Pike’s Ryan Conwell Is Officially On The Radar
- Updated: January 19, 2021
It’s official. Ryan Conwell has arrived. The 6’3″ guard has always been a great shooter, but this year, he’s taken his game to another level.
Conwell, a junior at Pike and a two-year starter, is lighting it up for Pike, who stand at 8-5 a little over the halfway point in the season. He leads the team in scoring with 18.0 points on 40% shooting from the 3-point line to go with 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2 steals per game in the MIC Conference, one of the toughest conferences in the Midwest. His break out game came last weekend in the Marion County semi-final matchup with #1 ranked Lawrence North. Conwell was at his best with 30 points in a 64-62 overtime loss. His hard work on his game is starting to pay off, and he’s clearly showing he is more than just a shooter.
“I feel like my best attribute is being able to facilitate for as well as score off the dribble, in addition to being able to play off the ball”, says Conwell.
College programs are starting to notice. He picked up an offer from Huntington (NAIA) in the early Fall after playing over the summer for EG10, Eric Gordon’s AAU program, and also grabbed an offer from Indiana Wesleyan this week after his blazing 30-point performance. Pike Head Coach Bill Zych, in his 11th year at Pike, sees the difference in Conwell on the court.
“Last year as a sophomore, Ryan thought of himself more of a shooter, but this year, he has improved his aggressiveness of getting to the basket and still being a willing passer”, Zych says. “He also has realized that he can be more of a distraction on the defensive end of the floor”.
Conwell has high hopes for the rest of the season for the Red Devils as they are viewed as a team that could potentially click in March. But he realizes it will take him stepping up even further both on and off the court with his leadership.
“I think I need to improve most on being more of a vocal leader as I feel like I lead by example well but need to also lead more and more vocally”, he says.
His head coach (Zych) agrees: “Ryan has always been a quiet leader on the floor. He was a ‘lead by example’ guy, a kid that works extra with the assistant coaches before practice and has a good work ethic in practice. This year, he also is becoming more vocal although, coming into the season, that was outside his comfort zone”.
The sky is limit for Conwell. Now that he has some offers under his belt, he looks poised to take his recruitment to the next level. Recruitment on up to the Division I level would not only not be a surprise but expected in his future. He has the talent and grades (3.5 GPA) to match.
