Meet the Coaches
Matt Ridge
Head Coach
matthew_ridge@davidsondavie.edu
During its 16-year history, the men’s basketball program at Davidson-Davie Community College has become one of the elite junior college programs in the country. Under the leadership of Head Coach, Matt Ridge, the Storm has won 431 games in fifteen years, against just 81 losses. The 431 wins are the most wins by any National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II or Division III program in the nation over the sixteen-year span. His 84.17% winning percentage is also the highest winning percentage in the country during this time frame. Also, the Storm has compiled a record of 240-19 (92.6 %) at home since the start of the program in 2007.
Ridge has directed the Storm to ten outright regular-season Tarheel Conference Championships while being Co-Champions in four seasons. The Storm claimed the Region X Tournament Championship in 2010, 2011, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023. In eight of the sixteen seasons, the Storm has advanced to both the District VII Championships and the NJCAA National Tournament. In national tournament play, the Storm finished 8th in 2010, 4th in 2011, 5th in 2016, 7th in 2017, 2nd in both 2021 and 2022 and 5th in 2023. The Storm won the District VII Championship for the 8th time in 16 years. Unfortunately, the Storm did not get to attend the 2019-2020 NJCAA D2 National Tournament due to it being canceled because of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Ridge made his college head-coaching debut in 2007-2008 with the Storm following a successful stint as the boys’ basketball coach at East Davidson High School in Thomasville, N.C. He turned the Golden Eagles from a bottom dweller into one of the Central Carolina Conference’s top teams over six seasons. During 2006-2007, Ridge was the assistant men’s basketball coach at Guilford College, helping lead them to an NCAA Division III Elite Eight showing. Ridge coached the inaugural Storm team (2007-2008) to a national ranking of 9th in the nation in NJCAA Division III rankings, a Co-Championship of the Tarheel Conference regular season and an overall record of 22-7. In the 2008-2009 season, the Storm was ranked as high as 4th in the nation with a record of 25-7 and were again regular season Co-Champions of the Tarheel Conference.
The third season, 2009–2010, saw the Storm program continue to flourish, overcoming a number of injuries to go undefeated in the conference, capturing the outright Regular Season Championship. The team won the Region X title for the first time and defeated an extremely talented Montgomery College – Germantown In the District VII title game to advance to the NJCAA National Tournament in Delhi, N.Y.
The 2010-2011 season was one for the record books. After returning only two players from the previous season, Ridge and his staff brought in a recruiting class that would help push the Storm to the top of the NJCAA polls for the first time in program history. The Storm finished with a program-high 34 wins against just 2 defeats. Davidson-Davie was ranked #1 in the national polls for 15 weeks total, and 10 weeks consecutively. After capturing the Regular Season, Region X Tournament and District Tournament Championships, the Storm returned to the NJCAA National Tournament, this time in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. In the first round, the Storm was upset by eventual national champions Mountain View College and finished 4th in the National Tournament.
The Storm captured another outright Tarheel Conference Regular Season Championship in 2011-2012. Although ranked in the top 10 nationally throughout the season, the Storm’s journey came up a bit short in the Region X Tournament Finals against rival Sandhills. Ridge’s squad finished the season 29-3 record. The Storm finished 23-7 during the 2012-2013 season and 22-5 during the 2013-2014 season.
During the 2014-2015 season, the Storm finished 10-0 in conference play during the regular season and once again captured another outright Tarheel Conference Regular Season Championship. After being ranked in the top 10 of the national polls all season long, the Storm’s journey came up a bit short in the Region X Tournament Finals. Ridge’s squad would finish the season with an outstanding final record of 24-6 overall. The 2015-2016 season was another highly successful season for the Storm. Davidson-Davie finished as Co-Champions of the regular season, District VII champions, 5th in the National Tournament and an overall record of 30-5. The 2016-2017 season was another outstanding year for the Davidson-Davie men’s basketball program finishing with an overall record of 30-5, regular-season championship, Region X Tournament and District Tournament Championships & the Storm returned to the NJCAA National Tournament where they finished in 7th place. The Storm won another regular-season championship during the 2017-2018 season while finishing with an overall record of 22-7.
The Storm moved up and competed in the Region 10 D2 conference during the 2018-2019 season. Seven different players averaged double figures during the 2018-2019 season and Storm finished with an overall record of 19-12. The 2019-2020 season was another incredibly successful season for the Storm. Davidson-Davie finished as Champions of the regular season, Region X Tournament/District Tournament champions, the final ranking of 3rd in the nation in the NJCAA D2 National Poll and an overall record of 31-1. In the 2020-2021 season, the Storm certainly made the record books by winning both the regular season and Region X Tournament/District Tournament and advancing to the National Championship game in Danville, Illinois. Unfortunately, the Storm finished the 2020-2021 season as National Runner ups by losing to Des Moines Area CC 86-75 on April 24, 2021. The Storm finished the 2020-2021 season with a final ranking of #2 in the nation and was the #1 seed for the D2 NJCAA National Tournament.
