By Josh Verlin
It’s a fresh start for Ridley basketball.
Gone are 10 seniors from last year, representing the vast majority of the experience, scoring, rebounding — you name it — from the Raiders’ roster. That group in itself only really got one year to shine, after a 2016 class featuring current small-college players Ryan Bollinger, Julian Wing and Brett Foster led Ridley to back-to-back Central League championships, plus a District 1 semifinal and PIAA state tournament appearance in their senior season.
Also gone is Mike Snyder, who stepped down after 20 years at Ridley, including the last six years as the boys’ head coach after also serving as a boys’ varsity assistant and the girls’ head coach in his time there.
Taking over is Kevin Kelly, who was at Oxford the previous two years, but the 49-year-old has plenty of experience. He was head coach at St. Joe’s Prep before Speedy Morris, and has also been at Sun Valley, Archbishop Carroll and Williamson Trade School.