East Ridge, St. Thomas Academy hire new basketball coaches

East Ridge hired James Henderson as its new girls basketball coach on Friday, April 24, after being sold on Henderson’s plan for the program.

The position became available following the resignation of Ashley Ellis-Milan, who took the Raptors to their first state tournament this past season.

Henderson coached the Roseville girls basketball team the past two seasons and previously coached at Apple Valley and Concordia Academy. The Raiders were 20-8 last season, including 13-6 in the Suburban East. East Ridge finished 23-7 and won the conference title with a 16-2 record.

“I’m excited,” Henderson said. “It’s in the same conference, but if you look at the youth program and the facilities alone, it’s night and day. Roseville was a great school, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Ellis-Milan, a former Gophers standout, led the Raptors to their best finish this past season since taking over during the 2020-21 season. She didn’t give a reason for departing in early April, but said she was proud to “leave the program in a very good position to succeed.”

East Ridge was led by All-Minnesota selection and Oklahoma recruit Vienna Murray, who averaged 22 points per game as a senior. The Raptors lost to Maple Grove in the Class 4A state tournament quarterfinals.

Henderson’s familiarity with East Ridge goes beyond competing in the same conference the past two seasons.

“A lot of people didn’t know I started my coaching career there as an assistant for nine years,” he said. “It was great to come back and talk about how I’m able to build culture and build relationships with families.”

Henderson said his history with the program can help him maintain success and create the best environment for the players and families.

“One of the biggest things I talked about was having an overall great experience for all of the high school girls,” he said. “If you’re winning a lot of games and not having a good experience, then you won’t enjoy the journey.”

Cadets have new boys coach

St. Thomas Academy named Matt Eppen as its boys basketball coach on April 23. Eppen recently concluded the seventh season of his second stint as a St. Olaf men’s basketball assistant. He also coached at St. Olaf from 2008 to 2010.

Eppen was the head boys basketball coach at Burnsville between 2010-2018 and the boys coach at NRHEG between 1998 and 2007. He is currently a social studies teacher at Burnsville.

The Cadets finished 12-13 this past season under Jacob Sand. Eppen will be the school’s third head coach since 2021, including Sand (2023-25) and Khalid El-Amin (2021-23).