For over three-and-a-half decades Steve Ridder has guided the Embry-Riddle men’s basketball program, developing and sustaining one of the premier college basketball cultures in the nation. With 759 career victories, 20 conference titles, 18 national tournament appearances and the 2000 NAIA II National Championship, Ridder’s results speak for themselves, but it has been his Student-Person-Player philosophy that has impacted every single player, coach, staff member, fan and supporter that call themselves Eagles.
Steve Ridder took the reins of the Embry-Riddle men's basketball program prior to the 1989-90 season and built a fledgling program into a small college basketball powerhouse. Ridder has posted a career record of 759-318, all at Embry-Riddle, putting him 39th all-time in career wins among college men’s basketball coaches, while his .705 winning percentage is currently 9th-best among active coaches with at least 600 victories. Ridder trails only Dave Holmquist of Biola (Calif.) among active NCAA II men's basketball coaches, and is the winningest college coach in Florida history
Ridder, a native of basketball-rich Kentucky, went to Berea (Ky.) where he played for coaching legend Roland Wierwille for four seasons, serving as team captain for the Mountaineers before graduating in 1981. Ridder immediately moved from the court to the bench following his graduation, spending eight seasons as Wierwille’s top assistant. He helped Berea to a 148-76 record with a conference championship and national tournament berth along the way.
Ridder inherited an Embry-Riddle program that went winless on the court in its inaugural season in 1988-89. The Eagles won four games in Ridder’s first season (4-24) before an NAIA record turnaround in 1990-91, posting a 22-8 overall record and an 11-3 mark in conference play.
Since taking over at ERAU, Ridder has recorded over two decades worth of 20-win seasons, including five campaigns with 30 or more victories. From 1990-2015, Ridder posted a Sun Conference record of 241-83 (.744), which represents the most wins and best winning percentage in league history.
Ridder's program has quickly acclimated to the NCAA II level, qualifying for the NCAA II National Tournament in three straight campaigns (2019, 2022, and 2023), including a run to the NCAA II Sweet 16 in 2022.
The Eagles reached the NAIA pinnacle in 1999-00, claiming the ERAU athletic department’s first national championship with a 75-63 win over national tournament host College of the Ozarks (Mo.). The national title proved to be the culmination of 11 years of Ridder’s guidance at the helm of the Embry-Riddle program.
Embry-Riddle has claimed nine conference regular seasons titles and 11 conference tournament crowns during Ridder’s tenure, additionally, the Eagles made at least one appearance in the NAIA Top 25 rankings in 24 consecutive seasons, dating from 1991-2015. The Eagles’ 21 mentions as the No. 1 team in the country ranks as the second-most in NAIA II history, and in total, Embry-Riddle was ranked in the NAIA Top 25 210 times, including 128 top-10 rankings.
Ridder took the Blue and Gold to 15 NAIA II National Tournaments, the fourth-most appearances by any program, going 18-14, advancing to the national semifinals twice, and national quarterfinals five times.
During Ridder’s tenure, 38 players have earned All-America honors, including eight NAIA first team All-Americans, while 68 Eagles have garnered All-Conference accolades. Just as importantly, Ridder has seen more than 200 student-athletes garner either Academic All-Conference, Academic All-District, Academic All-America our NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
The success of Ridder’s Embry-Riddle program has not gone unnoticed as he has earned eight different Coach of the Year honors and five separate Hall of Fame inductions. Following his team’s national title in 1999-00, Ridder was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year, and less than 10 years later, was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (2009). Ridder is also enshrined in the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the Berea College Hall of Fame, the Northern Kentucky Hall of Fame and the Bellevue High School Hall of Fame.
In the spring of 2019, Ridder earned one of the highest distinctions in basketball coaching, the NABC Guardians of the Game Award for Leadership. The award, which includes honorees like Eddie Sutton, Harry Statham, Don Meyer and Lorenzo Romar, is awarded to giants of the game that provide moral and ethical leadership on issues affecting the game of basketball and society. Ridder was presented the award at the 2019 NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 2022, shortly after leading Embry-Riddle to the NCAA II Sweet 16, Ridder was honored with the Harry Statham Coach of Impact Award by Small College Basketball. The award honored Ridder for using the power of the coaching platform to make a positive impact on players, coaches and others.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes named Ridder their 2023 winner of the John Lotz "Barnabas" Award, an honor given annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity and encouragement to others, and lives a balanced life.
Ridder is also a highly sought after clinician and speaker at basketball camps worldwide. He has traveled to Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland among others, teaching and coaching the game of basketball, and in the summer of 2007, Ridder earned the distinction of being selected as one of three court coaches for the USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games Team Trials.
In addition to his coaching role, Ridder served as Embry-Riddle’s Director of Athletics for 20 years (1993 – 2013), overseeing major growth in the department. Under his watchful eye, the Embry-Riddle Athletic Department transformed into one of the elite athletic programs in the nation, including 14 consecutive top 25 finishes in the NACDA/Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup and 14 straight Sun Conference Commissioner’s Cup, awarded to the best overall athletic program in the league.
Ridder was the architect of the Embry-Riddle Athletic philosophy of “Student, Person, Player,” which is a commitment to academic achievement, campus and community involvement, personal holistic growth and a drive to excel in sport. Starting in 2000, the entire athletic program consistently posted a higher grade point average than the rest of the Embry-Riddle student body. During Ridder’s tenure, 59 ERAU student-athletes earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and 263 student-athletes garnered NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
For his leadership as Director of Athletics, Ridder earned the highest NAIA athletic administration honor in 2006 when he was named the NAIA Athletics Director of the Year. Ridder also earned Sun Conference Athletic Administrator of the Year accolades eight times and NAIA Southeast Region Athletic Administrator of the Year honors three times.
In 2004-05, Steve and his wife Vicky were honored by many loyal athletic supporters with the establishment of the Steve and Vicky Ridder Endowed Scholarship. Through fundraised dollars, a scholarship is awarded annually to a student-athlete who best represents the philosophical mode of “Student, Person, Player.”
Coach Ridder and his wife, Vicky, have four children: Ryan (Jen), Rachel (Tyler DeBord), Rob and Reed and eight grandchildren: Crew, Case, Copeland, Collier, Capri, Brixton, Remi and Marlee. Ryan is the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Mercer, while Reed serves as an assistant coach for the Bears. The Ridder family resides in Ormond Beach and attends Tomoka Christian Church.
