New York, NY - After 11 years with the Bloodhounds, Ryan Hyland has announced he is stepping down as the head coach of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice men's basketball program. One of the winningest coaches in program history, Hyland accepted a position to become an assistant men's basketball coach at DI Fordham University.

"There is joy and sadness with the departure of Coach Hyland," Interim Director of Athletics Brandon Fieland said. "It marks the end of an era as we bid farewell to him. He has been a cornerstone of the John Jay men's basketball program for the last 11 seasons. His leadership has not only brought on-court achievements, including the program's second CUNYAC Championship (this past season), but has also shaped the lives of countless student-athletes."

"His unwavering commitment to helping them excel and grow as athletes, students, and people has been evident every day," added Fieland. "We look forward to seeing what lies ahead and the impact he will make with the Fordham Rams."

Hyland was hired in July 2014 tasked with rebuilding the John Jay men's basketball program. He had just turned 25 years old making him the youngest head coach in all three divisions of the NCAA. 

His most recent season was a special one for the Bloodhounds. Hyland became only the second Bloodhound coach to lead the program to the NCAA tournament when they defeated top ranked Baruch College, 80-70, in February 2025. It was the school's second CUNYAC title and first since 2008.

"These past 11 years at John Jay provided me a daily opportunity to live out a dream," stated Hyland. "I've been so fortunate to work with amazing coaches, administrators, managers, and of course incredible players. Getting to see them grow during their time at John Jay into the men that they are now has truly been special.

An heartfelt thank you goes out to Carol Kashow who took a chance on me and allowed me to fail, learn and build. Her guidance through those tougher times meant the world to me."
 
With Hyland at the helm of the program, he had taken the Bloodhounds to new heights. He ascended into second all-time in career wins at John Jay and orchestrated two of the biggest turnarounds in Division III, leading the Bloodhounds to a 17-win improvement from 2015-2020, and a 12-win improvement from 2023-24 to 2024-25.

"We will miss Ryan's leadership of our basketball scholar athletes," stated Karol Mason, President of John Jay College. "He focused on developing them holistically, as future leaders on and off the basketball court. Ryan will always be a Bloodhound. We wish him success in his new role at Fordham, which is the fulfillment of a dream for him."

Under Hyland's guidance, the 2019-20 Bloodhounds capped off the most successful four-year run under the same head coach in program history. Their 59 wins from 2016-2020 is the best stretch since Guy Rancourt led the Bloodhounds to 55 wins from 1999-2003.

During his time, the Bloodhounds won the regular season CUNYAC title in 2019-20, earned eight postseason appearances and reached back-to-back ECAC Tournaments in 2019 & 2020. The 2019-20 season saw the Bloodhounds re-write the record books as they won 20 regular season games and secured the CUNYAC outright regular season title with three games still to play. The Bloodhounds finished the regular season 20-5 (best since 2003-04) and 13-1 in the CUNYAC (best since 1984-85). They finished with their best CUNYAC win percentage (92.9%) in program history.

In 2020, The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced the 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, representing 30 of the most outstanding men's college basketball coaches under the age of 30 and Hyland was among the honorees. Hyland was the first Bloodhound coach and first from the CUNY Athletic Conference to make the list, which touts the country's top rising coaches.

"Ryan and I have known each other 15 years, been friends for 10 and family since 2017 when I first came to John Jay in my first stint as a Bloodhound," current Associate Head Coach David Muchnick said. "I've never known a coach so empathetic towards the people in his charge, so thoughtful of showing his gratitude, so detail oriented in his approach. This new chapter in his career is so incredibly deserved and the next coach of the Bloodhounds will have extremely large shoes to fill. I will miss sharing a bench with him but will forever be his brother. Congratulations, Ryan!"

In addition to the on-court success under Hyland, the Bloodhounds fostered an academic environment where student-athletes thrived. His teams were always regular guests at the President's Scholar Athlete Reception, which honors student-athletes with at least a 3.2 GPA.

Hyland's strong ability to recruit talented student-athletes had seen some of the best to ever play at John Jay walk into the Doghouse. Additionally, a dozen of Hyland's former assistant coaches had moved onto other roles in the basketball profession. 

"John Jay will forever hold a special place in our family's heart. Go Bloodhounds!" said Hyland

More information about the next head men's basketball coach to follow.

"We will now turn our focus to identifying and bringing in the right fit for the next leader of this program," Fieland said. "Coach Hyland has left the program in a great place, and we are abundantly optimistic about the program's future."