best players I see fit. With that being said I don't plan on offering these scholarships right away. But as of right now, Michael Cotton and Cono Ulrich are my biggest goals. With players like Tyson Armstrong who wants to come here, we would love for him also, but I know the kind of athlete Cono is and he would thrive and push Wright State to the next level. We will continue to pursue all of these student-athletes for the next couple months and make our decision when the time comes."