Damien Ryan (born 20 September 1979) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Born in Gisborne, Victoria, Ryan attended

Salesian College A Salesian school is an educational institution run by the Roman Catholic Salesian Congregation of Saint John Bosco (or Don Bosco), and one that uses his methods. Salesian schools are dedicated to young people in an educational and formative envir ...

in Sunbury, Victoria. After starring as a junior basketballer in Sunbury, he attended the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in 1997. Ryan began his NBL career with the Canberra Cannons for the 1998/1999 season and he won the Rookie of the Year award for that season. After only one more season with the Cannons, Ryan signed on to play for the Brisbane Bullets in 2000. Ryan continued with the Bullets for a further two seasons, included a stellar season in 2002/2003 where he averaged 18.62 pp

After this stint with the Bullets, Ryan left Australia to compete in Serie A (basketball), Serie A basketball league in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He initially played for

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

from 2004 to 2005 and then played for

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso d'Italia) ...

in 2006. During his time in Italy, Ryan was named in the Australian national men's team, the

Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. The ...

, in 2005 and 2006. In late 2006, Ryan returned to Australia and was signed by the Perth Wildcats to replace injured guard

Adam Caporn Adam Caporn (born 16 March 1982) is an Australian basketball coach and former player. He is the assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a former assistant coach at Saint Mary's College of Califo ...

. His signing was a significant boost to the Wildcats lineup as Ryan provided excellent performances coming off the bench. Ryan has been named as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the completion of the 2006/07 season. For the 2007/08 season he has signed with the Italian

LegADue Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with pro ...

(second division) team Vanoli Soresina. In August 2008 moved to

Aurora Basket Jesi Aurora Basket Jesi is an Italian professional basketball club based in Jesi. It plays in the second division Serie A2 as of the 2015-16 season. History In 1965, Gianni Rossetti (a television journalist for RAI), Carlo Barchiesi (current presiden ...

, in the same League. In 2010, Ryan will return to the Australian NBL with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

. In January 2011 he signed with Cimberio Varese.Varese, è arrivato Damien Ryan

References

1979 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian Institute of Sport basketball players Brisbane Bullets players Canberra Cannons players Perth Wildcats players Point guards Shooting guards Sydney Kings players Vanoli Cremona players Sportsmen from Victoria (state) People from Gisborne, Victoria Teramo Basket players S.S. Felice Scandone players Aurora Basket Jesi players Pallacanestro Varese players Australian expatriate basketball people in Italy People educated at Salesian College (Rupertswood) {{Australia-basketball-bio-stub