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Ricker Lands Dunkirk Varsity Job

Newly appointed Dunkirk girls varsity basketball coach Ken Ricker, kneeling, compiled a 141-31 career record in six-plus seasons at Jamestown. He will be joined in his new job by volunteer assistant coach Bill Canfield, standing. P-J file photo by Scott Kindberg

Ken Ricker has been in Louisville, Kentucky this week, coaching his AAU girls (under-17) basketball team in the Run for the Roses Classic.

This is hardly your run-of-the-mill hoops tournament. Billed as one of the five largest girls exposure events in the United States, it features 600 college coaches and more than 350 teams.

The Jamestown Elite — comprised of Sarah Pfeiffer of Olean, Hannah Dolan of Williamsville South, Myla Kline of St. Mary’s of Lancaster, Erin Radack of Southwestern, Kira Ricker of Jamestown, Natalie Angeletti, Kylie Schnars and Abi Lisciandro of Panama, Abby McCoy of Franklinville and Karly Welty of Portville — is one of them.

That’s hardly surprising.

For the last 15 years or so, Ricker, a man who has dedicated most of his adult life to coaching the game, has taken his Elite teams to tournaments near and far with great success.

During his tenure at Jamestown High School, Ken Ricker guided the Lady Red Raiders to three Section VI Class AA championships. P-J file photo by Scott Kindberg

Take, for example, what’s happened this weekend.

On Friday, Ricker’s kids shook off a six-minute scoreless drought in the third quarter and rallied for a 62-54 victory over the DYT Vipers and then knocked off the New Jersey Panthers, 57-31, behind a strong defensive effort and 34 points from Pfeiffer. On Saturday, Schnars’ layup at the buzzer, thanks to a nifty pass from Pfeiffer, lifted the Elite to a 49-47 victory over South Central Basketball Club and then the Elite upended Kentucky Premiere, 56-44, to advance to the Gold Division semifinals.

“It was just incredible,” Ricker said. “Chautauqua County and Western New York have a team to be very proud of. … College coaches were lined up at each of our last two games.”

But in Ricker’s world these days, the basketball road trips aren’t solely about wins and losses. He cares about the girls on the team — on and off the court — and their parents. Five of the parents, in fact, are successful varsity high school coaches themselves, which, Ricker says, makes the experience all the better.

“I get nothing but support,” he said.

That included the support he received when he announced Thursday night via a Facebook post that he had been named the girls varsity basketball head coach at Dunkirk High School.

“I went to Dunkirk (schools) third through ninth grade,” Ricker said by cell phone from Louisville. “I interviewed (for the job) 25 steps from the house we lived in, right across the street from the high school. It’s almost a little bit of a homecoming.”

It’s the kind of homecoming that he’s been waiting for for 6 1/2 years.

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The Dunkirk Board of Education, upon the recommendations of athletic director Mike Sarratori and superintendent Dr. James Tracy, approved Ricker as the Lady Marauders’ coach at Thursday night’s meeting. Ricker said he received confirmation from a board member via a text message later that evening.

The notion of returning as a girls varsity high school coach has moved Ricker to tears ever since.

“I’ve cried a lot the last two days,” he said, “just because I understand the opportunity that I’m getting to really do something special. Coaching isn’t a job, it’s a passion. You just love the end product in this journey.”

It’s been quite a journey for the married father of three.

Entering the 2011-12 basketball season, Ricker had guided the Jamestown Lady Red Raiders to three Section VI Class AA championships, recorded Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 titles in five of the previous six years and, after winning nine of his first 12 games to start the 2011-12 campaign, his career record stood at a robust 141-31.

But just days after an on-court incident involving one of his players — in an effort to get her to leave the court after she was assessed a technical foul during a game at McElrath Gymnasium, he pushed her toward the bench — Ricker resigned as coach in January 2012. And although he’s led a handful of teams in various sports in the Jamestown district since, none of them were in a varsity head-coaching position.

