“It was a fun learning experience,” said Shilts. He learned from one of the best in his father.” Learning to playĪs a young boy, Ricky tagged along at his father’s basketball games, serving as a waterboy, a cheerleader or whatever role he could fill.
I could always tell that Ricky had a future as a coach. “He was also a fierce competitor, and those are also great qualities to have as a coach. “Ricky was a smart, heady player,” said Vande Streek. Having his former point guard back on his coaching staff is a huge bonus said Vande Streek. Shilts is married to fellow Calvin graduate Lisa (Jurgens) Shilts, who recently served as a freshman girls basketball coach at Grand Rapids Christian High School. While there, he worked alongside his father-in-law Doug Jurgens, also an assistant coach at Calvin Christian High School. We had a strong finish to the 2004 season, and that gave us the momentum we needed to make a deeper tournament run my senior year.”Īfter completing his collegiate basketball-playing career in 2005, Shilts continued to serve a five-year stint as an assistant varsity basketball coach at Grandville Calvin Christian High School. "There were a lot great memories,” said Shilts of his two years on the Calvin men’s basketball team. Calvin’s 2004-05 team not only earned an NCAA III Tournament berth, but advanced all the way to the NCAA III Final Four, where it placed third. “I’m already looking forward to the practices in the fall and getting back into the trenches with the guys.”Īs a basketball player at Calvin from 2003-to-2005, Shilts was the starting point guard on teams that earned NCAA III Tournament berths during the 2003-05 seasons. "I’m really excited about being back in the mix at Calvin,” said Shilts. In addition to his junior varsity duties, Shilts will serve as an assistant with the Calvin varsity, working with his former head coach Kevin Vande Streek. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”īeginning this fall, Shilts will get the chance to coach at his alma mater, as he was recently named the junior varsity coach of the Calvin men’s basketball team, replacing Mark Christner who recently left to accept the head varsity men’s basketball position at Waynesburg University (PA). "I guess coaching is kind of in my blood,” said Shilts recently.
The son of legendary Kalamazoo Valley Community College men’s basketball and men’s golf coach Dick Shilts, Ricky Shilts has always been around a ball or a game.
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