Coach | Ryder Frost & Notre Dame Fit In "All The Ways"
In what ways does new Irish basketball commit Ryder Frost fit at Notre Dame?
“All the ways,” Frost’s summer league coach Mike Crotty says.
Crotty has coached plenty of shooters over the years with the Middlesex Magic, including sharpshooting pros Duncan Robinson and Pat Connaughton, who also starred at Notre Dame.
“Ryder's the best shooter I've coached in a Magic uniform,” Crotty says with zero hint of exaggeration. “Duncan was an excellent shooter when I coached him, but he continued to flourish and grow. He didn't have these kinds of opportunities coming right out of the shoot.
“Ryder can do it off the dribble, off any kind of action, certainly off the catch-and-shoot. I personally believe he's the best shooter in the country. He was the best shooter in the Under Armour Association.”
Crotty says the 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing was the third-most efficient scorer on the Under Armour circuit this summer despite 70 percent of his shot attempts coming from three-point range.
“It is kind of crazy,” says Crotty. “I guess it just means he shoots it that well. He's elite. Great mechanics, lightning quick release, same thing every time. Consistency and repetition are his middle name. He's just repped it to an other-worldly level.”
But the Phillips Exeter Academy star, who chose the Irish over Michigan, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Iowa and Virginia Tech, is more than just a shooter.
“He can get downhill off the bounce too,” says Crotty. “He's a great cutter. He's all of 210, super muscular, athletic, and he knows how to play the game.
“He dedicated his whole life and body to becoming a Top 100 kind of kid. He's earned all of that. With Coach (Micah) Shrewsberry’s system of ball and body movement, the way they play fast, the way they hunt and shoot a lot of threes, I think Ryder will fit extremely well into their system and have a chance to flourish and help the Irish win games right away.”
As soon as the Irish offered Frost back in May, it was obvious they were true contenders.
“I think the stuff that's appealing to everybody, right?” Crotty says of what Frost found appealing about Notre Dame. “Remarkable school, beautiful grounds, the history of it, the mystique, all of it. I think it connected with him.
“He'd been a very good student at a good public high school. Now he's a very good student at Phillips Exeter, so he was seeking out that combination of athletics and academics that not too many have at the level of Notre Dame. I think that resonates with him a lot as he's trying to search out the best place for him to pursue his studies and to pursue trying to win titles and trying to become an NBA player. “
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