The following season (2021-2022), the Storm won both the regular season and Region X Tournament/District Tournament and advanced to the National Championship game in Danville, Illinois for the second year in a row. The Storm finished the regular season with a final national ranking of #2 in the country. The Davidson-Davie men’s basketball team is the only basketball team in the history of Region X to ever play in the national championship game in back-to-back years. The Storm finished with another amazing overall record of 33-3 during the 2021-2022 season.
The Storm continued to break records during the 2022-2023 season by finishing the regular season undefeated (29-0) and with a final national ranking of #1 in the nation. The 2022-2023 team also won the district tournament for the 8th time in 16 years and finished 5th in the NJCAA National Tournament with an overall record of 35 – 1. The 35 wins is the most wins in a single season in program history.
Ridge and his coaching staff continue to bring in quality players and get them to buy into the team concept. Ridge and his staff have produced seven All-Americans, four Region X Players of the Year and three Region X Freshman of the Year award winners in the thirteen years of the program’s existence. Ridge was named the Region X Coach of the Year four consecutive times, and also the District VII Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023. Ridge was named the Region X coach of the year 10 times during a sixteen-year period.
After graduating from Ledford (NC) High School where he played varsity basketball for three years, Ridge attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education. Ridge also completed his master’s degree (through the University of Phoenix) in Curriculum & Instruction in October 2012. He played two seasons on the Tar Heels’ junior varsity men’s basketball team before spending his final two seasons as the team’s student assistant coach under Phil Ford and Dave Hanners.
Ridge and his wife Candice, reside in Thomasville, N.C. with their three daughters, Mattison (17), Parker (14) and Ella (12).
Josh Allen
Assistant Coach
Josh Allen enters his sixth season as an assistant coach at Davidson-Davie Community College.
In his five years at Davidson-Davie, he has helped lead the program to the following:
- 2022-2023. Finished 1st in Conference. Region 10 and South Atlantic District A Champions four years in a row. Finished with a record of 35-1 (22-0). Finished 1 st in the national ranking, received the 1 seed in the national tournament. Lost in the elite eight and finished 5 th in the national tournament.
- 2021-2022. Finished 1st in Conference. Region 10 and South Atlantic District A Champions three years in a row. Finished with a record of 33-3 (21-1). Finished 2nd in the national ranking, received the 2 seed in the national tournament and finished as the National Tournament Runner-ups in back-to-back seasons.
- 2020-2021. Finished 1st in Conference. Region 10 and South Atlantic District A champions in back-to-back-to-back seasons. Finished with a record of 23-3 (15-1). Finished 2nd in the national ranking, received the 1 seed in the national tournament and finished as the National Tournament Runner-ups.
- 2019-2020 season. Finished 1st in the conference. Region 10 and South Atlantic District A Champions. Finished with a record of 31-1 (21-1). Finished 3rd in the national rankings and received a 7 seed in the national tournament (canceled due to the coronavirus).
- 2018-2019 season. Finished 6th in the conference with a record of 18-12 (10-10) in the program’s first NJCAA D2 season.
Prior to joining the Storm, Coach Allen was an assistant coach at Legacy Early College in Greenville S.C. under head coach and athletic director B.J. Jackson. While at Legacy, he was the residential coach and helped the team to a 27-9 record while playing a national schedule. He began coaching on the AAU circuit in 2011 with Mid-State Magic. He coached various teams and players ranging from ages 11 to 17 before becoming the head JV coach at Northern Guilford High School in 2013-2014. While at Northern, he led the JV team to a 15-8 record and a second-place finish in the conference. He spent the following season at High Point Central High School where he was the head JV boys coach and assistant varsity coach under Patrick Battle. During his year at High Point Central, his JV boys team finished third in the conference with a 13-10 record. Coach Allen left High Point Central to attend Graduate School at West Virginia University. While at WVU he worked towards a master’s degree in athletic coaching education and was a graduate teaching assistant for the college of physical activity and sports sciences. He taught beginner and intermediate basketball activity courses along with badminton and flag football. Coach Allen also worked with the WVU men’s club basketball team in a skill/player development capacity.
After a year of graduate school at WVU, Coach Allen accepted a Job with 22ft basketball Academy in the summer of 2017. While at 22ft he was a head coach of the high school developmental team and head coach to one post-grad team while assisting with the other post-grad. Coach Allen is a 2014 Graduate of UNCG where he received a B.S. in kinesiology with an emphasis is physical education and health education. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 2007 after his graduation from Southern Alamance High School. He spent six years in the USMC and USMC Reserves.
Coach Allen is from Graham N.C
Cory Dumas
Assistant Coach