Running With the Opportunity
by Phil Kasiecki
PROVIDENCE – He says that his coach “gave me the opportunity and I tried to take it and run with it.”
That’s certainly one way of describing Ryan Gomes’ illustrious career at Providence College, which is coming to a close. Tuesday night was his last home game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, where Gomes added 23 points to his school record career total as the Friars beat St. John’s. The sparse crowd did no justice to one of the finest young men in college basketball, though it was largely because the students were on break. Perhaps the idea was to make the end seem a little like the beginning.
Gomes came to the school with little fanfare. The native of Waterbury, Connecticut was nobody’s pick to be an All-American, and at first he was carrying some extra weight on his body. In fact, the Friars were originally going to redshirt him during his freshman year. He always showed the potential to score prior to the college level, but no one, including head coach Tim Welsh, ever imagined he would finish his career as the all-time leading scorer of the storied Big East school. Gomes accomplished the feat on February 23 when he scored 19 points in a 67-54 win at Seton Hall, passing Jimmy Walker on the all-time scoring list. He is also the first player in the program’s history to score over 2,000 points (2,118) and grab over 1,000 rebounds (1,020) and just the sixth Big East player to do it.
“With all of our players, the type of player we get are hopefully diamonds in the rough; you hope they work, have a good attitude, and become contributors to a winning program,” said Welsh. “It’s up to them in a lot of ways, with how hard they work every day. That’s what he did. He made himself a player.”
Gomes made himself a player by being the hardest-working player around. He didn’t just go all-out in practices and games; Welsh recalls all the times that he would come to the office and watch tape with the coaches and get into the intricacies of the game. He’s a student of the game and has been for as long as he’s played, having studied what players at the college level and in the NBA do to be effective. The veterans he played with in his early years also rubbed off on him.
| Scouting Report: Ryan Gomes |
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| Not spectacular and not a great athlete, he has solid all-around skills and a high basketball acumen. His post skills make him almost automatic when he gets the ball down low, generally using finesse instead of power moves. He will draw fouls and is good at the free throw line, and he’s a good rebounder. His ball skills have improved markedly since he started college. While not a great shooter, his jumper must be respected, and he is an excellent passer and generally makes good decisions with the ball. He’s cerebral and is always getting better, and an excellent young man as well. Scouts generally say he is a late first round pick, with the intangibles to hang around the NBA for a good amount of time. – Phil Kasiecki |
“Just looking at (John Linehan) in practice every day, he’s the smallest guy on the court but he’s also the hardest working guy on the court,” Gomes said. “The things he did were remarkable, and I just tried to feed off his energy.”
All the scouting he has done will pay off in another way before long. Although he declared for the NBA Draft last spring, he didn’t get the first round guarantee that he was hoping for, so he returned to Providence for his final year. Now, he will be getting ready for the NBA, and he’ll be using his knowledge of the players not only to enhance his own game, but also when he goes against some of them.
“That’s the type of kid he is; he’s very cerebral, he understands a lot of things, he knows different players and what type of moves they have, and he tries to work on them,” said Welsh. “He sees what he can do to expand and get better. He just doesn’t talk about it, he goes out on the floor and gets better.”
After sitting out the first eight games of his freshman year, Gomes made his debut at South Carolina. He played 28 minutes and scored 15 points (6-8 shooting) and grabbed eight rebounds, giving them an inside scorer that they had lacked up to that point. That just set it all in motion, as he has started every game since. He would earn Big East All-Rookie honors his freshman year, and just kept getting better.
Last year, it all came together. The Friars were ranked for a good portion of the season, and Gomes’ star was rising as that happened. They were even in position to compete for the Big East regular season title before they began what would become a four-game, season-ending losing streak. Gomes was a first-team All-American.
This season hasn’t been a dream season, but Gomes has been solid once again. He carried the Friars into the final four of the Preseason NIT and has been among the Big East’s scoring and rebounding leaders all season long. He had 26 points on Saturday as the Friars tried to play spoiler with Georgetown’s NCAA Tournament hopes, picking up a 68-65 win in Washington, D.C. The Friars have struggled after losing several key players from last season’s team and having to rely on freshmen to play a lot of minutes, and injuries haven’t helped. The team’s struggles haven’t affected him save for wishing the team could have a few more wins – and they’ve certainly had their chances, as 12 of their 16 losses have been by nine points or less.
“He’s had a better year than last year, and I hope it doesn’t get lost in the fact that we haven’t had a great season,” said Welsh. “He hasn’t complained and just moves ahead. He’s still having fun, he’s enjoying himself, he likes the leadership role.”
Gomes had a similar reaction to not getting the first round guarantee last year. He let the process be a learning experience, was ready to work, and has continued to surge ahead. In many ways, that resembles his own life and how he often speaks of things. Intelligent and far from being star-struck, Gomes is friendly, thoughtful and has life plans after basketball. He not only ran with his opportunity to play basketball, but to enjoy college, as he’s enjoyed his four years at the school. Welsh recalls how Gomes would drive back to Waterbury during the summer months to take care of his little brother, allowing his mother to work a second job.
“He’s a down-to-earth kid, he hasn’t changed, and that’s the nicest quality about him,” said Welsh. “He’s adjusted to and accepted all the responsibility that comes with being the best player not only on his team, but an All-American, and he’s handled it very, very well. He’s great for college basketball, because he came back, he’s a great kid, he’s friendly with the fans, he’s a great person on campus. He’s as nice to the managers and the people that work in the building as he is to myself or Donnie McGrath or anyone else on campus.”
Gomes came out of Tuesday’s game in the final minute, and he certainly wasn’t subtle. He took off his sneakers and left them on the court as freshman Charlie Burch came in for him and got a rousing ovation from the crowd. Welsh had no idea what it was all about, but Gomes said that he got the idea from assistant coach Bob Walsh as a somewhat original way to leave.
“I left everything out there,” Gomes said. “It all started four years ago, and I just want to be remembered by something.”
The Providence faithful, as well as fans of college basketball, will certainly remember him by a lot of things, not just his final actions on the Dunkin’ Donuts Center hardwood.
