Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Ryan Bisio reacts during a game this past season.

By Ray Hamill — One of the best community college coaches in the state won’t be leaving College of the Redwoods any time soon.

On Friday morning, the CR athletic department announced that men’s basketball coach Ryan Bisio has been named the school’s new Assistant Athletic Director, making him a full-time employee.

Bisio has enjoyed unprecedented success with the Corsairs after guiding his team to a first-ever three-peat of conference championships in his first three full seasons in charge, and he was recently named Northern California JC coach of the year.

Promoting him to a full-time employee will keep the popular Bisio at CR for the foreseeable future while expanding his role within the department, and that’s good news for the local sports community and Corsairs basketball in particular.

“I am excited to bring Ryan into an upper level management role in the department and look forward to his ideas and expertise while we continue to build on our recent success, growth of sports programs and opportunities for student athletes,” CR Athletic Director Bob Brown said. 

“With our recent growth and addition of new sports and ongoing facilities upgrade projects, Ryan will be a huge asset in continuing to build our brand and the mission of connecting within our community.”

In his role as men’s basketball coach, Bisio has recruited heavily from the H-DN while building one of the strongest programs in Northern California.

This past season, he led the Corsairs to a record of 26-4, which set a new program record for most wins in a season, and had an all-state first-team selection on his roster for the third straight year.

The 2000 St. Bernard’s graduate says he is looking forward to an expanded role within the department.

“I am thrilled to assist our department in a larger capacity and I thank Bob and our administration for this wonderful opportunity,” he said. “As a coach, my understanding of what our colleagues experience in servicing our student athletes will hopefully translate to more efficiency and extra enthusiasm in tackling the many projects we’re managing.”

With the recent addition of a women’s tennis program and the return of football, as well as the planned addition of men’s and women’s wrestling teams and the success of basketball and the track and cross country programs, Bisio believes this is a golden era for CR sports.

“The trust and support I feel from our department, administration and community makes me highly motivated to continue the momentum our coaches and staff have worked so hard to generate on behalf of our student athletes,” he added. “There’s no better time to be a Corsair than right now.”