Texas A&M International University head men’s basketball coach Bryan Weakley announced the hiring of Ryan Orton as an assistant coach.
“I have known Ryan over 10 years and I am excited to work with him,” Weakley said. “He is a professional and a great recruiter who is a skilled coach on the floor. He has coached and had success at every different level of college basketball. He is a hard worker which encompasses a lot of what this position needs. The TAMIU community is getting a great coach and person.”
Orton comes to TAMIU with 19 years of coaching experience at the Division I, Division II and Junior College level, including most recently at Western Wyoming Junior College. A respected recruiter and former head coach, Orton began his coaching career at Eastern Washington in 1998.
“I am excited to be back at the four-year level in particular to be working at Texas A&M International with coach Weakely,” Orton said. “He has had a lot of success on the floor and is just an all-around great person. I am excited for the opportunity that Brian and Grizz have extended to me.”
Orton got his start as a graduate assistant at EWU on Steve Aiggers’ staff from 1998-2000, he was in charge of team academics while also assisting with the post players. He later served as an assistant coach for the Eagles from 2000-03 under Ray Giacoletti where the Eagles appeared in three straight Big Sky Conference Championship games.
In 2003, Orton was named the head coach at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. Under his guidance the Titans led the region in points allowed per game.
Orton also had assistant coaching stints at Northwest Nazarene (2004-06), Montana State (2006-08) and Alaska Anchorage (2009-12). While with the Crusaders, Orton recruited the 2006 Idaho Player of the Year and coached Justin Parnell to GNAC Freshman of the Year honors during the 2006-07 season.
During his time in Anchorage, he was the top assistant helping UAA to a 64-27 record including consecutive NCAA Tournament Second Round berths in 2010-11 and 2011-12. He was also largely responsible for the recruitment of three Alaska high school players-of-the-year, 2012 Div. II Bulletin National Player of the Year Taylor Rhode, and numerous top junior-college and other prep standouts.
Orton was named the head coach at WWCC in 2012 where he helped the Mustangs win 82 games and four straight appearances in the regional tournament. His teams also took care of business in the classroom as they had a grade point average of 3.0 or higher during eight of nine semesters including finishing second out of 205 teams in 2014-15 with a 3.25 cumulative GPA.
A native of Creswell, Oregon, Orton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Eastern Oregon in 1996 where he was captain of the basketball team during his senior season. He also earned his master’s degree in 2001 in physical education from EWU.
