An Oregon Yankee on King Arthur’s Court
Keizer’s Ryan Schmidt named Coach of the London (basketball) Lions
Legendary author Mark Twain wrote an entertaining tale about an American inventor who was magically transported back to the middle ages, where his futuristic ingenuity creates some entertaining issues in merry old England.
This article has zero connections to Twain, does but take a born-and-bred Oregon basketball player-turned coach and transports him to the British Isles, where he hopes to provide some coaching magic that translates into success on the international stage.
38-year-old Ryan Schmidt has already had quite the coaching adventure in his short time in the ranks. It began with a playing career that started at Keizer’s McNary High School, moved briefly to Hawaii and wrapped up with two years at Western Oregon University, where Ryan was captain and scoring leader his senior season. Schmidt did pursue a professional playing career, with stints with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA’s G League, and pro ball in Hawaii, but the timing just wasn’t there for moving someplace else like Europe. With his playing career all-but-over, Schmidt helped out a former Celtic (Bob Cavell) by coaching young players, including Cavell’s sons, as part of a club team. It was done as a test of his coaching aspirations, and the outcome was what put Ryan on the coaching track.
“That experience made me fall in love with it (coaching),” recalls Schmidt, “it was so exciting to see their improvement.”
“That summer was when I decided to make it a career path.”
From there, the list of coaching experiences is long and somewhat dizzying. The highlights include:
—Interim Head Coach of North Salem High School’s 2011-12 boys basketball team, where he guided the Vikings into the second round of Oregon 6A basketball playoffs.
—Head Coach of the 22 FT Academy (2013-16), a prep school in Greenville, South Carolina. Schmidt won two-thirds of his games in four years and saw 18 of his players land NCAA Division I scholarships.
—Assistant Coach for the Toronto Raptors 905, the NBA team’s G League organization from 2017 to 2021.
—Head Coach for the Hamilton Honey Badgers, a Canadian pro basketball development team. Schmidt has been with the team since 2020. The team is currently in first place in the ten-team Canadian Elite Basketball League, which ends its season in mid-August. Of note: John Lashway, who spent nine years in the Portland Trailblazers’ front office, is Hamilton’s team president.
One aside note here about Ryan Schmidt’s ties to Toronto and Canadian basketball. Schmidt befriended former NBA all-star and North Carolina standout Jerry Stackhouse in 2016 after meeting him during NBA summer league games, and asking about any G-League coaching opportunities. Stackhouse invited Schmidt to dinner to talk about it, and that eventually led to a job offer.
“(Stackhouse) was one of my favorite players when I was growing up,” said Schmidt.
“He mentored me and helped to guide me in my development as a coach. I owe him a lot.”
Stackhouse has since moved on from the NBA, and is currently the head basketball coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Fast forward to this summer. Ryan Schmidt is still the head coach of the Hamilton Honey Badgers and has been very successful, guiding his team to a 9-3 record, good for a one game lead over the competition as the season winds towards its conclusion. But win or lose, Ryan is moving on to a new position across the Atlantic Ocean within three days after the Canadian games are done for the summer.
In July, the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL) announced they were hiring Schmidt to head up their squad. The team not only plays in the British Isles’ top professional basketball league, but will be the only BBL club competing in the annual EuroCup basketball tournament—considered one of the top three such championship tournaments in the world. Ryan will be the youngest head coach ever in Eurocup play. No pressure.
“When I was hired, they told me they wanted to win, to be at the top of the BBL,” said Schmidt.
“And to compete in the EuroCup.”
So maybe there is a little pressure.
The team and Coach Schmidt do have a plan. A development of basketball culture to make Brits themselves among the best in Europe. To bring them together on one team. To recapture the excitement of British hoops that reached a peak in the early 2000s before reduced funding, new television contracts and other issues dissolved the magic that had existed in the years prior.
The London Lions are working to sign the best of the top British players to their squad, with more emphasis on homegrown talent, and less on imports from other nations. Looking to grow the next Luol Deng—one of the last high caliber UK players in the NBA—and making that cultivation process a normal part of life with the Lions.
“I was in London earlier this year as a consultant, talking about development of their player academies and their coaches,” shares Schmidt.
“I never thought it would lead to this coaching job, but here I am.”
The ten-team British Basketball League begins work with fall camp in September, and the first games in early October. The regular season games will happen mostly on the weekends, while the afore-mentioned EuroCup contests will be weekday games worked into the schedule.
In a matter of weeks, Keizer’s own Ryan Schmidt will be flying off across the pond, to live in a land known for fish and chips, Beef Wellington, and afternoon tea. But the local cuisine will be secondary to winning at basketball—the game developed lovingly 131 years ago by Canadian James Naismith, and developed into a global gaming phenomenon by Americans.
Good luck, Ryan.