Basketball
Favorite athlete: Tyrese Maxey
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was my eighth grade travel basketball team. I had a lot of fun with my teammates and Justin Baxter as the coach.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My teammate threw the ball up in the air with three seconds left and it hit the roof. The other team then got the ball and almost hit a buzzer beater to win the game.
Music on playlist: 80s music
Future plans: I plan on becoming a basketball manager in college and possibly coach in my future.
Words to live by: “No regrets”
One goal before turning 30: One goal I have before I turn 30 is to have an established and stable job out of college and be successful in whatever career I go into.
One thing people don’t know about me: I have been to the smallest country in the world.
By Mary Jane Souder
Brendan Ryan’s story could read like every other story of a reserve who gets it right. And in many ways, it does.
The Pennsbury senior averages only 3-5 minutes playing time a game, and while he’d love to see more, he doesn’t complain. According to his coach, he’s a positive addition to the team. Ryan is also an avid student of the game.
“I look at his Hudl account and see how much he watches film,” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “The other guys pale in comparison because there’s rarely a time that I look on the Hudl log, and I don’t see him having 90-plus minutes on a particular scout that we have, and that’s just him taking the time to focus on it.
“He’s preparing like he’s a starter, and I think that just goes back to the kind of kid he is.”
The fact that he sees limited action doesn’t factor into the equation for Ryan.
“I like to be prepared personally,” he said. “I like to know what’s going to happen, who I will guard if I get in the game.
“I like to know what the other team is going to do because you can win by a couple points if you know the other team’s inbounds and things like that.”
When he entered high school, Ryan played for the ninth grade team, and the following year, he saw action with the JV team. As a junior, he was on the swing team, and this is where Ryan’s story differs from most.
“I didn’t bring him up as a swing player to varsity because I was going to play him,” Emme said. “I was doing it because I needed to get the right guys on the bus. Guys that are going to bring something to the varsity team that a 15th or 16th player aren’t going to do, which is be overly prepared, understand exactly what the game plan is, understand what we’re looking for in practice as we get ready to play opponents, and just be that guy at the end of the bench.
“He’s not the guy that’s going to be stomping his feet and doing cartwheels on the bench, but he’s going to be engaged, he’s going to talk to his teammates, he’s going to greet them when they come off with a coaching point or tip. He’s going to reaffirm all the things as coaches that we want, and that’s his greatest gift. It’s not that he’s going to ever lead us in scoring, but he’s going to be incredibly impactful in winning because of all the things he does off the floor.”
That’s high praise indeed for Ryan, who has his sights set on staying close to the game he loves as the manager of a large school basketball team. He has emailed coaches and programs and is interested in schools like South Carolina, UConn and Penn State, although he already has a position – if he chooses – at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“There’s an interview process, and a lot of coaches said they’ll get back to me in spring or summer,” Ryan said. “But I went down to VCU, I met them, and they said I could do it there. It’s hard to say no to that.”
Basketball from the beginning
Ryan played some soccer and baseball growing up, but basketball easily won out. From his earliest recollection, he was 
spending time in the gym since his father, Sean Ryan, was the head coach at Friends Select and then Bishop McDevitt in the Philadelphia Catholic League. He is now an assistant coach under Frank Sciolla for the Pennsbury girls’ team.
“I remember going to my dad’s practices and some of his games,” he said. “When I got old enough, I would shoot around, dribble, stuff like that.”
Ryan began playing organized basketball as a youngster and never stopped.
“He grew up in the game and just has an understanding of what it takes to be very good,” Emme said. “He has an understanding of the intricacies of things behind the scenes because of being the son of a coach.”
And what was it like to be the son of a coach?
“I loved it,” he said. “I think part of that is because I was around it so much, and I just developed a love for the game.”
Any pressure Ryan may have felt was not from his coach father or his mother, Alisa Ryan, but rather from himself.
