Baker and Burg, both in their second year at Campbell, played a large role in the Fighting Camels’ Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship season in 2009-10. Ridder replaces Michael Slonaker, who accepted a high school coaching position in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla., area.
Not only did the Fighting Camels set a school Division I era (since 1977-78) record for regular season (19-11) and conference wins (14-6), but the Camels also ranked second in the country in steals per game and eighth nationally in turnover margin.
In addition, Campbell’s 2010 recruiting class has been ranked in the top 64 nationally.
Baker brought two decades of Division I experience to the Fighting Camels when he joined the staff in Sept. 2009. He spent eight of the previous nine years as an assistant coach in the Big-12 Conference at Kansas State (2000-06) and Colorado (2007-09).
A native of North Little Rock, Ark., and 1990 graduate of Eastern Kentucky, Baker is involved in all phases of the Fighting Camel program, including on-floor coaching, recruiting, and assisting Coach Laing in the daily operation of the basketball office.
“Last season was our most successful year,” said Coach Laing, “and certainly our players’ maturation had a lot to do with that. In addition, the bench help Coach Baker provided gave a big boost to our program’s development. Charles has an exceptional sense of personnel evaluation, whether it’s our own team or the opposition. His sense allows us to exploit mismatches, cover weakness and enhance our strengths.”
Burg joined the Campbell staff in the summer of 2009 after spending two seasons as director of basketball operations at Middle Tennessee State. Before his stint at MTSU, Burg also served as assistant coach at Western Texas College and Garden City Community College. The native of Houston, Texas is a 2003 graduate of Mount Mercy College.
“Brian is one of the most exceptional coaches I’ve worked with as far as organizational skills ability,” said Laing. “He sets the table for the rest of our staff in so many areas. All the logistical complexities of recruiting will be simplified in his hands and free up Coach Baker and Coach Ridder to help continue the development of our team.”
Ridder comes to Buies Creek after spending the 2009-10 campaign as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Embry-Riddle. Serving as an assistant under his father, Steve Ridder, he helped the Eagles reach the quarterfinals of the NAIA national tournament and compile a 30-6 won-lost record.
At Campbell, Ridder’s responsibilities include on-floor coaching, supervising individual pre- and post-season workouts, scouting opponents, serving as academic liaison on campus, and assisting with the Campbell Basketball School.
“We are really happy to have Ryan on our staff,” said Laing. “He is energetic, personable, and will fit in nicely with our university and community. There’s also an added comfort level know that he’s been in a very successful basketball family his entire life.”
A 2008 graduate, Ridder served as starting point guard and team captain at Embry-Riddle from 2006-08. He led the Sun Conference with a 4.24 assists average as a senior.
After graduating from Embry-Riddle with a degree in Business Administration in 2008, Ridder moved to North Carolina where he remained involved with the sport he loves in a variety of areas. He trained players from youth to those with NBA aspirations while working for the Hoop City U basketball training academy. In addition, he was the head coach for a number of teams engaged in international competition with 365 Sports and he served as the assistant boy’s basketball coach at North Raleigh Christian.
Ridder holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from ERAU and earned a master’s in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2009.
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