Rider basketball seems ‘content in mediocrity’

By Bryan Yurcan

Well, another Selection Sunday has come and gone, and like so many before them since I have been a student and an alum, Rider is not in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, they haven’t made it since 1994, a time when Bill Clinton was president and Taylor Swift was five years old, for context. 

This is beyond pathetic. Yet, Rider seems never to show any ambition to become a successful basketball program. We’ve employed the same men’s basketball coach for 13 years, despite zero NCAA tournament appearances. Because why would we care about things like success and prestige? Iona just fired their coach after two .500 seasons, because they have ambition. It is why the Gaels reached out to legendary college basketball coach Rick Pitino a few years ago, a bold, ambitious move I would never expect Rider to make in a million years.

During my time as an alum the past 23 years, I’ve seen Manhattan and Siena win tournament games, seen St. Peter’s make an Elite Eight, seen Iona get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But Rider just coasts along, content in its mediocrity. I do not think the athletic leadership here realizes how privileged it is to be a Division I school. Imagine the swell of pride students and alumni would feel if ever hearing Rider’s name called on Selection Sunday? But for 31 long years, that hasn’t happened.

Bryan Yurcan ’02 graduated from Rider with B.A. English