Rich Rider

Head Coach

  • Years at CLU18
  • Alma MaterNortheast Missouri State ('70)
  • Record 276-152 
  • E-mailrider@callutheran.edu
  • Phone805.493.3404

The 2010-11 season saw Rich Rider guide his team to a berth in the SCIAC
Men's Basketball Tournament, compile a winning record for the 15th time
since taking the helm of the Kingsmen basketball team, and earn his
400th career victory as a head coach after defeating Luther (Iowa) at
the Surf's Up Classic in Honolulu on November 26, 2010.

In the 2007-08 season, Rider and the Kingsmen claimed the fifth SCIAC
Championship in the program's history with a 21-5 overall record.

From 2001-2004 he led the Kingsmen to three straight second place
finishes putting up a 20-win season in 2001-02 and 19 victories over the
2003-04 campaign.

Rider led the Kingsmen to their fourth SCIAC championship in 2001, the
team's first since the 1993 season. Rider also became the winningest
coach in club history with a 91-76 win over Redlands (Feb. 22),
surpassing Don Bielke, who was 110-172 in 10 seasons (1973-83).

During the 1996-97 season, Rider became the fastest of any of the previous nine CLU head coaches to reach the 50-win plateau.

Rider came to Thousand Oaks from the Boise Unified School District in
Idaho where he served as athletic director for the 1993-94 academic
year. Prior to that, he was associate men's basketball coach at Boise
State University for nine seasons under head coach Bobby Dye.

Before moving to Idaho, Rider coached Chapman College (now University)
in Orange, California for nine seasons from 1973 to 1982. Rider had
seven winning seasons, guiding the program to a 136-104 overall record,
including a highwater mark of 19-10 and a berth in the NCAA Division II
Championships in 1977.

A three-year starter for the Bulldogs at Northeast Missouri State
University (NEMO), Rider has bachelors degrees in business
administration (1968) and health (1970) from NEMO. He also holds a
masters degree in physical education (1971) and a doctoral degree in
physical education from the University of Utah.

Rider and his wife, Janie, have three children, Jon, Scot and Missy. Jon
was a two-year varsity letterwinner for the Kingsmen (1994-1996) and
Missy was a four-year member of the Regals basketball team. The Riders
make their home in Thousand Oaks.