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  Jacob Ridenhour
Jacob Ridenhour

Position:
Director of Operations

(updated September 2012)

Jacob Ridenhour, who has been a member of 16 postseason teams, including the 2012 ACC Championship Florida State Seminoles, six NCAA Tournaments and three NCAA Sweet Sixteen teams at Florida State and Auburn, is in his eighth season as Florida State's director of basketball operations. His knowledge of the game of basketball and his proven ability as an athletic administrator makes him one of the most valuable members of the head coach Leonard Hamilton's coaching staff. Ridenhour has an incredible ability to quickly realize big picture issues, assess challenges and develop successful ideas on how to move Florida State's program to the next level.

Ridenhour is also a frequent color analyst for ESPN3 and the Seminole IMG Radio Network for Florida State games. He made his television debut on ESPN3 in the Seminoles' 2011-12 season opener against Jacksonville.

As Florida State's director of operations, Ridenhour brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge, including coaching experience at high school, AAU and college, along with 17 years at two successful, high profile BCS conference schools - Florida State in the ACC and Auburn in the SEC - where he has also gained an incredible amount of knowledge and experience in athletic administration.

At Florida State, Ridenhour responsibilities include management of the program, office and team fiscal matters, all aspects of travel, academic development and contracts. He is the primary liaison with University and Athletic Administration, educators, fan groups and opposing schools. Ridenhour is also director of the Florida State Basketball Camps; his responsibilities include organizing, marketing, and operating the camps. Ridenhour has created and instituted the highly successful Florida State Team Camp with teams from throughout the southeast and numerous international teams - the largest of its kind at Florida State, and brought in annual sessions of the prestigious Five-Star Basketball Camp to Tallahassee, both providing significant economic and financial impact to the Tallahassee community.

Ridenhour has been integrally involved in the inner workings of two major Division I athletic departments for 18 years. He began his collegiate career at Auburn as a team manager in 1993, for the late Tommy Joe Eagles. Later joining the staff at Auburn University for Cliff Ellis, the former Head Coach at Auburn and Clemson, where he created and administered the programs budget and was primary contact to University Administration pertaining to the basketball team as well as overseeing player development. Ridenhour was the director of the highly successful Auburn Basketball Camp program.

While at Auburn, Ridenhour was instrumental in taking the Auburn program to unprecedented heights, reaching post season play six out of his eight years and two trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen including an SEC Championship. He was involved in the fundraising, marketing and management of the Auburn Basketball brand. He was also responsible for the design and development of the Auburn Basketball Museum and was instrumental in the redesign of the office and locker room renovations.

Ridenhour has tremendous International experience with teams and programs involving tournaments, traveling, games and all aspects related to legal documents and requirements. Ridenhour has been with teams on three continents including Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

Prior to joining the Seminoles in the fall of 2005, Ridenhour participated in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders and traveled with the NBA to Dakar, Senegal and Johannesburg, South Africa. He co-directed the Island Shootout in Nassau, Bahamas in 2004 and 2005.

A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Ridenhour received his Bachelor's degree in education from Auburn in 1995 and his Master's degree in Sport Administration from Florida State in 2007.

Ridenhour was married to Evette O'Connor during the Summer of 2011.

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