With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Ryan Wittman, who led the Big Red on 1 of the most amazing tourney runs in Ivy League history a decade ago. As a #12 seed Cornell beat Temple by 13 and Wisconsin by 18 before losing to #1 seed Kentucky. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ryan about the 10th anniversary of his great performance in the 2010 tourney and being 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in conference history.
You grew up in Eden Prairie, MN, where you occasionally played pick-up games with Kevin Garnett at the Target Center: were you ever able to beat him, and could you tell at the time how great a player he would become? I think “pick up games” is probably a little bit of an overstatement! I would occasionally go to practice with my dad when I was about 10 or 11 years old and 1 day I was shooting around on one of the side hoops after practice. Kevin came over and he started guarding me, kind of joking around. Let’s just say that he swatted away my 1st 7 or so shots before I finally got him to fall for a pump fake, if I remember correctly. From watching practice, anyone could tell that he was going to become a great player. He never took a play off even in practice and did every drill with intensity: you could tell that he wanted to win and to become 1 of the best of all-time.
In 2005 as a high school senior you scored 30 PTS/5-6 3PM in an upset of Braham High School (led by future SoCon POY Noah Dahlman) to snap their 65-game winning streak: how were you able to pull off the upset, and how big a deal was it at the time to break their amazing streak? That game was probably 1 of the more memorable high school moments for me and my teammates. I do not how much of an upset it really was: we had a pretty good team as well that year. They were a smaller school in the state that was ranked #1 in 2A, while we were a bigger school that was ranked in the top-5 in 4A. I think Braham only needed 2-3 more wins to break the record for the longest winning streak in state history. Our team was going to be 1 of the toughest tests they had so obviously there was a lot of excitement surrounding the game. The game was played in a smaller gym that was packed out into the hallways and the atmosphere was unbelievable. Besides Noah they also had his older brother Isaiah Dahlman who won Mr. Basketball that year and went on to play at Michigan State. The way we won that game was very similar to the way we later won at Cornell: playing together as a team, moving the ball on offense, and taking good shots. It was a big deal for us at the time just because of the atmosphere the game was played in and the fact that it was 2 very good teams going at each other.
In 2007 you were named conference ROY: how were you able to come in as a freshman and contribute from the start? I have to give a lot of credit to the upperclassmen and coaches of the team. It can be hard for freshmen to come into a program and figure out what their role is right away. The upperclassmen were great teammates, giving me the confidence and encouragement to be aggressive and play my game. Louis Dale was in the same class that I was and had a tremendous freshman year as well. At the end of the year we had up to 4 freshmen playing significant minutes so a lot of credit has to go to the upperclassmen for instilling a family atmosphere and allowing us to feel comfortable.
In 2009 at the MSG Holiday Festival you scored 29 PTS including a 35-footer at the buzzer in OT for a 3-PT win over Davidson: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that shot rank among your career highlights? That game was just a crazy game overall! We were up by 13 PTS at the half but Davidson made a great comeback throughout the 2nd half. We were down by 2 PTS with about 7 seconds left in regulation and Davidson missed a FT. We got the ball to Louis and he went coast to coast to tie the game at the buzzer and send it to OT. Almost the exact same situation happened in OT but Davidson missed a FT with the game tied and I was able to come down and get a decent look. It did feel pretty good when it left my hand…but in that situation from that distance sometimes it can be hard to tell. That moment is definitely in my top-5, especially with it being in MSG. It has to rank below our run in the NCAA tourney in 2010, and behind us clinching the conference championship at home for 2 years and having the fans be able to storm the court (that is an experience that cannot be explained with words!). The next night we beat St. John’s thanks to Jon Jaques (a senior who had never really played during his 1st 3 years), who basically won us the game with 20 PTS. That moment was probably just as special, seeing him excel like that on a big stage.
In 2010 you were named conference POY/All-American: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? The reason that winning those awards meant something was because we were winning as a team and we won the conference to gain the bid to the NCAA tourney. If we would not have won the conference then those awards would not mean anything. There were 2 other people on our team (Louis Dale/Jeff Foote) who were just as deserving and without them I would never have won those awards.
You graduated as the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? It is something that I have not really thought about all that much. Obviously it is a great honor because we were winning, and like I said before a lot of credit has to go to the other guys on my team as well. I think it is hard to realize how well we played off of each other: truly no one cared who scored or how we won as long as it happened. That mindset was a reason that we were such a good team and such a hard team to defend. It will be broken at some point and I hope to watch and enjoy the player who does it.
