By Samantha Campion, Sept. 3, 2024
The addition of assistant coach Noah Ralby earlier this summer brought enthusiasm and a new offense strategy to the Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s basketball team, with the hopes of returning to the California Collegiate Athletics Association Tournament.
The Broncos finished the 2023-2024 season with a 10-16 overall record and a 9-13 conference record to place seventh in the CCAA rankings. The top six teams qualify for the CCAA tournament.
Ralby began playing pickup basketball at a young age in the driveway with his friends, and his love for the game continued to grow when he saw the opportunities it could provide him.
One of those opportunities was pursuing a collegiate basketball career and bachelor’s degree in economics at John Hopkins University. In his time as a Blue Jay, he contributed to the program’s 71-32 record and secured a Centennial Conference regular season and tournament title in 2018.
Ralby recorded 242 career points and posted his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 11 assists as a Blue Jays in a win over Ursinus College in 2018. His 11 assists tied for the second most in school history.
After multiple failed interviews for a career in economics, Ralby felt a lack of passion and took a leap of faith to pursue a career in the coaching industry.
Ralby began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he helped the Retrievers win their second regular season championship in 2021 while earning a master’s degree in entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.
He joined the staff at Utah State as the director of analytics in 2021. In his two seasons as an Aggie, they reached the NCAA tournament in 2023 and the National Invitational Tournament the previous season.
Ralby came to CPP from the University of Washington as the video and analytics coordinator for the 2023-2024 season, which gave him the chance to attend the Pac-12 tournament as part of the Huskies men’s basketball staff.
When a new position opened on the coaching staff at CPP this past season, Ralby jumped at the opportunity to learn alongside two veteran coaches and knew his knowledge of the game could help elevate this program.
“When I heard about this job and I had the chance to interview, the thing that stood out was just how successful these two (head coach Greg Kamansky and assistant coach Damion Hill) have been, and I want to help them get back to where they’ve been,” Ralby said. “I mean 14 tournaments in 24 seasons and a national championship speaks for itself.”
As he enters his fourth program in six years, Ralby leans on the insight he’s learned over the years and the diverse experience he’s gained through each of the roles he’s played.
His experience on the technical side of coaching, and his enthusiasm for the game, stood out to Kamansky during the hiring process. Kamansky believes himself and Hill have just as much to learn from Ralby as he does from them and intends to involve Ralby in all aspects of the program.
“He sold me on a new offense, and he’s going to start teaching that to the players,” Kamansky said. “I told him if we’re going to do this, you have to be comfortable on the court because I’m learning too as we go. He’s going to get a lot of coaching experience from the start and the opportunity to be in front of our players and get to know them, that’s really important.”
The Broncos have come up short of reaching the conference tournament the past two seasons. Kamansky is optimistic about returning to the tournament this year with the addition of Ralby paired with a healthy team and this year’s recruiting class.
The transition from video analytics to assistant coach has proven to have its challenges, Ralby said. He has undergone a learning curve while acclimating to his new role in recruiting for a Division II program with limited financial funds but values their coaching staff dynamic as they complement each other’s strengths.
“I hope they hired me to bring some new ideas and thoughts; I think that’s been the best part of my experience so far,” Ralby said. “We’ll have meetings where we are challenging each other’s thoughts and ideas, then we come together to find solutions that will help our team.”
Kamansky admires his habit of winning and his competitive energy, an energy the team is excited to have in their gym.
Senior guard Jaden Winfield considers this new piece as a step in the right direction for the program and values Ralby’s background in coaching and playing that will add value on both ends of the floor.
“I feel like it’s going to be critical just to get on the same page with Ralby before the season starts, especially with him being a new coach,” Winfield said. “I think when it comes to relationships between players and coaches, that just comes down to communication and trust.”
As practices have resumed, Ralby embraces the pursuit of winning a championship, calling the daily grind of the ups and downs the most fulfilling part of his job.
Whether that’s watching his team fail repeatedly until they succeed or teaching a player something new for them to apply in practice, that is why he coaches.
“The relationship with the players is everything,” Ralby said. “If they don’t trust you, they’re not going to listen to you and buy into you. We are working to earn that every day.”
Photos courtesy of Samantha Campion