“I think there’s always going to be pressure to perform whenever you get in the game because you want to win,” he said. “I try to just have fun because I know it goes by very quickly.”
From the outset, Ryan enjoyed the analytical side of basketball.
“Especially in the winter, there’s always basketball on TV,” he said. “I’m always watching, analyzing the game, and it’s the same thing on the bench – just analyzing what’s going on and trying to help my teammates adjust to what’s going on in the game.”
Ryan arrived on the high school scene the same year Emme took over the program.
“He was the guy on the ninth grade team that we didn’t know how much he would play, but then he became incredibly valuable because of his intelligence and because of his mind,” the Falcons’ coach said. “I think his best skill is he’s an excellent shooter. I think that’s a skill developed from being the son of a coach.
“He grew up in the game and just has an understanding of what it takes to be very good. He has an understanding of the intricacies of things behind the scenes because of being the son of a coach.”
This year’s Pennsbury squad is 7-1 after eight games, and Emme acknowledged the significance of having Ryan as part of this year’s success story.
“Everything is about being unselfish, and he is the definition of being unselfish,” Emme said. “He’s a senior that plays 3-5 minutes, and I’ll never hear a peep about playing time. I’ll never hear a peep about – when’s it my turn.
“This is a kid that for four years has nothing but kept his head down, stayed focused and did all the other stuff. Now we try to reward him with minutes where we can, and he’s done a very nice job when he’s been on the floor being a connective player.”
Perhaps no one better understands the value of a player like Ryan than Pennsbury girls’ coach Frank Sciolla.
“It’s impossible to succeed without a player like Brendan, and you simply will not have a championship level team without someone like him who is willing to sacrifice in the fashion that he does,” said the veteran coach, who has won his share of championships. “Brendan has maximized every physical tool that he has, and he augments his game with his intelligence. He serves as a consigliere for the younger players who are talented but at times have to deal with the ups and downs of emotions.
“It’s doubtful that anyone watches more tape than him, and every time he gives me a preview of their upcoming opponent, he is exactly right about them. He even watches all of our videotape and has a really good idea of what we are facing and how we are playing.”
When he steps on the court for the Falcons, Ryan will do whatever the team needs.
“He won’t turn the ball over, and he has the ability to stretch the floor with his shooting,” Sciolla said. “He has a sense of poise about him that gives him a level of dependability that coaches can trust. He’s absolutely someone that I would feel comfortable with on the floor late in the game because I know he would execute what we were trying to do, and one of his true skills is he has the ability to move the ball.
“The ball doesn’t stick when it hits his hands, and he often is the person that makes the pass before the pass, and since he doesn’t need shots, he’s one of those guys who’s really good in terms of plus/minus while he’s out on the floor because of that dependability.”
A future in the game
An excellent student, Ryan is a member of the National Honor Society with plans to major in sports management or, if that major is unavailable, business.
One thing is certain, Ryan plans to stay involved in basketball.
“Brendan’s going to be part of a college basketball program in some managerial capacity,” Emme said. “I could see him being a coach one day just because of his intelligence because of how well he expresses the game and how he sees the game.”
Ryan – who has worked at Pennsbury’s basketball clinics and camps – acknowledges that coaching will be part of his future, but for now, he and his Falcon teammates have some business to take care of on the basketball court.
“I’m sure there are times where he would like to play more, but I think that there’s going to be some moments this year where he’s really needed because of that senior leadership,” Sciolla said. “And it makes him valuable even more so than a younger player who might be perceived as having more upside.
“And the best part of Brendan is that he understands that, and he wants to be a coach, and I think he has a chance to be a really good one. It makes sense because his father (Sean) is a longtime coach, and his father has an incredible ability to look at the bright side of things and frame perspective in a way that vacillates from comforting to almost shocking in today’s world. His father could teach classes on handling things with class in the stands.”
It's a safe bet Ryan will be taking similar traits to the sidelines as a coach someday as well.
