Bio

Tim Ryan passed the 400-win mark in 2021, and he’s back for his third season in 2022-23. The Bulldogs made it to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament quarterfinals last season after winning 11 more games than his first season rebuilding the Gulf Coast program.

His first season at Perkinston ended in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament second round, where his Bulldogs were in a one-possession game against eventual region champion Holmes in the final minute.

He arrived at Gulf Coast after 17 years of success at the College of Central Florida, including an NJCAA Division I title in 2013. He won 393 games with a .717 winning percentage, and is the school’s winningest coach.

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 professionally around the world. All but two of his second-year players received scholarships to play at four-year schools. 

Central Florida graduated 91 percent of its players during Ryan’s time there.

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, and he will play an up-tempo style of basketball.

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.

Ryan started coaching as an assistant at Clearwater Central Catholic High School and became head coach at St. Petersburg Catholic High School in 1997. His teams earned the school’s first two county private school tournament championships and appeared in the regional playoffs twice. 

In 2000, he became associate head coach at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, where the teams averaged 20 wins over his three seasons with two trips to the state tournament.

He was named head coach at Central Florida in 2003, and the Patriots won nine conference titles in 17 seasons. He coached Ricardo Ratliffe, who won David Rowlands Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award from the NJCAA in 2009-10. Ryan has coached nine All-Americans and eight Mid-Florida Conference Players of the Year. His teams appeared in 13 straight region tournaments, the longest in the history of Florida junior college basketball.

Ryan was named 2013 NJCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 2013, when Central Florida went 34-3 and won the national championship. He has won Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year nine times and was inducted into the Florida College System Activities Association Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. 

Ryan was an on-court coach for USA Basketball’s 19U team in 2013, which won the gold medal at the World Championship in Prague. Billy Donovan was the head coach alongside assistants Shaka Smart, Tony Bennett, Buzz Williams and Ed Cooley. The squad included players like Justice Winslow, Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon, Jahlil Okafor and Marcus Smart.

He and his wife, JoAnne, have four children: Tim, Nicole, Veronica and Tommy. He also has a daughter-in-law Matti and two granddaughters, Brooklyn Rose and Josphine Amay.

Coaching Career Highlights

• Career record over 17 seasons of 393-155
• Averaged 23 wins per season over 17 years
• 15 Regional Tournament appearances in 17 years
• Nine-time Mid Florida Conference Champions
• 2014 FSCAA Hall of Fame Inductee
• 2013 National Junior College Coach of the Year
• 2013 National Junior College Champions
• 2013 NABC Junior College Coach of the Year
• 2013 USA Basketball On-Court Coach for 19U
• 2013 Florida Junior College Coach of the Year
• 2013 Florida Junior College State Champions
• Nine-time Mid Florida Conference Coach of the Year
• Player Graduation rate 91%