A career in football as a quarterback was unexpectedly killed after a
poor senior season at Middletown High School, but a professional basketball
career was born when 6’ 8.5” Ryan Fletcher decided to become one of Bob Huggins’
Bearcats. Now the 29-year-old has
returned to the Cincinnati area to settle down and raise his
family.
Ryan talked about his decision to retire from professional
basketball. “I did it for seven
years, and when I came home in May, I really didn’t know if that was what I
wanted to do anymore. I’ll be
turning 30 in April, and I knew my career would be winding down. Also, I had my first child in
February. I only wanted to go back
to a couple of places, namely Italy or Spain, and only if I got the right
amount of money. I did get decent
offers to play in both those countries, but my heart just wasn’t in
it.”
Fletcher’s professional basketball career could double as a season on
“The Amazing Race” television show.
Ryan rattled off the names of all the places he has played. “I played in Spain, France three times, Germany, Belgium, Dubai and the Phillipines three different
times.” He said he was well paid at
every stop.
With Fletch either emotionally or physically at every
stop along the way was his wife Sarah, who he originally met at Middletown High School. Both graduated from the University of Cincinnati and currently reside with their daughter
Avery in Liberty
Township.
Having a professional basketball career was the furthest thought from
Ryan’s mind when he entered his senior year as a Middletown Middie. Ryan talked about that senior
season. “I was always a football
player. Growing up in Franklin, football was the
main sport. Basketball was
something you did to stay in shape in the winter. Going into my senior year, there were
high expectations. I had a really
good summer. I went to an
Ohio
State football camp and got
the MVP of the camp. Everything was
looking really positive, and to this day, I can’t figure out what went
wrong. We went 2-8, and I got
benched as the quarterback about the sixth game of the year. I was moved to receiver and
linebacker. It just didn’t work
out.” Ryan received no football
scholarship offers.
As big a disappointment as football was, basketball season was just the
opposite. “Before I knew it, I
started putting up really good numbers in basketball season, and we were
winning. All the failure I had in
football changed into success with basketball. I went from wanting to play college
football to wanting to play college basketball. Before I knew it, I was being recruited
by everybody.” Ryan said he turned
down scholarship offers from Xavier, Ohio State, Indiana and
Wisconsin
among many others.
As a Bearcat, Ryan was part of five great Cincinnati seasons since he medically
redshirted as a sophomore.
The Bearcats posted a combined 137-29 record during that time. Ryan spoke about his career. “I didn’t see much playing time as a
freshman, but we went to the Elite Eight.
Then I hurt my hand and redshirted, but my third year I average about
twenty minutes a game. There were
three big men-Kenyon, Bobby (Brannen) and me. I was the first big man off the
bench. I started as a junior and
split time with Jermaine Tate as a senior.” All five Bearcat teams won Conference
USA championships.
There are a lot of fond memories for Ryan with one notable
exception. “We had that one great
year that ended with great disappointment when Kenyon broke his leg.” The Bearcats were 28-2 when Martin broke
his leg in a first round C-USA tournament loss to St. Louis. Cincinnati managed to beat UNC-Wilmington in the NCAA
tournament before losing to Tulsa in the second round.
Despite all the championships, Fletch will always be remembered for one
shining moment in Cincinnati basketball history. Ryan, using his quarterback skills,
threw a length of the court pass to Kenyon Martin, who passed to Mel Levett for
the game winning dunk in the final second of the game to beat #1 rated
Duke
University. Ryan said Bearcat fans still ask him
about the play he triggered in the Great Alaska Shootout. “As the years go on, I thought that
fewer and fewer people would ask me about it, but I get asked three or four
times on the golf course. ‘Hey,
aren’t you the one that threw the pass to Kenyon?’ They usually want the play-by-play and
the whole story of the Alaska Shootout.
There really hasn’t been a falling off of people who remember that and
want to talk about it.”
Life can draw people in many different directions, but Ryan still talks
with many of the old Bearcats. “I
see Keith Gregor and Bob Brannen. I
still talk with Jackson Julson and have played against Jermaine Tate a few times
overseas. I talk to Terrence Davis
and run into Rub (Ruben Patterson).
He still lives around here.
Corrie Blount actually lives across the street.” Can you imagine a driveway pick-up game
with Blount and Fletcher?
Ryan was recruited by John Loyer but was actually coached by Mick Cronin
and spoke about the present UC head coach.
“I was there for three years with Mick. He was my big man coach my junior
year. Mick is the definition of the
American dream. He’s worked his way
up the ladder. He was the video
coordinator when I first knew him.
Then he became an assistant coach.
He eventually became the head coach at Murray State and now has earned the job of
coaching the school he grew up rooting for. I know that he will get the program back
to where it was. He’s a hard worker
and knows the game of basketball.”
Fletch also knows the tough situation Coach Cronin inherited. “If there’s a tougher job out there, I
don’t know about it. I don’t think
it could have been any tougher for him.
The circumstances of who he’s replacing, the legacy of the program, the
talent pool left behind and entering the BIG EAST make this as tough a job as
anyone could have been handed.”
With professional basketball in his rearview mirror, Ryan
is pursuing a second career as a financial advisor. He is still working on getting all the
paperwork finalized but is looking forward to helping Bearcat fans and others in
handling their finances. Bearcat
Insider will give further details on contacting Ryan when they become available
some time in January.