Student assistant coach working toward dream job

By Anthony Norwood | gargoyle@flagler.edu

When Chris Ryan didn’t make the basketball team after his sophomore year of high school, he didn’t want to give up on his dreams.

“I knew that I would never be able to make it to the NBA,” Ryan said. “That’s when I decided I wanted to coach.” Now he’s doing just that.

Ryan is a student assistant coach on the Flagler College basketball team. He’s there when the team loses, helping the players through a tough loss, but he’s also there at the high moments.

This season, the team has beaten No. 3 ranked Augusta State and No. 5 ranked USC Aiken.

“Wins like that,” Ryan said, “they help a whole lot. They help give you that extra boost of confidence.”

Ryan wants to be a part of the team, and he likes where he’s at. His job may be mostly paperwork and helping out in team drills, but he’s knows this is where he has to start.

“I want to coach college. D-I, D-II, D-III, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I just want to go out and coach college ball.”

Ryan is well on his way to doing just that. He is liked by the players on the court as well as his fellow students off it.

Spencer Kaylor, a friend of Ryan’s said that he is an all around good guy.

“On the court, he is focused and professional,” Kaylor said. “Off the court, he is the life of the party.”

Ryan is going to finish his education and remain an assistant at Flagler. With his continued hard work, he hopes to start working his way up the coaching ranks and follow his dreams of becoming a college basketball head coach.