Santa Fe Saints Basketball Seasons Begin Nov. 1
October 24, 2024
The Santa Fe Saints will tip off the 2024-25 basketball season on Nov. 1, with the Men's Basketball team facing Pensacola State College on the road, while the Women's team hosts them at 7 p.m. in the SF Gym. With a mix of new leadership and experienced coaching, the Saints are eager to take the court and showcase their growth from last season.
The men's team is entering a new era under Head Coach John Ritzdorf, who replaces longtime coach Chris Mowry. Ritzdorf brings a history of success, having previously led Central Community College to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in nearly a decade. His accomplishments include three Region 9 Coach of the Year awards over five seasons. He looks to bring that winning mentality to Gainesville as he takes charge of a team that ended the 2023-24 season with a 10-20 record (2-14 in conference play).
"We have a long ways to go, but we had a good pre-season and we just need to focus on getting better every single day," Ritzdorf said in a recent interview. "We have a team that is hungry to compete and improve. I'm excited for this month of practices and scrimmages as we'll have plenty of opportunities to grow as a team and keep getting better."
On the women's side, Head Coach Russ Jackson returns for his second year, building on a 2023-24 season that saw the team finish 13-16 (9-12 in conference play). Under Jackson's leadership, the Saints made it to the FCSAA Quarterfinals, and he is determined to guide the team even further this year.
"We are extremely excited about this upcoming season," Jackson said. "The staff did an amazing job of identifying the needs of our program and addressing them in our recruitment. We have 11 new faces in the program (three transfers and eight freshman), so we'll be young and quite possibly have some growing pains early as I didn't do us any favors with our non-conference schedule. But we really like the mix of young people we have and are excited to see how we can fare this year within the Citrus Conference and Region 8."
Come support the Santa Fe Saints when they play home games at the SF Gym, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville. Admission is free for SF faculty, staff, students and retirees with SFID.
Keep up with the latest news and scores at santafesaints.com.
