Charles Ridley played four seasons for the Wheaton men's basketball team from 1995-99 and was a member of two CCIW Championship squads for the Crusaders as he was a freshman in 1995-96 when Wheaton won its first CCIW Championship in men's basketball in 37 years. As a senior on Wheaton's 1998-99 conference championship team, Ridley was the team's leading scorer. He earned All-CCIW recognition in his junior and senior seasons.
A three-year starter at Wheaton, Ridley scored 1,546 career points, a mark that was ninth on Wheaton's all-time scoring list at the time of his graduation and is 15
th today. His 184 career three-pointers ranked third at the time of his graduation and is currently seventh on Wheaton's all-time list.
Ridley showed up immediately for Wheaton playing in 23 games as a freshman for Wheaton's historic 1995-96 squad that posted a 25-2 record, won the CCIW Championship, and competed in the NCAA Division III Tournament for a second year in a row. A guard for the Crusaders, Ridley was the second-leading scorer for the team in 1996-97 with 16.6 points per game, playing in all 25 games in his second season. In his junior campaign, Ridley was the leading scorer for Wheaton in 1997-98 with 20.3 points per game, earning his first all-conference award. He was again the leading scorer for the Thunder in his senior season of 1998-99 as he averaged 19.4 points per game. He made 68 three-pointers as a senior, a mark that was the second-highest single-season total in team history at the time and is 10
th today.
Ridley scored 507 points in his junior season and 523 points as a senior. At the time of his graduation, he was just the eighth player in Wheaton history to have at least two seasons of 500 or more points, and today that list contains 13 players.
Charles recalls, "Coach Harris and Coach Schauer always preached the importance of hard work and discipline. They challenged us not to settle for being average, but to strive for greatness. By doing so, they taught us that we honor the Lord when we use our talents to their fullest potential."
Charles earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education from Wheaton in 1999, and today he is an eighth-grade social studies teacher in Carol Stream. He and his wife Phoxay live in Warrenville, Illinois. The couple has a son, Davon.
