Since he was a little kid, junior Ryan Power has had his eyes on Brandeis. He might not have known it when he was a kid on the playground within view of North Quad, or as a middle schooler sneaking his way onto campus to goof around. Power’s skill on the basketball court led him to become Waltham High School’s all-time leading scorer, and he has stayed close to home to help the Judges to a promising start to the 2022-23 season.
"Ryan has everything we looked for as a student-athlete here at Brandeis University,” said head coach Jean Bain. “Not only is Ryan invested in his team, coaches, and Brandeis community but his entire family is invested as well. He is mature, selfless, and caring as a human being. He is the heart and soul of our team. We are fortunate to have him here at Brandeis for the next few years."
Power was a typical middle schooler who played sports during all three seasons – soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring – but when he started playing AAU hoops, he realized that that would be his first love.
“Once you start in the AAU program, it takes up a lot of your time,” Power said. “I played for the Middlesex Magic, a program that’s had a lot of success recently with guys who have gone on to the NBA. They’ve also had a bunch of guys who go to high academic Division III schools similar to Brandeis.”
While playing for the Magic, Power got a chance to practice with those NBA guys, like Pat Connaughton of the Milwaukee Bucks and Duncan Robinson of the Miami Heat. While facing players like that, Power honed his skills to help the Waltham High School team to a level of success that hadn’t been seen for quite a few years.
He made the varsity team as a freshman, thanks to a new coach who also happened to be Power’s neighbor and youth coach. It didn’t guarantee him much playing time, but he was able to experience life at the varsity level, breaking into the starting lineup towards the end of the season. As a sophomore, he and a senior-laden squad made the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) State tournament for the first time in a long time, winning a couple of rounds in the tournament. That year featured a large senior class, but the rising juniors – including a bunch of Power’s long-time friends – went undefeated as a junior varsity team, raising expectations.
They landed a home game in the state tournament but were upset in the first round, making the Hawks hungry during Power’s senior season. They channeled the hunger into a 20-5 record and a berth in the tournament sectional semifinals. Power was the driving force, averaging 24 points per game in 2019-20.
“Going into the year, I was just hoping to reach 1,000 points,” Power remembers. “Instead, I finished with 600 points that season alone.”
That kind of production helped Power set Waltham’s school record for career points (1,302), points in a game (51), and most career wins (56).
Power had had the opportunity to attend private school after taking their entrance exams, but was ultimately happy with his decision to stay at Waltham High.
“When I thought about it, it would mean a lot more to me to play for the city where I grew up,” Power said. “I wanted to have Waltham on my shirt, rather than a prep school where I’m just trying to improve my chances of playing at a higher level. It gave me the freedom to play how I wanted to play, with people I knew and had chemistry with.”
Thanks to a personal connection, Power’s decision to stay local for his college days, started during his sophomore year. Coach Bain, new on the job, had a great friend who knew Ryan and his family well. With a recruiting visit just down the road, how much time could it take out of the coach’s day to check him out? The two chatted after a game during that sophomore season, and the Judges’ recruiting efforts really picked up during his senior season.
“Tom Blanchard is a lifelong friend of mine,” said Bain. “His wife, Kerrie, is the cheerleading coach at Waltham. When they said I had to check this kid out, I listened to them. Once I met Ryan and his family, I was glad I listened.”
“[Former associate head coach Sean] Tabb came to my practices – that had never happened before! And he called just to see how I was doing, to talk about more than just basketball or Brandeis,” Power recalled. “That was really important to me, it made me feel like I was really wanted here. Our last game was in Lawrence, not really close to here, and they had three coaches there. It was really cool to feel wanted like that.”
Power knew a little bit about Brandeis, but only once he started looking deeper into the school did he feel staying so close to home would be a possibility. There are also Waltham Stroum Family scholarships available to city residents who apply to the University, which was a much talked about feature among high school students. Once he decided to apply and was accepted, Power ended up with a new challenge in his first year at Brandeis – COVID-19.
Dorms weren’t full, dining halls were empty, and practices were modified to fit the restrictions placed on everyone, but Bain, Power, and the rest of the team found a way to get through it.
“It was sometimes hard to motivate yourself because there was nothing we were working towards, no games to play,” Power said. “But the upperclassmen on the team did a good job bringing us in and making us feel welcome, even though it was an unconventional year.”
The chemistry they were able to build helped the team to a 15-9 record last season, with the Judges playing their way into the NCAA tournament conversation at the end of the year. Though their resume fell just short, there was a lot to take away for Power and his teammates, especially with a four-game winning streak to end the season.
“It was really valuable to have that kind of leadership from those seniors and grad students who had that extra COVID year of eligibility,” Power said. “There were a lot of times during the season where we could have given up. We had to stop practices right when we got back from winter break because of COVID. But we pushed through it to have a chance to make the tournament. It was a good season overall.”
That success has translated to the 2022-23 season when the Judges won their first six games for their best start since 2010-11. Power’s role has shifted from that of a younger player learning to an elder statesman on a roster that has just three seniors and nine first-years and sophomores. Power has embraced that role, trying to model the behavior that was demonstrated to him by the upperclassmen he played with.
“I’ve tried to let the younger guys know that they’re really important to this team, whether it’s on the court with plays, or off the court, with what the expectations are from your coach and your teammates,” Power said. “Making sure that everyone is on the same page, that we’re all connected.”
Power has jumped into the starting lineup this year and is averaging 7.5 points per game, fifth on the squad – though two players ahead of him are averaging 7.8 and 7.6 points per game. The team has played well as a team. Though they started the season at 7-1, “as a team, we all feel like we can play better,” Power stated. “We feel like there’s a lot of room to improve, and it’s a good sign of things to come.”
In terms of his Brandeis experience so far, Power wouldn’t trade it for anything. Although many of his high school classmates were anxious to move away from home for college, Power sees it differently.
“From my perspective, there’s a lot to learn from the Brandeis community, despite it being in Waltham,” Power said. “The people at Brandeis aren’t all from Waltham, they’re from all over the world, and you can still learn a lot from all those people and all those different experiences. Despite going to school in the town where I grew up, it doesn’t feel like it when I’m here.”
-- by Adam Levin '94, MS '21, sports information director