Virginia’s Ryan Dunn becomes role player among talented veterans

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Ryan Dunn’s parents never wanted him to be the No. 1 player.

Despite Dunn playing important roles at basketball powerhouses along the East Coast, regardless of which collegiate program he went to, his parents wanted to make sure Dunn could develop rather than being thrown into the fire as the go-to option right away.

Dunn, a Virginia 6-foot-8 freshman guard out of Freeport, New York, started his high school career learning from Oak Hill’s Steve Smith before playing two years of varsity at Long Island Lutheran. After graduating in 2021, Dunn spent a post-graduate year at Perkiomen, a preparatory school in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. He then had to choose from 22 Division-I offers, some of which he received as early as his freshman year.

Programs like Pittsburgh, TCU or Texas A&M could have given him a larger role from the jump, but UVA head coach Tony Bennett let Dunn and his family know that — as a freshman with a plethora of veteran talent on the Cavaliers roster — he might not log many minutes early on. Dunn was sold, and he committed to UVA.

In his first collegiate game against Monmouth in November, Dunn put up 13 points on near-perfect efficiency. He also recorded three blocks and two steals in 26 minutes, capping off an impressive debut with a fast-break tomahawk jam.

“I wanted to take that challenge to come out and play as a freshman,” Dunn said.

However, in his next four games, Dunn played a total of 24 minutes combined despite his showing against Monmouth.

“We talked about it. It would be like this freshman year with lots of ups and downs,” Dunn said. “Sometimes you might get 15 minutes, sometimes you might get five. When I come out there I try to do the best I can. Whatever they ask me to do during those minutes, (I’m) doing my best.”

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Growing up, Dunn’s parents constantly sacrificed their free time, money and resources to ensure that he was getting the necessary exposure to be recruited at the national level. When Dunn played for the New York Jayhawks AAU team, his parents drove him from New York all the way down to Alabama. But aside from his parents, Dunn also learned valuable life lessons from his brother, Justin Dunn, a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who is nine years older than him.

“That’s my role model,” Dunn said. “His work ethic is top-notch, so I learned that from him. So seeing his hard work pay off, it was very emotional, but great for me.”

Justin’s work ethic was just one of the characteristics that Dunn picked up on. Like their parents, Justin consistently made sacrifices for others, including his younger brother. Sometimes, when Justin was home from boarding school, he’d take Dunn to the gym at 10 p.m. until as late as 1 a.m, sacrificing his sleep, Justin said.

“I’m taking my brother to fulfill his dream, and I also get to spend time with my brother,” Justin said. “I’m willing to make that sacrifice. Sacrifice is a big word in our family.”

Those sacrifices came with many positives well before the brothers started playing sports on a national stage. The long car rides and the nights sleeping in hotels all proved to be major bonding moments for the family. Family has always been a crucial part of Dunn’s journey, he said.

During his time at Perkiomen with the team playing a national schedule against high-level competition, former teammate and current Wesleyan guard Sam Pohlman, referred to Dunn as a “team-first guy.”

“It’s easy as a top-100 player in the country to just go get yours, but he really wanted to do whatever it took to win,” Pohlman said.

Pohlman and Dunn constantly spent time together working on their games. The two would get shots up or hit the weight room together before and after practices. Dunn was always working at his craft, knowing that his sacrifices would all pay off one day.

At one point in the season, Dunn came off the bench at the request of his head coach Thomas Baudinet. As a four-star recruit, most kids would be offended to not start games for their team, but Dunn handled it well. Off the bench, he helped Perkiomen embark on a hot streak, winning enough games to qualify for the National Prep Championships, competing against programs like Montverde and Sunrise Christian. Although the team did not win the tournament, Baudinet said Dunn’s sacrifice didn’t go unnoticed.

“For some guys, (coming off the bench) would have been a big deal, but for him, he didn’t make it a big deal,” Baudinet said. “He understood it was about more than just him and a lot of guys wouldn’t have handled it that way.”