Peachtree Hoops: Ryan Schmidt named head coach of College Park Skyhawks

[Hawksquawk]

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

As the G League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, the College Park Skyhawks play a crucial role as the home to the developmental players that may one day contribute to the senior team. Steve Gansey, who led the Skyhawks as head coach for the past two seasons, has moved on, and in his place steps a man with plenty of championship experience in various head coaching stops.

Ryan Schmidt has been named the new head coach of the Skyhawks, according to Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks.

Per source, Ryan Schmidt is expected to be named head coach of the College Park Skyhawks in the near future.

I believe @Carchia was first on the news. https://t.co/0xx4XwfGGZ

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) August 12, 2023

Schmidt’s latest G League experience was with Raptors 905, the G League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors, where he sat on the bench as an assistant coach from 2017-2021. Beginning in 2020, Schmidt also later overlapped as the head coach of the then Hamilton (now Brampton) Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) — the premier basketball league solely in Canada that operates during the NBA and G League offseason. In 2022, the third and last of Schmidt’s seasons there, the team won the CEBL Championship.

Last season, Schmidt headed overseas to coach the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). The Lions racked up trophies in three major competitions in the 2022-23 schedule: the BBL Cup, the BBL Playoffs, and the BBL Championship — the latter for owning the best record in the regular season in domestic play.

“You laid the foundation for something that’s going to last a really long time” @Coach_RSchmidt

Head Coach Ryan Schmidt with an emotional locker room speech after a tremendous team win last night in the @BBLofficial Playoff Final! #wearelondon #BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/9EZc9P4hEN

— London Lions (@LondonLions) May 15, 2023

Ryan Schmidt will officially take the reins in short order as the Skyhawks begin to fill out their roster for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

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