A successful young head coach in the Division III ranks, Ryan Van Zelst joined Coach Casey Stitzel's Millersville staff prior to the 2024-25 season.
Van Zelst, a 2010 graduate of Albright College, quickly built an impressive coaching career that included NCAA Tournament appearances as an assistant at York and Scranton and two strong seasons as a head coach. In his first season at Millersville, he helped the Marauders to 19 wins, a trip to the PSAC Semifinals, and helped Drew Stover become the first Marauder since 2008 to named the PSAC East Athlete of the Year.
In 2022-23, Van Zelst was named the head coach at Penn State Abington, and he promptly led the program to its most wins as a Division III program, set a program record with 11 conference wins and reached the United East Conference championship game for the first time in school history. Van Zelst's team finished 18-9 and ranked No. 1 in the United East in scoring defense, allowing just 65 points per game. Off the court, his team's GPA improved significantly, and the program partnered with Team IMPACT.
That run landed Van Zelst the head coaching position at Cabrini University. Just weeks after accepting the position, the university announced it would close in the spring of 2024. Van Zelst, however, held the program together. The team ranked first in the Atlantic East Conference in 3-point field goal defense and boosted the team GPA from 2.3 to 3.0.
Van Zelst gained significant experience as a coach and an outstanding recruiter as the associate head coach at Scranton from 2015-2022. He was a member of the 2021 Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year, helped Scranton to NCAA Tournament bids in 2016 and 2017, a conference title in 2017 and title game appearances in 2020 and 2021. He landed student-athletes from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Virginia. Scranton posted a 113-55 record during his tenure. In 2017, he was named to the NABC 30 Under 30 Team, and he was a part of the NABC Mentor Circle Program in 2021. Van Zelst coached the 2014-15 season at his alma mater and helped York to an NCAA Tournament bid during his stint from 2012-14.
Van Zelst earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Albright and later earned a master's degree in business administration accounting from Scranton.
