Coach Ryan Wise joined the staff for the 2019-20 basketball season after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Mercer University.
During the 2019-20 season, Coach Wise helped lead the Bearcats to the seminfinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship Tournment. Wise was instrumental in the development of two All-PAC players, guard David Stephen and forward Shemar Bennett, while one player was also named to the PAC All-Sportsmanship Team. During the 2019-20 season, two Bearcat players were named PAC Player of the Week.
Wise also directed the inaugural Saint Vincent Basketball Virtual Coaches Clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the clinic, Wise had speakers from the Division I, NAIA and high school levels speak to high school and college coaches via Zoom.
At Mercer, he was responsible for a wide range of duties, including recruiting, preparing scouting reports, academic monitoring and travel coordination. Wise was key to the development of All-Southern Conference guard Ross Cummings, while he also directed the 2018 Mercer Basketball Coaches Clinic.
Prior to joining the staff at Mercer, Wise spent one season as assistant coach at West Virginia Tech, helping lead the team to a 20-12 record, a trip to the semifinals of the River States Conference tournament and an at-large bid into the NAIA National Tournament. Two West Virginia Tech players were recognized as NAIA All-America following the season.
Prior to Wise’s time at WVU Tech, he was head coach and director of basketball operations of the Blue Gold AAU organization, with more than 20 of his players going on to play at the collegiate level.
Wise holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education teaching and coaching from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in higher education administration from Mercer University.
