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| A new ‘Monarch-y’ Jay Ritchie takes the helm of Macomb Community College women’s hoops By Sue Teggart C & G Sports Writer WARREN — For Jay Ritchie, taking the helm of the Macomb Community College women’s basketball program was like coming home. Ritchie — a standout at St. Clair Shores Lakeview — played for MCC from 1983-1984 as a two-sport athlete on the men’s basketball and tennis teams. Now, 25 years later, Ritchie is back in his old stomping grounds — this time with clipboard in hand. “I played here years ago, and there’s always been an attraction to come back because of that,” Ritchie said. “I had a great time, and I think the girls can have a great time, too.” Ritchie, whose last prep coaching stint was with the girls at St. Clair Shores South Lake the past three seasons, said he was always tempted to apply for the head coaching job at MCC and jumped at the opportunity when the position opened up last spring. “The job has always been intriguing here because we have great facilities,” Ritchie said. “You take the field house — there’s four courts — it’s huge and very nice. I finally applied and was fortunate enough to get the job.” “As a former athlete here, he knows what it takes to win here,” said Athletic Coordinator Brent Biebuyck, who was on Ritchie’s hiring committee. “He knows what our athletic department values, and he provides that as a coach.” Fitting in Ritchie’s experience coaching at all levels and his well-established rapport with many of the coaches whose teams he’ll recruit from made him a prime candidate for the job. Ritchie boasts an extensive 22-year coaching background, including leading the girls basketball teams at St. Clair Shores South Lake and Lakeview, and the boys basketball teams at Grosse Pointe South and Center Line High. Ritchie also has prior collegiate coaching experience, including the men’s team at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s College. “I don’t know if I’m a perfect fit, but maybe I’m a good fit,” Ritchie said. “I think the local high school coaches might be happy that one of their own is here coaching now. I’ve known a lot of the coaches in Macomb County for years and years, so they’re willing to have their kids take a look at us now. “I think most of the coaches are pretty confident that we’re going to put a good product on the floor, the girls are going to graduate and move forward,” Ritchie continued. “We have great coaches in Macomb County, and I think they have confidence in us that we’re going to do a good job here.” Biebuyck said in the short time Ritchie has been on the staff, he’s helped put Macomb on the radar of athletes looking to play at the next level. “Macomb’s always had talented athletes at the high school level, but Macomb (Community College) hasn’t always been a destination for them to go to,” said Biebuyck. “With Jay having a lot of ties for coaching in Macomb County, he’s done a good job of keeping the talent in Macomb County and putting together a squad that’s going to challenge this year.” “Every one of our girls is from the MAC (Macomb Area Conference),” Ritchie said. “They’re all from Macomb County, except for two, who are from Marine City. We have local flavor, as they say.” Ritchie has a young squad — with just three returning players — but knows this is a tremendous opportunity to establish a top-notch program. “I don’t know how good we are compared to everybody else, but we want to keep making progress,” Ritchie said. “We need to have success, because local girls want to come to a successful program. Once we have success here, it opens up a lot more doors to us getting girls in.” Fans interested in catching the Monarchs in action are in luck, as the next three games are at the Macomb Sports and Expo Center in Warren. Macomb plays Oakland Community College at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16, Alpena Community College at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and Alpena CC at 1 p.m. Dec. 22. For more on MCC hoops visit http://www.macomb.edu/Community/Athletics/Teams/Basketball+Women/ You can reach Sports Writer Sue Teggart at steggart@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1107. |
