Mercer University Men's Basketball

A 16-year collegiate coaching veteran who has already left a trail of success through the first three stops of his head coaching career, Ryan Ridder was announced as the 30th head coach in the history of the Mercer men’s basketball program on March 15, 2024. Ridder trekked to Middle Georgia after leading UT Martin to 48 victories across three seasons, including a 21-11 mark in 2023-24. He has amassed a 191-120 (.614) record in ten seasons as a head coach – a career that also includes previous head-coaching stops at both Daytona State and Bethune-Cookman. Ridder bridged his first and second seasons in northwest Tennessee by leading the Skyhawks on a 9-1/2 game turnaround as UT Martin posted 19 victories during the 2022-23 campaign, a third-place finish in the final Ohio Valley Conference regular season standings and the program’s fifth appearance all-time in the OVC Tournament semifinals. The 19 wins marked the fifth-most victories for the program in its more than three decades on the NCAA Division I level. UT Martin boasted NCAA Division I’s 23rd-ranked scoring offense (81.5 points/game) this past season, while also showcasing one of the nation’s top rebounding teams as well. The Skyhawks captured 12 of their final 14 regular season contests to claim a share of the OVC regular season crown and the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament. It was just the ninth time in the 73-year history of the program that the Skyhawks had rattled off 20 or more victories, and the first time it had

Daniel Mondragon enters his second season as an assistant coach for Mercer after spending his previous five seasons as the head coach of Davis & Elkins College (NCAA D2) in Elkins, West Virginia. In Mondragon’s last two seasons (2022-24) at Davis & Elkins he led the program to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly 70 years. In the 2022-23 season, Mondragon led the senators to a historic campaign as the Senators finished with an overall record of 19-11 which marked the first winning season in 42 years and the most wins since 1959. Mondragon was tabbed the 2023 Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year. Mondragon coached two MEC All-Conference players in the 2022-23 season. Before his stint at Davis & Elkins College, Mondragon spent the previous three seasons as the head coach DME Academy High School National Team. He was the first head coach of the new program and helped grow it into a nationally recognized prep team by competing in national high school circuits like the Grind Session. While at DME Mondragon coached several college players including now G-league player and former McDonald’s All-American, Moussa Diabate. Mondragon began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida from 2013 to 2016, helping to guide his alma mater to a conference championship and a 35-2 record in 2014-15. Mondragon played for the Embry-Riddle Eagles from 2009-13. He became the first player in program history to

Men's BasketballSkip AdKorte, JohnHall, LangstonKorte, JohnMitchell, JonathanMondragon, DanielRidder, ReedRidder, RyanTaylor, Victor

Jonathan Mitchell enters his second season as an Assistant Coach with the Bears in 2025-26. Mitchell joined Mercer after spending one season as an assistant coach with NBA G League's Birmingham Squadron in 2023-24. Mitchell worked with G League players on their continual development of their game in hopes of being called up to the NBA. Mitchell worked with players such as Trey Jameson III who signed a two-way deal with the New York Knicks prior to the 2025-26 season. Mitchell was selected to attend the TopConnect Basketball Symposium in the summer of 2025. TopConnect identifies the top assistant coaches in the nation and offers elite networking and professional development opportunities. Before joining the Birmingham Squadron, Mitchell's most recent coaching stop at the collegiate level was at Stetson University where he was an assistant coach for four seasons from 2019-2023. Mitchell coached three All-Conference players and two ASUN Freshman of the Year players over his four seasons at Stetson. In his last season at Stetson in 2022-23, the Hatters had one of their best seasons in program history, going 12-6 in conference play which was the second-best conference record in school history. That season, the Hatters ranked third in the ASUN in scoring and field goal percentage. Prior to his time at Stetson, Mitchell spent one season in 2018-19 at Georgia under head coach Tom Crean where he served as a graduate assistant. At Georgia, Mitchell coached current Brooklyn Net, Nic Cla

Langston Hall, one of the most decorated Mercer men's basketball players in the history of the program, joined the men's basketball staff as an assistant coa...

Reed Ridder joins his brother Ryan on the Mercer coaching staff after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at UT Martin. Last season at UT Martin, the Skyhawks boasted NCAA Division I's 23rd-ranked scoring offense (81.5 points/game), while also showcasing one of the nation's top rebounding teams as well. The Skyhawks captured 12 of their final 14 regular season contests to claim a share of the OVC regular season crown and the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament. It was just the ninth time in the 73-year history of the program that the Skyhawks had rattled off 20 or more victories, and the first time it had accomplished that feat since the 2016-17 campaign. In 2022-23, the Skyhawks finished second in school history in scoring (2,658 points) and rebounding (1,293) while ranking in the top-15 in NCAA Division I men's basketball and topping the OVC in defensive rebounding per game (28.7, seventh), fast break points (15.09 per game, ninth), scoring offense (80.5 points per outing, 14th) and rebounding per game (39.18, 15th). The Skyhawks set a school record for most single-season All-OVC honorees (three) in 2022-23 in Parker Stewart (first team), Jordan Sears (first team and All-Newcomer) and KJ Simon (second team). Prior to joining UT Martin, Ridder spent one season as an assistant coach at Daytona State in Daytona Beach, Florida. While at Daytona State, Ridder was instrumental in the development of a trio of NJCAA All-Central Conference honorees while Daytona Sta

Victor Taylor is in his first season with the men's basketball team as a graduate assistant in 2024-25. Taylor, a native of Cary, North Carolina, makes his w...