New York Times Features Ryan Wittman

At Cornell, a Player Stands Out by Blending In

By Pete Thamel
The New York Times
February 27, 2009

Ryan Wittman is averaging 18.2 points a game, which puts him second in the Ivy League.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — To best explain Ryan Wittman’s productive yet humble basketball career at Cornell, Coach Steve Donahue points to Wittman’s socks.

When Donahue recruited Wittman, the son of Randy Wittman, a former N.B.A. coach and Indiana star, he worried about the locker-room dynamic. Would the son of an N.B.A. lifer stand out? Would he wear all kinds of fancy gear? Would he act spoiled?

But as Wittman has emerged as a candidate for Ivy League player of the year, his career has evolved into a delightful paradox: he has stood out by blending in.

Wittman, a 6-foot-6 junior, never brings up his family’s basketball heritage unless he is asked. His teammates and coaches say they have never seen him wear N.B.A. gear, even those socks with the N.B.A. logo that are ubiquitous in the college game. Instead, he epitomizes Donahue’s team-first concept, which has turned Cornell, now closing in on its second consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament bid, into an Ivy juggernaut.

“If we funneled everything through him, I think he’d put up as good numbers as have ever been put up in this league,” said Donahue, who has coached in the Ivy League since 1990. “That’s not what we’re about. That’s not what he’s about.”

Wittman is averaging 18.2 points a game, which puts him second in the Ivy League. But he has showcased his versatility for Cornell (18-8, 8-2), which can clinch a share of the Ivy title if it sweeps games at Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

Wittman’s game has matured significantly. When Donahue got a commitment from Wittman after his junior year of high school, he projected him as a solid Ivy League player and starter. But Wittman had an impressive season as a senior and drew some suitors from the Big Ten. He never wavered in his decision despite the lure of college basketball’s bright lights.

“To be quite honest, I couldn’t be happier here,” Wittman said. “It’s been an unbelievable experience. Not just the winning. It’s the group of guys we have here. We’re all best friends and all hang out together.”

Since being fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in December, Randy Wittman has been able to follow his son’s career much more closely. Although he had always watched Cornell’s games — live, on the Internet or on video sent by the coaching staff — he will catch at least seven regular-season games in person this season.

Randy Wittman and Donahue went over X’s and O’s for three hours on his son’s recruiting visit, getting so caught up that at one point he said to Donahue, “Where’s Ryan?”

“I don’t know what I’d be doing if I didn’t have this outlet,” Randy Wittman said. “Obviously, as a player and a coach, I had 25 straight years in the league. This is the first time I’ve had downtime in the middle of the season.”

When Randy Wittman would tell Ryan about how he’d shovel his driveway to shoot baskets in the winter, Ryan would say that winters in Minnesota were much colder than the ones his father had in Indiana.

But the father’s pushing has led to the son’s progression into a complete player. And in college Ryan Wittman has gone from being a standstill jump shooter to a player who can create his own shot and open looks for his teammates.

Randy Wittman said that while he got to play at Indiana and win the national championship, his son has soaked up high-caliber basketball and an Ivy League education.

“The thing that’s most enjoyable for my wife and myself is that when your kid goes off to college, the No. 1 thing is that you want them to enjoy the experience,” Randy Wittman said. “Ryan has no regrets and has put himself in position that he’s going to look back and be glad he chose this.”

Donahue has had to deal with the inevitable challenges confronting a defending champion. He said he believes that the Big Red is better this season than last, even though Cornell has lost two Ivy games (with four to go) this year and was undefeated last year.

“Teams are playing us harder, playing us every possession,” Donahue said. “It’s a huge challenge. I think we’re handling it fine. You can’t expect to go through the league like we did last year.”

The Big Red has also leaned on Wittman because of early-season injuries to guards Adam Gore and Louis Dale. Gore was second-team All-Ivy last year and Dale was the league’s player of the year.

Wittman averaged 27.3 points against Syracuse, Indiana and Minnesota. After losing to Stanford, 77-53, in the N.C.A.A. tournament last year, the Big Red hopes for a better showing if it reaches the tournament again.

“We’re a much more experienced and confident team,” the junior forward Jon Jaques said. “After playing with Syracuse and Minnesota, we know we can do it. We just have to finish it off.”

Wittman did hit a lull this season in Ivy play; his innate unselfishness led to passive play and some mediocre games. But with Wittman back on track, and with Dale and Gore back on the court and the 7-footer Jeff Foote, a St. Bonaventure transfer, playing well, Cornell is a complete team. And it is playing with the exact traits that Wittman has not shown in his career: swagger and arrogance.

“I think last year maybe we were a little happy to be there,” Wittman said of the N.C.A.A. tournament. “I think this year we’d bring a different attitude.”