Ryan Boatright

Ryan Boatright

Boatright (right) at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in 2010
No. 3 – Cedevita Zagreb
Position	Point guard
League	ABA League Croatian League Eurocup
Personal information
Born	(1992-12-27) December 27, 1992 Aurora, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school	East Aurora (Aurora, Illinois)
College	Connecticut (2011–2015)
NBA draft	2015 / Undrafted
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2016	Grand Rapids Drive
2016	Orlandina Basket
2016	Guangzhou Long-Lions
2016–present	Cedevita Zagreb
Career highlights and awards
NCAA champion (2014) First-team All-AAC (2015) Illinois Co-Mr. Basketball (2011)

Ryan Jamar Boatright (born December 27, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Cedevita Zagreb of the Croatian League. He completed his college career at Connecticut in 2015. Boatright was a key player for the Huskies' 2013–14 NCAA Championship team, as he earned 2014 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team honors.

High school career

Boatright, an Aurora, Illinois native, averaged 31.2 points per game as a senior at East Aurora High School and was named Illinois Co-Mr. Basketball with Chasson Randle.^[1][2]

He once scored 63 points in a high school basketball game against Proviso West, and another outing scoring 55 against St. Charles North.^[3] He had originally committed to West Virginia, but changed his mind when the Mountaineers signed another point guard just a day later.^[4] Boatright was ranked 74th in the ESPN 100 list of high school basketball players, and also was listed as 7th in the state of Illinois and 14th in the point guard position.

College career

Freshman year

Upon arriving at Connecticut, his eligibility was challenged.^[5] After missing the first three games, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled that he would have to serve an additional three-game suspension to bring his total to six games served due to "receiving improper benefits".^[6] Upon further review, Boatright endured a total of nine games under suspension.^[7] Nonetheless, he became a key player for the Huskies as a freshman, averaging 10.4 points, 4.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game.

Sophomore year

Following his return, Boatright along with backcourt teammate Shabazz Napier both rose to the national spotlight as they were highlighted as one of the nation's best backcourts, as they both averaged a combined 33 points and 9 assists per game, outplaying nearly every opponents' backcourt they've played. He kept the momentum up in his sophomore season of 2012–13, raising his scoring average to 15.4. He was named to the USBWA All-District first-team at the conclusion of the season.^[1]

Junior year

On April 26, 2013, Boatright opted to return to the team for his junior year along with teammates Shabazz Napier and DeAndre Daniels. Boatright played 39 of UConn's 40 games, starting 38 of them, averaging 12.1 points, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals and a career-best 3.5 rebounds. He averaged 13.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in the Final Four and was named to the All-Final Four team. He was one of four Huskies to average double-digit point totals in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Tournament. Boatright scored in double-figures in 27 of 39 games and in all six of UConn's NCAA Tournament games. He was second on the team this year with 61 steals, which were the most ever for him in a season.^[1]

Boatright's defense was a key factor in the Huskies' drive to the 2014 Final Four. He was named to the 2014 All-Final Four team and UConn won the national championship.^[8]

Senior year

Upon the preseason of the 2014–15 season, Boatright was named the preseason All-American Athletic Conference player of the year and was selected to the preseason first team. He was then added to the 2015 Bob Cousy Award watch list. Boatright was a unanimous first-team All-American Athletic Conference team selection in 2015. He hit a game winning three off a crossover against Cincinnati in the AAC Tournament quarter-finals as time expired to win the game 57-54, which many considered was a mimic of Kemba Walker's game winning shot against Pittsburgh in the 2011 Big East Tournament.

College statistics

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Boatright signed with the Brooklyn Nets on July 2 and joined the team for the 2015 NBA Summer League.^[9] In nine Summer League games for the Nets, Boatright averaged 14.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.^[10] On October 20, 2015, he was waived by the Nets after appearing in four preseason games.^[11] On October 23, he signed with the Detroit Pistons,^[12] but was waived two days later.^[13] On October 31, he was acquired by the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Pistons.^[14] On January 21, 2016, he was waived by the Drive.^[15] On January 26, he signed with Orlandina Basket of the Italian Serie A.^[16]

On July 30, 2016, Boatright signed with Guangzhou Long-Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.^[17] On November 21, Boatright signed with Cedevita Zagreb of the Croatian League after leaving China.^[18]

Personal

Boatright is the son of Mike McAllister and Tanesha Boatright. He has one brother Michael and two younger sisters Dasia and Deahjay.^[1]

References

External links

• Connecticut bio