St. John Fisher University Athletics

Ralph Damerell joined the St. John Fisher women’s basketball program as an assistant coach before the 2025-26 season. 

Damerell, who has more than 30 years of basketball coaching experience, came to Fisher after spending 12 years as an assistant for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s women’s basketball program. 

RIT won a Liberty League championship and reached the NCAA Division III Tournament three times with Damerell on staff. The Tigers won a program record 23 games (23-7) and beat the University of New England and The College of New Jersey en route to the NCAA Sweet 16 during the 2017-18 season.

Damerell was the girls' varsity basketball coach at Brighton High School from 2003-2012 and the boys' varsity coach at Pembroke High School from 1982-1985. He assisted with the boys' and girls' varsity basketball programs at Wayland-Cohocton High School from 1986-2000. 

Damerell spent one season (1996-97) as the men's basketball assistant coach at Alfred State College.

Damerell holds a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in education from the University of Buffalo and worked as a social studies teacher for 33 years in four districts. He retired from teaching at Brighton High School in 2012.