“I’ve certainly been humbled,” said Ricker, who has been willing to share his story to anyone who will listen. “Kids need to know we fail. When we fail, it’s not the end. It’s just a hurdle you have to get up over, and it gets you a lot of equity (with them). I have failed. I have failed many times and have had much pain, but you find a way and you work through it, and find caring people to lean on when you have to.

“I hope I can be that caring person to lean on. More importantly, I can teach them that they’re going to be OK.”

The supervisor of in-school suspension at JHS, Ricker, 47, is also coaching girls modified soccer in the district and is the adviser for the Class of 2019.

“It should be a busy year,” he said.

At Dunkirk, Ricker inherits a squad that advanced to the Section VI Class B1 championship game last season where it lost to Fredonia at Buffalo State Sports Arena. He replaces Darnell Baldwin who was let go last month.

“I look forward to building a program that’s long lasting,” Ricker said

Joining him as a full-time volunteer assistant is Bill Canfield, who was Ricker’s varsity assistant at Jamestown. Other volunteers may be added to the staff soon, Ricker said.

“It’s all about team and building,” Ricker added. “Bill does a great job for me, and I look forward to that. It’s not easy, and it will be a little bit of a drive in the winter, but he immediately said, ‘If you take the job, I’m going with you.’ That means a lot.”

Ricker said his No. 1 goal is to “get in the community.”

“I will be back (from Louisville) on Monday, we’ll practice on Monday and summer league starts on Tuesday,” he said. “I’m going to jump in with both feet as soon as we get back. … I want to get to know the kids and have team-building activities so they can get to know me and go from there.”

Sarratori said that Ricker came highly recommended by coaches throughout Western New York, including some at the collegiate level.

“What they talked about what his character, the time he puts in, how special he is in dealing with kids and young athletes, how professional he is and how detailed he is,” Sarratori said.

Having Dunkirk roots didn’t hurt either.

“That was one of the things that was attractive to me,” Sarratori said. “He is from Dunkirk, he talks Dunkirk, he loves Dunkirk.”

At the same time, the school AD noted that Ricker has a “fresh set of eyes” and can “come in with fresh ideas.”

Ricker can’t wait.

“For me, girls basketball is a passion,” he said. “There are so many great boys coaches and so many people who invest in the boys and, sometimes, it’s not the case for girls. That’s why (investing in and improving girls basketball) has become my thing.”

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One of the people Ricker has received the most support from through the years is one of his former JHS players, Ashley Dupler, who is now the program specialist in the athletics department at South Puget Sound (Washington) Community College. In that role, she handles game management and administrative tasks for the department, as well as serving as the women’s sports commissioner.

“I don’t know how to express how kind she’s been to me,” Ricker said. “She’s sent me some of the nicest emails and texts. She’s always been thankful for what our staff (at JHS) did in building her confidence.”

Upon graduating from JHS in 2007, Dupler went on to have an outstanding career at Houghton College where she scored more than 1,000 points and still holds school records for blocked shots in a season and in a career.

“Coach Ricker gave me the self confidence as a young, shy high schooler, which helped shape me into the student-athlete that I was, and in my personal life and career after my playing days were over,” she said in a text message Saturday afternoon. “I would not be who or where I am without Coach Ricker’s guidance in my life. Dunkirk is very fortunate to have Coach Ricker leading their program.”

Dupler was one of the many people Ricker thanked on Facebook on Thursday night after he learned he had been approved as the Dunkirk girls coach. Before he posted the comments, however, he had his daughter, Kira, look it over.

The eighth-grader-to-be and a member of the Jamestown Elite read it and then turned to her father and declared, “You’re not going to beat Jamestown.”

Only time will tell if that prediction proves to be true, but, on a weekend trip to the city that the Kentucky Derby calls home, Ricker has reached the finish line, and he can finally stop and smell the roses.

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