Gillette College Women's Basketball

Rider has Region IX roots as he played basketball at Western Wyoming for Coach Ken Rochlitz back in the 70s before finishing his college playing career up at Montana State-Northern. He then began his coaching career as a high school coach in Turner, Montana before joining the basketball staff back in his home state of Wyoming at Douglas. He coached there for 11 years where every one of his teams qualified for the state tournament and only twice finished out of the top 3 places. The Bearcats won 3 state titles while playing in 6 title games, 4 of those back to back. During that time he also found time to earn his Masters degree from the University of Wyoming and moved to Nebraska to become the head womens basketball coach at Chadron State College.  In 3 seasons there he led the Lady Eagles out of the NAIA ranks in his first season and into the NCAA Division II ranks for the next two seasons where his team won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while finishing 4th in the nation in FG% averaging 83 ppg. That seasons efforts earned him the Coach of the Year award in the RMAC and over his two seasons coaching in the RMAC, CSC went 19-5 while finishing 1st & 2nd in the league setting numerous school records in both team and individual categories.  He then took a leave of absence from teaching & coaching to spend more time with family & friends and moved to Arizona.  After 10 years of being away from coaching, he decided it was time to get back in again and took over as the head girls basketball coach at Mingus Union HS in Cottonwood, AZ and in their very first season, led them to their winningest season in 25 years. His leadership and direction brought them to the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, and the Final 4 in each of his three seasons there. Shortly thereafter he was hired by Gillette College and has been the Head Womens Basketball Coach, the Athletic Director, and the Assistant Athletic Director in different roles the first six seasons. Last year was the first season he was able to do just coach giving up his administrative duties which he will continue in this 8th season as the Pronghorn head coach. Coach Rider has proven that he is capable of building a championship program by starting with a strong foundation and building from the ground up as indicated by his coaching history in all of his previous programs.  That foundation construction finally paid-off in a big way in the spring of 2016 as he led the Gillette College women to their first ever Region IX Championship and trip to the National Tournament. The Pronghorns tied with Casper during North sub-region play with 13-1 records, each losing on the road to each other, but a coin flip brought the Region IX tournament to Gillette where they were able to defeat Casper again in the championship game which punched their ticket to Nationals in Lubbock, TX. The 2015-16 team compiled a historic season that included 24 wins, an undefeated home record (15-0), and a national ranking of #17 in the country. The only team to eclipse that win-loss record was his 2012-13 team who went 28-6, was ranked as high as #11 in the nation, but lost in the Region IX Championship game to WNCC in Scottsbluff to miss getting to the National Tournament by a whisker. Former players, which include 2 All-Americans, have moved on to all levels of play from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, and NAIA Divisions I & II. Additionally, his student athletes have proven to be successful off the court and in the classroom where over 90% of his sophomore players have graduated with their Associates Degrees from Gillette College while 5 have become Academic All-Americans and 17 have made the Academic All-Region Teams.  His teams are always well prepared, work hard defensively, and will challenge for the league championship each season.  As he prepares his new team for the coming 2016-2017 season, fans can expect another strong team who will play an up-tempo style of basketball that is fun to watch and a bring a defensive intensity to the floor that will produce positive results. Coming off a Regional Championship the Pronghorns can expect to have a target on their back in every competition they face so they will have to be ready each and every week. Coach Rider is married to his lovely Tricia who works for the Campbell County School District. When they can fit it into their schedules, they like to travel and enjoy the wonders of the world, close & far away.