Ryan Nowicki is starting his first college head coaching job, taking the reins at Manchester University. The Golden Eagles graduate was recently hired and began coaching on Oct. 15. (Photo provided)
By RICHIE HALL
Guerin Catholic graduate Ryan Nowicki has been steadily climbing the college coaching ranks.
Nowicki was a longtime assistant, then associate head coach at his alma mater, Hanover College. This month, Nowicki jumped into his first head coaching job when he accepted that position at Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind.
While speaking with The Reporter, Nowicki described the whole process as “a bit of a whirlwind.” He did a Zoom interview with Manchester University, went to the campus the following week for an in-person interview, then was offered the job the next week.
“Ryan joins us with a strong background in player development, recruiting, and leadership,” Manchester athletic director Rick Espeset said in a news release on the Manchester website. “He brings enthusiasm and a clear vision for continuing to grow our program—both on and off the court. Please join me in welcoming Coach Nowicki to Manchester.”
“It happened pretty fast, but obviously with the timing and the season coming up so quick, it was a quick process,” said Nowicki.
Ryan Nowicki was a longtime assistant for Hanover College. He is pictured with retired Guerin Catholic boys basketball coach Pete Smith; Nowicki played for Smith on some of GC’s first teams. (Photo provided)
The process began when former Manchester coach Nate Conley stepped down in mid-September after six seasons. Once everything was finished and Nowicki was in the Manchester gym, practice for this season had already started and the new coach had to hit the ground running.
“Last Wednesday [Oct. 15] was my first practice,” said Nowicki. The Spartans then practiced on Thursday before playing an exhibition game against Huntington University on Friday, Oct. 17.
“It was a bumpy start,” said Nowicki. “We hadn’t had time to install much of an offense or defense, so it was a little bit of freelance play. We got all the players in, which I was excited about because I’m still learning a lot of the roster.”
Nowicki graduated from Guerin Catholic in 2009, playing for now-retired head coach Pete Smith.
“He was a great candidate for Manchester, and I’m so happy for him,” said Smith. “He was a great Golden Eagle, both as a student-athlete and then as a coach for us, and I’m excited for him to grow as a head coach of a college program.”
After graduating from Guerin Catholic, Nowicki played for Hanover College, graduating from there in 2013. He was a part-time assistant at Hanover for a couple of years before becoming the team’s lead assistant coach.
At the end of 2022, Nowicki became the associate head coach, a title he held until taking the Manchester job. Nowicki said he earned the title as he got “a little more experienced and you become more fully involved in the aspects of the program.”
Both Hanover and Manchester are members of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, so Nowicki had some familiarity with the Spartans before becoming their coach. While he said there are still things about Manchester he will have to “learn a little bit about,” he said there is “definitely a little more familiarity than if I was starting a job from out of the state.”
Nowicki said he will be building relationships with his players and getting to know them on the court and off the court. In terms of playing style, Nowicki is going back to his Golden Eagles roots.
“We want to be up-tempo, attacking on offense,” said Nowicki. “That’s the way we played at Guerin. We may have been a little more controlled at Hanover than we were at Guerin. Attacking, moving the ball, sharing it, trying to be unselfish as a team.”
As for defense, Nowicki will have his team “trying to be aggressive and disruptive and be really well-prepared and try to take away with other teams are wanting to do. The players were accepting and excited about that.”
Manchester plays another exhibition game Tuesday at Wabash, then begins the regular season Monday, Nov. 10 at Albion College.
