Albion College

Coach Saldana
Hometown	Albion, Mich.
Family	Wife, Ronda, sons, Joshua and Jacob, daughter, Jessica
Coaching History
2005-06	Pennfield High School, Head JV Coach
2006-12	Pennfield High School, Head Varsity Coach
2012-13	Concord High School, Head JV Coach
2013-16	Concord High School, Head Varsity Coach
2016-17	Springport High School, Head JV Coach
2017-25	Springport High School, Head Varsity Coach
2025-pre.	Albion, Assistant Coach

Rick Saldana enters his second season as assistant coach for the 2026-27 season.

During Saldana's first season in 2025-26, the Britons went 19-8 and earned the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament. 

The year also saw the emergence of Meghan Trewhella, who became the program's fourth MIAA MVP after she shattered Albion's single-season points record in just 22 games. She led the MIAA in scoring by over 150 points and became the conference's first 500-point scorer since the 2017-18 season. Trewhella ranked top 15 in Division III in points, points per game, free throws and field goals and was named MIAA Player of the Week five times while shooting over 50% from the field on the season.

Ava Guilford also won conference Defensive Player of the Year honors, marking the second time in school history Albion players swept the MIAA individual awards while also being a member of the All-MIAA second team. Guilford led the MIAA with 74 steals and was second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43). Offensively, she averaged 11.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game and led the conference in minutes per game (37.0).

Saldana brought over 25 years of high school coaching experience to Albion. Most recently, he served as head girls basketball coach at nearby Springport High School for eight seasons. Saldana led the Spartans to three Big 8 Conference championships, two MHSAA district titles and a regional semifinal runner-up finish. Two of the conference championships were in back-to-back years, with a 28-0 record in league play during that stretch.

Prior to Springport, Saldana was the head coach at Concord High School for three seasons and at Pennfield High School in Battle Creek for six. He also coached one year of JV basketball at each of his three high school stops.

For the last 19 years, Saldana has coached at the Michigan State University girls summer basketball camp — having taken his teams mixed with girls from different areas of the state and region to championship titles in each year. Additionally, Saldana was awarded the honor of being named the only Most Valuable Coach ever selected at the camp.

Saldana has served as head coach for the Michigan Premier AAU program for the last seven years coaching against some of the best players in the country. Many of his players have gone onto play at the college level. 

Saldana and his wife, Ronda, reside in Albion where he is a lifelong resident. They raised twin sons, Joshua and Jacob and a daughter, Jessica.

Saldana is a 25-year member of the MHSAA, BCAM and holds a USA Basketball Gold license.