Ryan Van Zelst will enter his second season as the men's basketball head coach at Drew University in 2026-27.
In his first year at the helm, Van Zelst guided a squad that returned just one starter to a successful season in which it finished 19-7 and 13-5 in Landmark Conference play. The team opened the season with six straight wins, including a victory over a nationally-ranked team, and won four of its last five regular-season games to earn the No. 2 seed and a home game in the Landmark Conference Championships. The team was ranked as high as No. 20 in the D3hoops.com Top-25 poll and concluded the year with a No. 6 ranking in the NCAA Division III Region V NPI poll. The Rangers finished with the top-ranked scoring offense in the Landmark Conference (88.5 ppg) and also tied for the conference lead in 3-pointers made per game (11.1). Individually, two Rangers (David Musial C'26 and Eli Yusavage C'27) captured both All-Met and All-Landmark Conference honors under Van Zelst while Musial also earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award for the third year in a row.
The 17th head coach in the 97-year history of Drew men’s basketball, Van Zelst brings a deep level of Division III experience to The Forest, including head-coaching stops at both Cabrini University and Penn State Abington. He also served as the associate head coach at Landmark Conference rival University of Scranton, where he spent seven years with the Royals. He picked up additional Division III experience as an assistant coach at both York (Pa.) College and his alma mater, Albright College.
Prior to arriving at Drew, Van Zelst held the post of associate head coach at Division II Millersville University during the 2024-25 campaign, when he helped the Marauders to a 19-12 record, including a 13-8 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division. In the postseason, Millersville took Gannon University, the No. 1 seed in the PSAC West, to overtime in the semifinals of the PSAC Championships.
Van Zelst served as the head coach at Cabrini University during the 2023-24 season. Just weeks after accepting the position, the university announced it would close in the spring of 2024. However, Van Zelst held the team together, and the Cavaliers ranked first in the Atlantic East Conference in 3-point field goal defense. In the team boosted its GPA from 2.3 to 3.0.
In 2022-23, Van Zelst served as the head coach at Penn State Abington, where he led the Nittany Lions to their most wins as a Division III team, set a program record with 11 conference wins, and reached the United East Conference championship game for the first time in school history. His squad finished 18-9 and ranked No. 1 in the United East in scoring defense, allowing just 65 points per game. Off the court, his team’s GPA improved significantly, and the program partnered with Team IMPACT.
At Scranton, Van Zelst was a member of the 2021 Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year, helped Scranton to NCAA tournament bids in 2016 and 2017, a conference title in 2017, and title game appearances in 2020 and 2021. During his tenure in the Electric City, the Royals posted a 113-55 record, including a 64-32 mark in Landmark Conference play.
In 2017, Van Zelst was named to the NABC 30 Under 30 Team, and he was a part of the NABC Mentor Circle Program in 2021.
Van Zelst coached the 2014-15 season at Albright and helped York to an NCAA tournament berth during his stint from 2012-14.
As a student-athlete, Van Zelst played three seasons at Albright and was a member of the 2010 team that captured the MAC Commonwealth Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Albright and later earned a master’s degree in business administration accounting from Scranton.
