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Patience Fueled Ryan Dunn’s Unexpected Journey To The NBA

Originally posted on The Lead | By William Jing | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 11:59 PM ET

Six years ago, no one would’ve anticipated that Ryan Dunn would be one of the top players in the Phoenix Suns rotation. Coming from a baseball family, the 16-year-old had a long way to go to become a pro basketball player.

But with hard work, dedication, a strong support system, and the help of a growth spurt, he transformed into one of the world’s best young ballplayers.

My First Time Meeting Ryan Dunn

It was the summer of 2019, my sixth straight summer attending Long Island Lutheran High School’s (LuHi) esteemed summer basketball camp. Most of the camps’ refs were current or former players from the school’s varsity team. I recognized most faces, but Dunn was a new ref that year.

At the time, he came across like a regular high school basketball player. I stood at 5-foot-8; Dunn was not much taller, 6-foot-1 at best, and skinny with a baby face. At “lunch run,” when the refs and coaches would play, he didn’t stand out. He scored here and there, but would fade into the background most times.

Lackluster High School Trajectory

Before LuHi, Ryan Dunn attended Oak Hill Academy, the same Virginia school that bred Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony into stars.

But Dunn didn’t play on the school’s best team; he played on the worst. Cole Anthony, who also attended Oak Hill at the time, cited Dunn as being a skinny guard, maybe 5-foot-9, and unathletic. So while the names of Oak Hill and LuHi may fool people into thinking he was a prodigy, he was anything but.

In February of 2020, I saw him again at an AAU tryout he was helping out at. He towered over me, standing at 6-foot-4 by then, but still struggled to gain Division I offers.

He himself claimed on the “Run Your Race” podcast that, at the time, he would “sit in the corner and shoot threes” and that he “couldn’t play a lick of defense.”

After his senior year at LuHi, he chose to do a postgraduate year at the Perkiomen School, having received no college offers. By then, he had grown another couple of inches, but did not come across like a future impactful Division I player yet.

Even after his postgraduate year at the Perkiomen School, he only “ranked No. 95 on the 247Sports.com 2022 Prospect Ranking list.”

Patience was key throughout Dunn’s journey, and he would need more of it, but it got his foot in the door. He got an offer from Virginia, which he initially lost as he bided his time with his college decision. He was willing to walk on and pay out of pocket before a transfer opened a spot for him to receive a scholarship.

The College Rise And NBA Draft

In his freshman season at Virginia, Ryan Dunn averaged only 2.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. His sophomore season was when he made his large impact.

Dunn averaged an ACC-leading 2.3 blocks per game along with 8.1 points and 6.9 rebounds. He earned a spot on the ACC All-Defensive Team and caught scouts’ eyes with his defensive upside and athleticism.

At the Draft Combine, Dunn was measured at 6-foot-6.25 inches flatfoot with a whopping 7-foot-1.5 wingspan and a 38.5-inch max vertical. Despite concerns about his weight and offensive ability, he was far from the average kid I once knew.

The Denver Nuggets drafted him with the 28th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft before quickly shipping him off to Phoenix.

Early NBA Years

Dunn would rise to the starter role in his rookie year, which meant starting next to legendary scorer Kevin Durant. While the presence of such a player meant Dunn didn’t have to carry as many scoring duties, KD gave Dunn a firsthand look at his workouts and encouraged Dunn to shoot the ball, giving Dunn confidence and a blueprint for success.

While Dunn, at 30.6% for his career, is still largely inefficient from three, he is progressing as a player, averaging 8.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game on 48.8% shooting this year, all of which are improvements from last season. He has also put on muscle, now weighing 216 pounds.

Ryan Dunn may not be a star yet, but his career is a testimony to anyone with big dreams. Keep at it, because even if you have zero offers out of high school, it doesn’t mean your career is over.

This article first appeared on The Lead and was syndicated with permission.

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