Former Tar Heel: Cormac Ryan and His Impressive Development

Cormac Ryan had faced UNC basketball a handful of times before making his way to Chapel Hill, playing for Notre Dame in the ACC. Ryan's main skill is shooting, which attracted Hubert Davis (of course, he was a three-point specialist himself). When the transfer portal hit the summer of 2023, Ryan made the move to wear the popular Carolina blue color, leading to the many memories Tar Heel fans have today — voila, his performance against Duke inside of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Ryan's career featured three different schools: Stanford, Notre Dame, and North Carolina. GoHeels gave more information about his time playing for the three programs, which is added below:

"Team captain at Notre Dame in each of the previous three seasons • One of three Irish players to serve as captain in three seasons • Scored 1,587 points and made 287 three-pointers in 152 games over five seasons • Began his career at Stanford in 2018-19 (scored 14 points at UNC that season) • Transferred to Notre Dame, where he red-shirted in 2019-20 and scored 964 points (10.5 per game) for the Irish from 2020-23

• Scored in double figures 78 times with 20 or more points eight times • Career-high 31 at Duke on 3/9/24, which helped UNC secure the regular-season ACC title outright • Previous high was 29 vs. Alabama in the 2022 NCAA Tournament • It was the second time he scored 28 or more points at Duke (also in 2021) • An 82.5% shooter from the free throw line and 35.2% from three

• Entered the season shooting 35.2% from 3FG in his career and shot 35.4% this season • Shot better than 80% from the line in each of the last four seasons • Made a three in 124 games, multiple threes 80 times and five or more 12 times, including his final game vs. Alabama in the 2024 Sweet 16 • Three-time Academic All-ACC honoree, including 2024."

Besides Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram being voices in the locker room and on the court, Ryan contributed to that role in a major way. The communication extended beyond Coach Davis and the coaching staff.

"Co-winner of the Marvin Williams Carolina Way Award, which honors the player who best exemplifies playing hard, being unselfish and thinking of the team first•Led the team in free throw percentage (career-high 87.4%), second in three-pointers (career-high 75) and fourth in scoring (11.5) • Top three best offensive ratings came in the last seven games against Duke, Florida State and Alabama

• Led UNC in plus/minus a team-high 10 times (UNC 9-1) • Only Tar Heel ever to make six 3FGs at Virginia and Duke • Made a three in 29 games and multiple 3FGs 22 times (UNC 17-5) • Season-high six 3FGs in wins at Virginia and Duke and five vs. Alabama • Scored in double figures 21 times (UNC 17-4) with a high of 31 at Duke

• Hit 48 threes over the last 18 games (2.7 per game) • Made 12 for 12 from the free throw line over the last four games • UNC was 12-0 when he made at least four free throws • First career ACC Player-of-the-Week award for his play vs. Notre Dame and Duke."

This past 2024-2025 season, Ryan played for the Oklahoma City Thunder's G League team, Oklahoma City Blue. He held numbers of 12.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while receiving 27.5 minutes of play. He played in 27 games and made 15 starts. And his three-point numbers stood at 35.6% (he made 2.1 threes while attempting 5.9).

Carolina fans will never forget the day Ryan seemed like a maniac on the court, facing all of the Cameron Crazies back in March of last year. But now he is off and facing a new segment of his playing career.

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