In honor of NCAA Division III Week (April 7th-11th) and the 40th anniversary of Division III sports, SUNYIT will be spotlighting one senior athlete each day this week across the campus's video boards. Each athlete selected embodies the philosophy and spirit of Division III athletics, and has demonstrated outstanding leadership both in the classroom and on the field of play. For more information on Division III Week, check out the Division III Week page on NCAA.org.
Today's featured SUNYIT senior athlete is Ryan James (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs). Ryan is a three-year guard on the men's basketball team.
In just three seasons at SUNYIT, James amassed 844 career points, which places him in the top 15 all-time at SUNYIT.
He saved the best for last, leading SUNYIT with 16.4 ppg his senior year, good for 4th in the NEAC.
Always a good shooter but perhaps known better for his patented bank shot in earlier years, James turned into a marksman from long-range in 2013-14. The 6-foot guard poured in 65 three-pointers his senior year, connecting on 45% of them – tops for the Wildcats and 5th best in the conference.
James was named to the All-Conference 2nd Team for his efforts.
Off the court, James has excelled as a major in Business Administration, and will be named to the NEAC Scholar-Athlete Team for the third-straight year later this spring. He is also active as the men's basketball representative to SUNYIT's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (S.A.A.C), and helps out SUNYIT fitness coordinator Al Calogero at his work-study job in the Wildcat Fitness Center. The job suits him – James is known as an extremely hard-worker even in the off-season, and was consistently one of the best-conditioned players on the men's basketball team.
Said James's coach of the last three years, Kevin Grimmer, "Ryan exemplifies the term 'student-athlete'… he has been an outstanding representative of SUNYIT and the Wildcat basketball program."