The final seconds were ticking off the clock and Clovis East got the ball one last time. This time, Ryan found a spot just beyond the 3-point line to the left of the key. He got a pass, and turned to shoot.
The noisy gym quieted for a split second as the ball seemed to hang in the air forever.
It swished through, the way it did so many times in the driveway in front of his house.
“Nothing but net,” he exclaimed.
The buzzer sounded as Ryan ran joyously toward his bench, attempting to chest butt a teammate in celebration.
In the stands, Justin tried to scream, but nothing came out. He wasn’t alone. Grown men and women hugged each other and cried.
The kid who wouldn’t take no for an answer could now say he was a player, too.
“All the parents were bawling, and the students were too,” Amundsen said. “My coaching staff all had tears in their eyes. It was an unbelievable moment.”
It wasn’t over yet. As the teams shook hands, two football players grabbed Ryan and hoisted him on their shoulders. He held his arms high in celebration, a big grin on his face, as they carried him on a victory lap around the gymnasium.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before and I probably never will,” Amundsen said. “He’ll be my example the rest of my life as a coach.”
Word traveled quickly about Ryan’s shot. He was on the front page of the Fresno Bee. Local TV replayed his shot again and again.
The attention has been a bit overwhelming, but his mother says he has handled it well. He makes sure he looks a visitor in the eye when he talks about it.
“It’s about showing the love,” he said.
The entire Central Valley has shown its love to Ryan, too. He’s not really sure what it all means, but he knows he’s been accepted.
“You can see how he’s kind of trying to figure it out. I don’t know if he fully comprehends what is going on,” said his special education teacher, A.J. Blackburn. “His ability to process how huge this has become isn’t quite there. With disabilities you don’t understand abstract concepts. They need to be concrete. He understands what he did was important, but doesn’t truly understand why.”
Ryan’s future is uncertain. He walked with other students at graduation, but the special education kids don’t get diplomas. He had never had a date, but recently worked up the courage to ask a member of the girls’ basketball team to the prom.
He’s thinking of trying to be the team manager at Fresno City College, and wants to have a career in sports. He memorizes statistics and can tell you how every member of the 49ers did last year.
“My dreams now are to be a sports analyst,” he says. “I know so much and people say I’m good at it.”
That dream will be harder to achieve than hitting a 3-pointer.
“It’s going to be a tough transition from this sheltered place called high school,” Blackburn said. “Eventually I envision Ryan to be for the most part independent with some counseling. He will always need some assistance, but once he gets in a routine he will be able to live a life much like the rest of us.”
Whatever happens, they can’t take away the moment that brought a school together and made a town proud. They can’t take away the shot that made Ryan a hero.
“He’s a guy who tries more than most people ever do,” Pulliam said. “He’s probably put in twice the work and gotten half the results of anyone else. But he gives others like him hope that there might be a moment in life for them, too, in some way.”
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