Your 377 career 3PM is a conference record: how big of a weapon was the 3-PT shot in your offensive arsenal, and what is your secret for 3-PT shooting? The 3-PT shot is something that I used a lot in my game but as my career went on I became much more than a 3-PT shooter. When I was a freshman I relied almost solely on the 3-PT shot but each year I tried to add something else to my game. Obviously the 3-PT line was something that I used to my advantage, whether it was actually taking the shot or using a pump fake to get into the paint and either finishing or getting an easy shot for a teammate. The key to being a good shooter for me was mostly practicing a lot, especially game-type-situation shots. 1 of the other big keys to shooting is having confidence. If a player does not have confidence in their shot then they will not be a good shooter. In my mind confidence is 1 of the most important aspects in being a shooter.
Take me through the magical 2010 NCAA tourney:
You scored 20 PTS/4-6 3FG in a win over Temple for the 1st NCAA tourney win by an Ivy school since Princeton in 1998: what did you learn from your losses in the 2008/2009 tourneys that helped you get over the hump in 2010? Our run in the tourney was an unbelievable experience. Our losses in 2008/2009 definitely helped us prepare for the 2010 tourney, especially because we had a lot of players who played in all 3 tourneys. In 2008 we ran into Stanford when they had the Lopez twins and I think we were over-matched, but we fared a little better the next year against Missouri. 2010 was different in the fact that I think we were much more poised in our 1st game against Temple. The 1st 2 years I feel like we came out with so much excitement and adrenaline that we did not play the way we normally did. Against Temple, I do not want to say that it was just another game because it is never that way in the NCAA tourney, but that was the way that we tried to approach it. We went into the tourney looking to have fun and play our game, and that ended up starting even before the game did. We were the 1st game of the day and they would not allow us to touch the balls to warm up until exactly 57 minutes before the game…so as a team we started doing layup lines with an imaginary ball!
You scored 24 PTS/10-15 FG in a win over Wisconsin to become the 1st Ivy team to advance to the 2nd weekend of the tourney since Penn in 1979: what was the reaction like when you got back to campus, and did you think that you had a real chance to upset #1-seed Kentucky? The reaction from the students/fans/alumni was unbelievable. They had been great all year but this was a different level. Seeing the support from alumni all over the country was great: people were sending us messages and wishing us luck. We also got to see videos from alumni and fans who had taken over bars around the country to watch our games and were crowd surfing after our wins: it was pretty funny!
You scored 10 PTS in a loss to Kentucky, who had 5 players become 1st-round NBA draft picks: where does that Wildcats team rank among the most talented that you have ever seen? We absolutely thought that we could beat Kentucky and we still feel that if we played well then we would have won that game. That is something that we still think about and it still hurts: feeling that we did not play our best. Going back to how great the fans were, that game against the Wildcats was played in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse, which was about 1 hour from our campus. The place was absolutely packed with Cornell fans wearing red, and even though we had played Syracuse 3 previous times in that building it was never as loud as it was when we ran out on to the court for warm-ups and when we made a comeback late in the game to cut their lead to 6 PTS. Kentucky was obviously a very, very talented team but they were also very young. If they had stayed together for a few more years then they could have been something really special. I think our tourney run has to be considered a success, although as a player and competitor my teammates and I felt that we could have (and should have) advanced farther. Looking back at it now, being the 1st Ivy team since 1979 to advance that far and seeing the impact we had on students/alumni of Cornell, we have to consider it a success and something that I will never forget.
You played for both the Celtics and Knicks in the summer league before signing to play professionally in Italy: how close did you come to making it onto an NBA regular season roster, and what is the biggest difference between professional basketball and college basketball? I think 1 thing that some people do not realize is how small the difference is between being on an NBA roster and being cut. There are a lot of good players who play overseas and then make an NBA roster. The difference between being an NBA player and a great player overseas is very, very small, which is something that the casual fan might not realize. The biggest difference between professional and college basketball is that when you are a professional player basketball is your job. There is no class to go to so there is more time to work on your game, shoot baskets, lift weights, practice, etc.
Your dad Randy played 9 years in the NBA and spent 10 years as a head coach in Cleveland/Minnesota/Washington: what impact has he had on your life both on and off the court, and what did you tell him about 1 of his former rookies who you played against in the Sweet 16 (1st overall pick John Wall)? My dad has had a tremendous impact on my life both on and off the court. I really admire the fact that he was not one of those fathers who forced me to play (or continue playing) basketball. At a young age he had me playing all different types of sports and allowed me to play whatever I enjoyed. As a basketball player he would always help me, whether it was shooting around and working out with him or having him critique my games and helping me become a better player. Both my mom and dad gave me tremendous support throughout my career and it was great having them follow me. Even though school was far away from home my dad was able to help me out by watching my college games online. After playing John Wall, I can tell you that he is extremely fast, which might be an understatement. He has the ability to have an effect on the game even without scoring (he only had 8 PTS against us), and that is something you have to look for in a PG.
