La Salle selects Ryan Ansel as basketball coach
Ryan Ansel is La Salle College High School's new basketball coach following what the school called "a national search."
The Ansel name is a familiar one at La Salle because his grandfather, older brother David and numerous uncles/cousins attended the Philadelphia Catholic League school.
Ansel was the head coach at Barrack Hebrew in Bryn Mawr during the 2021-22 season, guiding the Cougars to an 11-5 record and a Penn-Jersey Conference White Division title with a 7-1 mark.
Ansel, 32, succeeds Mike McKee, who resigned in March after compiling a 69-42 record in five seasons. The Explorers went 9-13 (2-11 in the PCL) last winter.
The 6-foot-2 Ansel earned a roster spot as a walk-on for his senior year at Division I Davidson College in 2013-14 after serving as a team manager for three seasons. He appeared in four games, scoring three points.
He was an assistant coach at Swarthmore following his graduation and helped guide the team to the Division III NCAA title game in 2018-19. The Garnet was 28-1 and ranked No. 1 in the country when COVID ended the 2019-20 campaign.
While at Swarthmore, Ansel started Ryan Ansel Basketball LLC, a basketball training business.
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In 2021, he created Next Play Basketball, a program whose goal was to teach, coach, and inspire young athletes to be good teammates and leaders on and off the court. Its teams compete in AAU ball and league play.
Ansel went to Chestnut Hill Academy, where he played basketball, baseball and ran cross country and track. Ansel is from Fort Washington.
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What La Salle likes about Ryan Ansel
"He is a forward-thinker who is well-connected with basketball in the local area," said La Salle athletic administrator Bob Zanneo in a release sent out by the school. "As an administration, we believe he will bring a style of play and mindset that will help our student-athletes and basketball program take the next step forward in the Philadelphia Catholic League and PIAA."
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: La Salle selects Ryan Ansel as basketball coach
