Now under Heredia, Rams boys aim high for hoops season

RIO RANCHO — This past spring, it was announced that the Rio Rancho High School’s boys basketball program would be changing.

After 16 seasons under the leadership of Wally Salata, the Rams have now turned to Steve Heredia at the helm.

Heredia brings a history of success with him to Loma Colorado Boulevard, but with December now just around the corner, it’s time to put the resumes back in the filing cabinet and for basketballs to hit the hardwood.

“It's been kind of a fast-paced roller coaster ride since the hire in April,” Heredia said. “We've played roughly 40-plus games since then, in the summertime and in the fall. So we feel pretty good, like we have a lot of upperclassmen, returning good leadership. We have some very talented underclassmen as well. So you mix that together, it poses potential for a good season.”

While there is a new name in the coach's chair, it will be a familiar crew for the Rams this season. Rio only graduated four of its 13-man roster from last season, with some new young talent entering the fray for 2025 as well.

Junior Noah Lovato and senior Cayden Richardson return after all-district honorable mentions last season, leading an experienced crew of upperclassmen.

Rio Rancho is coming off a 15-13 season in 2024, finishing 4-7 in 1-5A. It has been a middle-of-the-pack stretch for the Rams in recent years, putting some winning seasons together, but not advancing to the state quarterfinals since the 2018-19 season.

But for Heredia, he is looking at this season as a fresh start for the program.

“Just starting clean. I think just getting everyone in the mindset of, we're starting clean,” Heredia said. “It doesn't matter what happened last year, good, bad or indifferent. We're basically starting from ground zero and making our way up. Let the pieces fall where they may by, by giving equal opportunity to everybody that wants to be a part.”

Heredia enters his Rams tenure with 200 high school wins under his belt, accumulated with stints at Chaparral High, Centennial High and Atrisco Heritage Academy. He led Centennial to a 4A state title in 2015.

Rio Rancho’s last state title came in 2016, a year after Heredia’s win with the Hawks, as now they both look to get back to the mountain top after roughly a decade.

Rio will be thrown into the fire quite quickly, playing in the Artesia Tournament, the RRHS Holiday Tournament and the ABQ Metro Tournament in the first weeks of the season.

It will be a fight in 5A-1 and across the state, but that may be the exact type of play Heredia’s Rams are suited for.

“I think they're (the fans) going to see a variety of offensive play-making abilities from a lot of different kids. We have really focused on the defensive side of the ball in the half-court, and I think there's been great improvement there,” Heredia said. “You're just going to see a tough, grimy four quarters from us. That's kind of the expectation, just being relentless.”