Raso a perfect fit for Ridley
The appointment of Victor Raso as Ridley College’s new Director of Basketball and Prep Boys head coach appears to be a match made in basketball heaven.
“It’s a bit of a dream come true,” said Raso, who will continue as head coach and general manager of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Niagara River Lions. “I get to be a full time basketball coach and that’s something I’ve wanted to be for quite some time.
“Growing up the son of a coach I understood how rare and difficult it is to be able to live at home and do that. When the Ridley opportunity came up it was not even on my radar as a potential opportunity to be able to coach full time and live at home.”
Raso met with school officials a couple months ago regarding the possible use of their new facilities, currently under construction, for the River Lions in 2024.
“We had this hypothetical conversation about if Ridley was a place you would like to work and it turned into a more serious conversation and them offering me the position,” Raso said. “I never really thought this was an option for me, but after meeting with them for quite some time and understanding how much value they put into the basketball program and how much care they have for their students at the school, and then with the new facilities at the school, it was an opportunity I really thought hard about and decided it was something I really wanted to do.”
Ridley Director of Athletics Courtney Smith is thrilled to have Raso on board.
“Victor is a phenomenal fit for our school,” Smith said. “He believes in the development of human beings so for Victor, it’s not only what happens on the court, but what happens off the court as well.
“We’re excited to continue our partnership with the River Lions as well and we’re all really excited to continue to grow basketball in the Niagara Region. He is going to be a phenomenal fit for our community and our culture. His philosophy aligns really, really well.”
Raso looks forward to building a basketball program at Ridley from the ground up.
“The culture at the school, all the way down from Ed Kidd, the Headmaster, to Jay Tredway and Courtney Smith, they really, really care,” he said. “I’ve been through the process with universities before and I’ve felt like people were being pulled in different directions and their focus was not always solely on the growth of the basketball program. From that perspective, I felt they really cared.
“From an infrastructure perspective, they’re set up really well to develop basketball players. Their facilities are going to be first class, the structure where the students live day to day is first class, and the campus and school and the education is truly world class. All those factors combined, I think we can do a really, really good job here building a basketball program.”
Raso plans to coach the Prep Boys team the first season while also concentrating on streamlining the entire basketball program.
“My goal is to build out the entire program,” he said. “Make sure the First Team, which is essentially the next team in line, operates in a very similar pattern to us and the build out another team below that so there is a path way all the way up from Grade 7-8 all the way up to the Prep Team.”
He also plans to develop and implement a women’s prep basketball program.
The River Lions start their season May 26 at the Montreal Alliance followed by games May 30 against the expansion Calgary Surge and May 31 against the Edmonton Stingers. Niagara will open the home portion of its schedule Saturday, June 3 at 8 p.m. at the Meridian Centre against the Saskatchewan Rattlers.
Raso is grateful to be able to continue to work with the River Lions.
“That was the amazing part of it right from the start. The River Lions liked the idea my job, when I’m not with them, is coaching basketball because it makes it better for them and Ridley likes the idea of partnering with the River Lions,” he said. “There is some really cool stuff we can do from a partnership perspective. Ridley players will get to experience professional players in the summer and training at the same facilities. Some players are coming to River Lions practice now and seeing and experiencing things. Those are invaluable opportunities these high school players are got to get.
“There are a lot of synergies.”
Raso, a native of Hamilton, is the son of long time Canadian university coach Joe Raso.
Prior to joining the River Lions organization, Raso gained experience both playing and coaching for Canada’s top university basketball program. He won back-to-back CIS national titles in 2013 and 2014 as captain with Carleton University before taking on the role of assistant coach for the Ravens, where he earned his third championship title alongside head coach Dave Smart.
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