Ryan Ludwig leaving after six seasons as Wyomissing head coach

Ryan Ludwig hates to leave Wyomissing’s basketball program, especially right now.

He says he’ll miss building relationships with players – and he’ll miss out on what could be a promising future for the Spartans.

“Wyo’s in a great position right now,” said Ludwig, who has resigned after six seasons as head coach. “We’ve got some great young talent coming through. It’s a terrible time for me to get out.”

Ludwig, 34, said a work promotion which now calls for more cross-country travel led to his decision. He works in sales for UCinnovation, a California-based software and consulting company.

“If we would’ve made the county final, I would’ve missed that game,” Ludwig said. “If we made districts, I would’ve missed a game. That’s not fair to anybody.”

Wyomissing made both the county and district playoffs three times during Ludwig’s tenure but weren’t close this season, finishing 5-6 and tied for third in Berks III and 8-14 overall.

That record could soon be flipped. The top four scorers from this season return: Juniors Alex Campbell, Drew Forrey and Aiden Schippers and sophomore Dylan Latourelle.

Freshman Danny Fleischood made a late-season impact; he scored the winning basket in an upset of division champ Fleetwood.

“Alex and Aiden will continue to grow into their season year,” he said. “Andrew Forrey will continue to grow. And the eighth grade team was awesome.”

Ludwig said he’d like to return to coaching at some point but can’t juggle that and work right now.

“I don’t have the true time commitment I feel is necessary to be a head coach right now,” he said. “To give the kids what they deserve, and the program what it deserves, I just had to step away.

“(The promotion) is great for me, but also sad for me, because it means I have to give some things up. That’s the hard part.”

The Spartans’ best season under Ludwig came in 2019-20 when they finished 17-8 and knocked off Berks Catholic in the opening round of the league playoffs to advance to Santander Arena.

Ludwig leaves with a 68-61 record.

Wyomissing hasn’t qualified for the PIAA Tournament since 2011, when it finished third in districts. The Spartans last reached a district final in 2009.

Ludwig spent eight years in the program, the first two years as JV coach for Toph Miller.

He played at Shikellamy High School and at Alvernia University

Ludwig is the second Berks Conference coach to resign since the end of last season, following Kevin McFarland at Hamburg.