Recruitment With Miami Went Quickly For Ridley

Cooper Ridley OF / 1B / Archbishop Moeller, OH / 2025

CINCINNATI - The recruiting process with Miami went quickly for Cooper Ridley.

“The coach reached out to me out of the blue a little over a month ago,” the Moeller junior related. “He said he saw me on social media and wanted me to come to a 12-kid prospect camp to see me in person. A week later I visited and they offered on the visit. Three days later I committed.”

The camp proved memorable for Ridley.

“I felt the coaches were specializing in getting to know me,” Ridley explained. “It was a laid back environment. I love the campus, the field and the coaches. The facilities were awesome. I felt it was right for me.”

It was the first offer the 17-year-old had received, with previous interest coming from Ohio State, Wright State, Florida Atlantic and Ball State, where his father played baseball.

“I’ve always wanted to play college baseball, it’s been a goal since I was young,” Ridley said. “My dad played at Ball State and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. The work I put in paid off. Now I need to keep working. I want to get as far as I can.”

His father “was a big part” of making it happen.

“He coached me since I started playing baseball,” Ridley noted. “I hit with him every day, summer and winter. He was a huge part of my development. He was a switch-hitter so he’s been able to help me left-handed.”

Miami came away impressed with what the 6-1 170-pound outfielder had to show.

“(Associate head) Coach (Kyle) Trewyn likes that I’m a lefty bat and likes my speed,” Ridley noted. “He said my bat looks nice and smooth.”

Recruitment went well from the beginning according to Ridley.

“It started last year as a sophomore,” the third-rated 2025 outfielder in Ohio reflected. “I went to a few camps and coaches started to show interest. I posted in-game and BP clips on Twitter and reached out to coaches. There wasn’t much stress. I tried to stay mellow. I know recruitment is a rollercoaster and I tried not to get too excited. It would come at the right time. When it did, it felt great.”

Improvement was vital in getting the interest.

“The biggest thing was I’ve put on a good amount of weight and gotten stronger,” the 37th-ranked junior in the state said. “I’ve also gotten a lot faster. I was 7.1 last year and this year 6.5 Those are the two biggest factors.

“I did a little minor tweeks with my hitting and my mental approach also changed,” Ridley added. “That’s really helped me.”

Summer ball coach Jason Christian and hitting coach Patrick Jones are credited with improvement as a hitter to help the cause in making a commitment happen.

“Now I can go out and be me and not worry about coaches,” Ridley said of the relief of being committed. “I can go out and get better each day and look forward to Miami.”

It has Ridley excited about the future.

“I want to develop my game more,” noted Ridley, who carries a 3.86 GPA at Moeller and plans to major in business at Miami. “I want to go as far as I possibly can in baseball. I’m looking forward to meeting new teammates that will be a big part of my life.”

Ridley is confident he can be a major asset at Miami, a university located just 40 minutes from home.

“I’ll be a great teammate,” Ridley explained. “I want to be a leader on the team and give all I’ve got each day. I want to help them win the MAC. I want to do whatever I can for the program.”