When the Crusaders of Brother Martin High School needed a 3-point shot to win a Louisiana state basketball championship, they didn’t turn to future NBA draft pick D.J. Augustin. They turned to his sidekick: Loyola business management sophomore Ryan Brock.
Brock’s finest hour came as Catholic rival St. Augustine High School defended a 47-45 lead on the floor the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., during the 2004 Class 5A title game. Iconic Crusaders coach John Lavie ordered Deuce Martin to shoot a decisive 3-pointer, but with 10 seconds left in the game, he missed.
Crusaders forward Mark Snyder rebounded Martin’s miss and scanned his passing options for another 3-point try. Both Martin and Augustin, an NBA rookie with the Charlotte Bobcats, stood guarded. Brock, however, wasn’t, and it was to him that Snyder rifled the pass.
His mind raced. Brock not only wanted to nail the shot to earn a state ring, he needed to, if he was ever going to stifle the hatred coming from St. Augustine’s student body, who considered him little more than a sell-out. Brock grew up off Bullard Avenue, a blue-collar eastern New Orleans neighborhood where many St. Augustine students live. His decision to attend their rival high school, the preppier, more upper-crust Brother Martin, was as popular as a Spartan deciding to volunteer in the Persian army during Thermopylae.
Brock flicked off an arching shot and nailed it, giving the Crusaders a 48-47 lead. St. Augustine frantically called a timeout. Brock embraced teammate Augustin and said, “This feels good, real good, doesn’t it?” St. Augustine couldn’t convert on their next possession.
“They were like a bunch of sad puppies,” Brock said. “So sad.”
Something special was born – Augustin, Brock and the Crusaders topped themselves the next season: a 39-2 record, a second-straight state championship and a No. 4 national ranking. Brock arrived this fall at Loyola after a frustrating two years at the University of New Orleans, a member of the NCAA’s mid-major Sun Belt Conference.
He redshirted his first year. In his second year, he broke a bone in his hand during practice. UNO went through three coaches in that time.
Brock wanted out of UNO’s instability and bench time. He withdrew, enrolled at Delgado Community College last semester to keep pace credits-wise, and personally called Loyola coach Michael Giorlando in search of a spot on the Wolfpack.
Brock poured in game-highs of 18 points against Carver Bible College Oct. 31 and 34 points against Southern Polytechnic Nov. 1 at The Den, will start in the position that belonged to Luke Zumo, the third-best scorer ever in eight decades of Loyola basketball. “Ryan has held his own alongside two of the best point guards ever in Louisiana,” Giorlando said. “He’s a winner.”
