Prospect Spotlight: Ryan Rachic (2019)
When you consider the Maryland and D.C. area, the places that pop into mind immediately when discussing high-level high school basketball include Baltimore, D.C. and Prince George’s County. Often times, Southern Maryland is thrown by the wayside because of the distance and smaller schools in that area. One of which is Calvert High School. Ryan Rachic will be a senior next season and after a solid junior campaign, is starting to hear from plenty of Division III programs.
“Rochester, York, New York Institute of Technology (Division II) and Catholic are some of the schools that have contacted me,” Rachic told Prep Hoops.
The 6-foot-4 guard is a pure shooter with nice length that will play this spring/summer with 17U Maryland 3D-Miller. This past season, he averaged 14.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and three assists per game for the Cavaliers, who finished with a 15-9 overall record.
Rachic’s biggest strength offensively is his ability to shoot from range off the catch. He counters opponents closely trailing him by utilizing shot-fakes and either side dribbles into a three, or steps in for a mid-range shot that he can make efficiently as well. Rachic has good basketball IQ and while he isn’t an elite passer, he uses pass fakes to make the defense react. From there, he makes the simple basketball play and as a result of his fakes, will find an open teammate.
Defensively is more of the same in terms of Rachic playing within his realm. He stays solid. You won’t see him gambling many times, but rather will keep his position and force his match up to shoot over him. That’s where his length can cause issues for shooters. Calvert played a decent amount of zone this season with Rachic as part of the backline. He does a nice job putting a body and getting position to set up for the defensive rebound.
I recently caught up with Rachic after an AAU practice this past week. Throughout the practice, he was vocal on the defensive end, something that can help players stick out like a sore thumb.
“It’s just something I’ve always tried to do,” Rachic claimed. “Now it’s to a point where it just comes natural for me and makes the game easier for me and hopefully for my teammates.”
Rachic excels mightily in the classroom as well. The junior carried a 4.1 GPA thus far this school year and has a 3.6 cumulative. He plans on being an engineering major once he gets to college. Computer, mechanical or aerospace are the three that he will decide upon declaring.