When Ryan Brock arrived at Loyola in the fall of 2008 to play basketball, he had no idea what the future had in store for him.
He has since obtained numerous awards. Brock became the first Loyola athlete to be named to the All Louisiana basketball team. He was also awarded the Newcomer of the Year award as well as being named to the All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team.
The biggest recognition he received could arguably be being named to the All Decade Team.
Brock arrived at Loyola after transferring from the University of New Orleans. There, he played Division I basketball in the Sun Belt Conference. He came to Loyola with the intention of playing for the school until he receives his diploma.
“Loyola is definitely where I want to be. This is what I love. I love Loyola. I’ve only been here for a year, but I already consider this my home,” he said. “If I can’t play here, I don’t want to play anywhere.”
During his time playing in the Sun Belt Conference, he noticed that it was not very competitive, since it was always the same teams leading the way. He says it’s a completely different story in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
“In the Sun Belt, it was always the same teams at the top of the conference every year, but in the GCAC every night and game is a battle. Every team can win conference,” he said.
Due to injuries, he did not get much playing time and his future in basketball was looking grim. He decided to transfer to Loyola after talking to Giorlando.
He arrived and immediately became acquainted to a new league, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and a new conference, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. He quickly became close friends with Torry Beaulieu, history senior. Both practice together and are very competitive.
“We’re tough on each other during practice every day and that helps to bring the best out of both of us during games,” he said.
“When we go against each other during practice we try to get the best out of each other, because when we get on the court we just want to make each other better.”
Not only that, but he had to adjust to a new coach in Giorlando and the coaching staff and to his new teammates, but he has been able to fit right in with the team and help them improve greatly from last season.
“It’s been overall a really good experience. Everyone here made my transition here really easy. We all get along really well, and winning made it a lot better,” he said. “I honestly didn’t expect us to do as well as we did this year, but we’re still not satisfied.”
Beaulieu said he is happy with his teammate’s accomplishments.
“He came in and made a dominant mark like he should have. He came down from Division I and everyone’s eyes were on him being a big time transfer from UNO,” Beaulieu said.
Despite receiving all these honors, Brock does not consider them to be significant if the team does not win the championship.
“All those are great, but I just go out and do what I have to (in order) to help the team. If awards come, they come, but they don’t mean anything if we don’t win the conference championship,” he said.
Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].
