'Happy accident' brought Ranson to Murray
MBB: Ranson joins the largest coaching staff in the Missouri Valley Conference
Mike Ranson’s journey to becoming a Graduate Assistant for Murray State’s men’s basketball program could best be described as a ‘happy accident.’
Steve Prohm and Jonathan Mattox were in Phoenix back in the spring recruiting, when Prohm wanted to take a little side trip to visit Phil Beckner. Beckner is a renowned player-development coach who has worked with both college and NBA players.
“We went out there, and you’re always trying to get a little bit better,” Prohm said. “Jonny and I were out in Phoenix recruiting. I told him, ‘Hey, I know Phil Beckner. I’ve met him over the last couple of years. We’ve stayed in touch. Let’s try to see if we can go watch a workout before we have to get to the gym to go recruit.’ We went out there, and Phil came up to say hello during a workout. He said, ‘Hey, by the way, are you looking for a GA?’ I said, ‘You know what, we actually are.’ He said, ‘Man, this guy right here is a rock star. He's the best intern I’ve ever had in my years of doing this.’”
That ‘rock star’ was Mike Ranson.
Looking back at Ranson’s family tree, having a career in basketball was nothing short of inevitable for him.
“My dad and my grandpa were high school basketball coaches for 30 years,” Ranson said. “Both my uncles played in college. My dad played in college. Basketball was really all we knew. Coaching was all they did, and it’s all I really wanted to do. My dad had said his biggest regret was not going to coach in college, so I wanted to give it a try.”
Last season, Ranson spent a year as an assistant coach at Division II Western Colorado University. Even as a young coach, he had plenty of family experience to fall back on to help him get the most out of his players.
“My dad has always been a really good player-development guy,” Ranson said. “He always ran his own workouts during June. I learned from him, and then when I got into coaching, that was the path I followed — trying to get guys better.”
From there, Ranson went to work for Beckner and got a crash course from one of the best player-development guys in the business. Ranson got to work with a bunch of NBA players, and says he learned an immeasurable amount.
“I did everything,” Ranson remembered. “(I did) video, I helped him with workouts. Anything he needed, I helped him with.”
Then Steve Prohm came walking in the door. Little did Ranson know how much his life would change just a few months later.
“They came to watch a workout,” Ranson said. “Phil asked them if they needed a GA. It was kind of funny. He asked them, and then I went up there and introduced myself, and that’s how we got connected. It’s crazy how it all happened.”
“Mike popped up there and said hello before we left,” Prohm added. “We stayed in touch, and a couple months later we made it happen. I’m really, really excited that we did. He’s been a great, great fit. He’s got a great passion to get these guys better. He’s really good in his role. He’s been really good. He loves being in the gym. He’s a basketball guy, a son of a basketball coach, and he played. But spending that time, from an individual workout standpoint, with Phil, he brings a lot of knowledge to our program on how to get guys better. I’ve been really pleased with him and I’m really excited to have him a part of our program.”
Ranson is excited by the relationships he’s already been able to build with the Murray State players.
“It’s been great,” he said. “They work their ass off. They listen. They always work hard. They’re always on time, doing the right things, getting in the gym consistently. That’s the biggest thing — consistency is the separator.”
Six months ago, Ranson couldn’t have found Murray, Kentucky on a dare. But now, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.
“It’s been great,” Ranson said. “I love living here. The town is great. The coaches and the people in this program are really good to me, and that kind of makes it for me.”