Recruiting Report: Ryder Kirsch (2020)
St. Thomas More 6-foot-6 forward Ryder Kirsch earned all state honors in basketball leading the Cavs to a 20 win season. Kirsch sat down with Prep Hoops today to discuss basketball, football, recruiting, and Cavs. Ryder Kirsch has spent a…
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Continue ReadingSt. Thomas More 6-foot-6 forward Ryder Kirsch earned all state honors in basketball leading the Cavs to a 20 win season. Kirsch sat down with Prep Hoops today to discuss basketball, football, recruiting, and Cavs.
Ryder Kirsch has spent a season and a half as the St. Thomas More quarterback. At 6-foot-6 with a poise that allows him to lead Kirsch was named honorable mention all state in football, and then all state in basketball. Kirsch averaged 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game shooting 53 percent from the floor. The Cavaliers were 20-5 on the season and have high expectations for 2019-20.
“Our team returns all five starters so we have high expectations for next year,” Kirsch told PHD. “We will play a tough schedule again including Yankton and Brandon Valley so we are excited. We have really only one goal next year and that is to win a State title.”
To reach that goal Ryder has an off-season packed of individual workouts, playing with the Pentagon Schoolers, and playing with his high school team. The Schoolers are off to a great start this year building a 15-3 record over four weekends of play.
“AAU basketball has helped a lot in improving my game,” Kirsch explained. “Just playing against tough competition all throughout the summer has really helped. The biggest thing I’ve taken away from it though is the friendships I’ve developed with my teammates.
“Coach Robey has been a good influence on me and I really appreciate having the opportunity to have him coach me. Paul Seville has helped me big-time on the recruiting side. He knows all the college coaches and really cares about all of his players and helping them get a college scholarship.”
With Kirsch an important factor is choosing between basketball and football. Ryder was just at the University of Mary where he received a scholarship to play for the Marauders at the D2 level. Kirsch has also seen several other programs and visited other schools.
“I’ve visited Chadron State and U of Mary, and I am going to visit Black Hills State in a couple weeks. The U of Mary program really seems to be going in the right direction under Coach Joe Kittell. The camp was great as I got to scrimmage against U of Mary players and other recruits. I also got a good feel of what the campus is like. It’s a very impressive university.”
The one issue Kirsch has is time. There is only so much of it. Playing with the Schoolers, working out, doing academic work, working on hoops skills, working on football skills, hitting the weight room, playing with the Cavs in the summer, it’s a lot for a 17 year old. But Kirsch handles it well.
“It has been tough and doesn’t leave much time for anything else,” Ryder said of his busy schedule. “Luckily I love both sports and they complement each other. I feel being a quarterback has really helped me see the court and has helped me become a better leader in basketball.
“I’ve talked to several college basketball and football players who only played and focused on one sport in high school. They all told me they regret they didn’t play multiple sports when they had the chance.”
Football practice is only about six or seven weeks away. Basketball with the Schoolers continues soon. Make sure to see Kirsch, Max Nielson, Andrew Bergan, Boden Skunberg, and the rest of the Schoolers this July as the team is full of prospects.