Former Fresno State and San Joaquin Delta College player Ajay Riding completed his 12th season on the Sacramento State coaching staff in 2020-21. His duties with the Hornets include serving as the team’s academic coordinator, team travel, player development and scouting.
Sacramento State increased its conference win total each of Riding’s first six years on the staff, culminating in the 2014-15 squad posting a 21-12 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference while securing the program’s first postseason appearance in the Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the team’s first postseason victory in 53 years.
With Riding on the staff, Sacramento State has won at least 13 games seven times in the last nine years, the first time that has happened since the program accomplished the feat seven straight seasons from 1966-73. In addition, the Hornets have won at least one Big Sky Tournament game in five of the last seven years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020). Prior to 2015, the program had won just two Big Sky Tournament games in its first 18 years in the conference.
One of those Big Sky Tournament wins came during the 2019-20 season when the team finished 16-14 overall and 8-12 in the Big Sky. The Hornets won their first round tournament game over Weber State, before their quarterfinal game against Eastern Washington (and the rest of the tournament) was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 16 wins were the second most in the program’s Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the team finished with an overall record above the .500 mark for just the second time in the Div. I era. In addition, the Hornets’ defense ranked fifth in the nation (among 350 Div. I playing schools) and first in the Big Sky, allowing just 59.7 points per game. That was the best mark for the program since the 1962-63 season. Also, the program’s +3.8 rebounding margin per game was the best mark since the 1975-76 season.
The Hornets have also established a homecourt advantage that has seen the program post a 82-38 combined record (.683 winning percentage) inside the Nest since the beginning of the 2012-13 season. Also, during that time, the team is 51-31 (.622) at home against conference competition.
The Hornets’ overall record of 21-12 during the 2014-15 season marked the first time in the Div. I era that Sacramento State finished above the .500 mark, and first time since the 1988-89 season. In addition, the 21 wins tied for second most in program history (1948-pres.), and the 13 conference victories were the most in school history (regardless of conference). All of this from a program that had entered the 2014-15 season with just three winning seasons in the previous 38 years.
The overall record marked the first time in the Div. I era that Sacramento State finished above the .500 mark, and first time since the 1988-89 season. In addition, the 21 wins were tied for second most in program history (1948-pres.), and the 13 conference victories were the most in school history (regardless of conference). All of this from a program that had entered the 2014-15 season with just three winning seasons in the previous 38 years.
After reaching the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets qualified for the 2015 CIT Postseason Tournament, marking the first time the program had qualified for a postseason event since the 1988 NCAA Div. II Tournament, and just the fifth postseason appearance in school history. Sacramento State’s 73-66 victory at Portland in the first round of the CIT marked the first time in 53 years the Hornets had won a postseason game.
Riding also helped coach and recruit guard Mikh McKinney, who was named honorable mention All-America, first team all-District 6, and the Big Sky MVP in 2015. McKinney became the first player in the Div. I era to receive all three of those awards, and just the fourth player in school history to earn All-America honors.
Off the court, the Hornets have excelled in the classroom during Riding’s tenure. In fact, as of May of 2020, the Hornets were the only men’s basketball team from a public school in the state of California to earn NCAA Public Recognition honors. The award is given annually to institutions for having Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores that rank among the top 10 percent nationally. Not only are the Hornets the only public school in the state to achieve the award, they received the honor four straight years (2017-20).
In addition, the Hornets have a team overall grade point average of 3.001. Prior to 2014, the men’s basketball program had never posted a 3.0 gpa during any semester in school history. Perhaps the most impressive of the academic accolades - of the 46 players that have expired their eligibility during Riding’s tenure with the Hornets, 45 have graduated. In addition, the Hornets have been Academic Progress Rate (APR) compliant every year of Riding’s 12-year tenure. Five Hornets - Brandon Davis, Ethan Esposito, William FitzPatrick, Bryce Fowler and Spencer Monteiro - graduated in the spring of 2021.
A native of Davis, Calif., Riding spent two years (2007-09) working with the men’s basketball coaching staff at Fresno State as a volunteer assistant.
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A graduate of Fresno State in 2007 with a degree in mass communications and journalism, Riding played a combined 47 games for the Bulldogs in 2005-06 and 2006-07. He was both a Western Athletic Conference and Fresno State scholar-athlete award winner, and helped the Bulldogs to a 37-23 combined record during his two seasons with the team as a student-athlete. That included a 22-10 overall record and a National Invitational Tournament appearance during his senior season.
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Riding spent two years playing for Katz at Delta College in 2003-04 and 2004-05. During those two seasons, Riding helped the Mustangs to a pair of conference championships and a 52-8 combined record. The 2004-05 squad finished with a program-best 30-2 record and reached the Final Four of the state tournament.
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Prior to playing at Delta College, Riding prepped at Davis High School where he was an all-conference selection.
Riding and his wife and daughter currently reside in Sacramento.
