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June 15, 2010

TC Central hires Knudsen

Trojan alum set to coach varsity girls basketball

By JAMES COOK jcook@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — For the second hire in a row, Traverse City Central turned to its alumni for a coach.

The Trojans brought in Ryan Knudsen to replace Aric Woughter on the varsity girls basketball bench.

Woughster stepped down for personal reasons.

TC Central athletic director Cody Inglis said Knudsen stood out from the pool of 16 applicants — six of whom were brought in for interviews.

"I've known Ryan to be such a first-class individual as a fellow A.D.," Inglis said. "His dealing in handling of difficult situations really stuck me as something that this program needed. His ability to communicate and bring everybody together is important. The other thing that came out in his interview that are so critical are the building of the program that he intends to do, from the elementary levels on up."

Knudsen, 31, was Leland's athletic director for six years and the junior varsity boys basketball coach the last four seasons and varsity assistant the last three years. He has also coached at the junior high, elementary and AAU levels.

Knudsen submitted his resignation as Leland's athletic director as of June 30.

Inglis said the school is looking to add Knudsen to the teaching staff. He teaches business and computer applications at Leland.

Knudsen will be the third girls varsity coach in four years and joins volleyball's Katherine Brege as the second Central alum to join the school's coaching ranks this spring. Knudsen graduated from Central in 1997, one year before the school split into Central and West. He played basketball under Jon Constant.

"As a Traverse City Central alumnus, I'm very excited about the opportunity to go back to my alma mater to coach," Knudsen said. "I've had the opportunity to coach eight of the current varsity girls basketball players in AAU, so I'm very familiar with the girls and the program.

"We're definitely looking to run a lot of fast break opportunities," Knudsen added. "Defensively, we're looking to put a lot of pressure on the ball with man-to-man defense, and also put in some half-court traps and full-court pressing as well."

Woughter will still coach at Central, taking over for Doug Gle as the boys basketball junior varsity coach after two years leading the girls varsity.

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