Willen played limited minutes as a freshman before developing into a force

~ Notre Dame's standout accomplished the goals he set after his first year of high school.

Cathy Willen found a checklist last summer that her son, Notre Dame 6-foot-8 senior Ryan Willen, made before his sophomore year of high school.

The list, which she found inside his closet and has since placed in a scrapbook for him, included four goals that he wanted to prove to his family that he could accomplish. They were to play on the varsity team as a sophomore, to receive a Division I athletic scholarship, to dunk a basketball during a high school game and to make it to the state tournament with the Bulldogs.

"When I had found it, he had checked each of those boxes off," Cathy said.

Cathy and others close to Ryan emphasized that the time when he became especially focused on his basketball career, when he made the sport a top priority, was right around when he made the checklist. It was during his freshman year and the summer leading into his sophomore year.

Notre Dame senior Ryan Willen accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Lafayette College next year. (Kit Doyle)

Ryan grew both physically and mentally during that time period after receiving limited minutes on the junior varsity team as a freshman.

The summer before his sophomore year, Ryan grew about 6 inches, which helped him become a stronger and more complete basketball player. Plus, he was involved in a serious car accident later that summer that helped him mature, change his outlook on life and made him more serious about basketball.

"It was definitely the summer where basketball took on new meaning," Cathy said. "He always loved it. But he loved any sport he was playing in. All of a sudden, that summer I think it really was when he decided basketball was what he wanted to focus on."

Ryan -- whose friends call him Ry-Guy -- has remained focused ever since then, and he's developed into one of the top high school basketball players in Missouri.

The Notre Dame center, who recently was named a nominee for the McDonald's All-American high school game, averaged 14 points per game as a sophomore. His statistics only have improved since then. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds last year as a junior. And he is averaging 23.5 points and 8.5 rebounds this season as a senior, along with shooting 84 percent from the free-throw line.

Ryan Willen helped Notre Dame reach the Class 4 state title game last season.

He has signed to play basketball at Lafayette College next year after receiving a full scholarship offer from the Division I program last summer.

Ryan and his teammates will play in the Class 4, District 1 playoffs this week, attempting to earn a second-straight district title and state playoff appearance.

"He's a big kid who can step out and shoot it," said Jackson post player Spencer Goodman, who has played with Willen, but most recently has played against him. "He can dribble. He can get to the basket. He can post up inside. He's got a great all-around game."

Summer 2005

When Ryan was a freshman playing on the junior varsity basketball team, he did not start much and averaged just about three points per game.

Notre Dame's Ryan Willen grew about 6 inches from his freshman to his sophomore year. (Kit Doyle)

He was a 6-2 guard during his first year of high school. By the end of his sophomore summer, had grown to 6-8.

He knew he was developing the type of height and physical build that would allow him to become a better basketball player. And he was going to the gym more often and working with Bulldogs coach Paul Hale to improve his game.

His father, Reid Willen, added that Ryan also was inspired to improve his game after watching his brother, Bryce Willen, help the Bulldogs to the state basketball tournament the previous winter.

Ryan said his motivation increased even more later that summer -- on August 18, one month after getting his driver's license. It was then he flipped his Ford Explorer while speeding on the gravel road behind Notre Dame Regional High School.

The accident happened early in the evening while he was on his way to get some ice cream with three friends, including teammate Mark Himmelberg. He drove over a hill too fast and the sport utility vehicle flipped over once, skidded about 200 feet and ended up in a ditch.

Ryan vividly remembers everything about the accident.

"You feel out of control," Ryan said. "I didn't have any control of what was going on, and we were upside down. It was scary. I thought we were all going to die. It just happened in a flash. We were just driving and going out to get something to eat, and then all of a sudden we were upside down."

No one in the car was injured seriously because everyone was wearing a seat belt.

Ryan was fine, but Himmelberg broke his collarbone.

"It was pretty emotional," Ryan said. "When that happens, you've got to step back and take a look at everything. I started working harder. I started getting in the gym even more. I just started realizing that this is high school, and I've got three more years left if I'm lucky."

Cathy was worried that the accident would zap her son's zest for life, but it actually did the opposite.

"I think it changed the way he looked at life a lot more," Himmelberg said. "It taught him not to take anything for granted. And he became a lot more responsible as a young man, and I think it's made him a better person. He's become not only a better person, but a better teammate through it."

Becoming a more complete player

With the more time Ryan spent practicing at the gym, he started to develop into a better basketball player. Being 6 inches taller helped, too.

Hale said there was a noticeable difference in Ryan from freshman to sophomore year.

"He had a good, solid sophomore year," Hale said. "He did a good job rebounding, scoring inside and he's just steadily progressed since then. It was when he became a more complete player. When he got to be that size, he said, 'Well, I'm going to be a basketball player.' He really turned it on from sophomore year on.

"When your best player is a hard worker, that sets the tone for the whole practice and the whole team. He's not afraid to work on his own and put in practice time to get better."

Bryce said that Ryan always had been motivated to do well in sports. He remembers when they played basketball together in the driveway. He once was playing tough with Ryan, and gave him a bloody nose. Ryan just wiped it off and continued playing as though nothing happened.

"He always had the motivation," Bryce said. "He then got the height and the skill, and everything seemed to come together for him. Everything was clicking and he was going in the right direction."

Reid said his son spent numerous hours in the driveway shooting the basketball as a sophomore and junior.

"Somewhere in there, he understood that it was going to take a lot of work," Reid said. "He was always outside shooting the ball into the evening hours."

Ryan works on shooting and ball handling for at least an hour or two each day, and often stays after practice and comes in before school to shoot.

Himmelberg said Willen concentrated on his defensive skills and his shooting, along with learning to score inside. And over the past of couple years, Ryan has become a threat near the basket and from 3-point range.

Lafayette men's basketball coach Fran O'Hanlon said he likes Ryan's defensive skills, in addition to being able to play inside.

"That's one of the reasons we recruited him," O'Hanlon said. "He's a prototypical four man for us. Our four men have to play on the perimeter. They are almost like big guards. And they also have the ability to post up a little bit. The four man we have this year -- a senior -- who is really an undersized four man at 6-4, is probably our third or fourth leading 3-point shooter. So we expect to use that ability that he [Ryan] has."

More basketball in his future

Ryan is excited to keep the focus on this game while playing in college, where it appears he will have a good chance to play immediately.

"It's almost like he has to [step in right away]," O'Hanlon said. "We lose five seniors. ... Ryan is going to have the opportunity to come in and play right away.

"You always have an adjustment coming in to college. College is so much more physical, so much faster. But that's the projections that we make. But as a player, I think he's terrific. I know he's a terrific high school player."

Ryan has his college goals, too. He said he is looking forward to winning, and would like to help the team earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Lafayette is 14-11 overall and third in the Patriot League with a 5-5 record this season.

"This year they are having a [good] year," Willen said. "Hopefully, next year we come in and it will be just as good or better than this year, and each year we just keep building and building and building and getting better and better and get back to the top."