Bio

John Ritzdorf was named the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Santa Fe College on May 10, 2024 and will be entering his second season at Santa Fe in 2025-26. 

In his first season in 2024-25, Ritzdorf led the Saints to a 11-20 record (6-10 in Conference) including a Citrus Conference tie-breaker play-in game appearance. Ritzdorf collected his first win at Santa Fe on November 6th vs North Florida Prep. 

The 2024-25 Saints:

• Had an All-FCSAA First Team selection
• Had five players sign to play at four year schools
• 4x FCSAA DI Men's Basketball Player of the Week

Prior to SF

Ritzdorf was the men's basketball coach at Central Community College, where he was a three-time Region 9 Coach of the Year and led the Raiders to their first NJCAA Division II National Tournament appearance in nine years. Prior to his time at Central CC, Ritzdorf spent 6 years in different assistant coaching roles at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Northern State University. Ritzdorf was an AAU coach at the Omaha Sports Academy for 5 years and a high school assistant at Ralston High School for 3 years, before getting into collegiate coaching. He has served in administrative roles at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Northern State University, Omaha Sports Academy, and Ralston High School.

Education and Family

Ritzdorf earned his bachelor's degree in education from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2013 and earned his master's in Teaching and Learning from Northern State University. He and his wife, Dana, have two sons, Alec and Bennett.