Ayers Playing Through Adversity

Adversity has struck junior Ryan Ayers pretty hard over the last couple of weeks. His father, Randy, was fired earlier in the week as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Two weeks before that Ayer’s Germantown Academy (PA) team saw one of their top players go down to injury. According to his coach, Ayers has handled the storm.

Ayers, the No. 69 player on the Rivals75, could have mentally taken himself out of the game with all of the distractions off the court but according to Germantown Academy head coach Jim Fenerty, the 6-foot-6, 190 pound do-anything player has taken it all in stride.

“It has absolutely affected him but you’d never know it on the court,” Fenerty said “The Ayers family is extremely tight and anytime you have something like this happen, a family like theirs will be affected. But Ryan has handled it with the came class and dignity that he handles everything else with. I’m extremely proud of him.”

To add fuel to the fire, Ayers saw his teammate Brian Grimes, a talented 6-foot-6, 195 pound junior forward go down to a season-ending hand injury. Fenerty said the team has “really circled the wagons around Ryan” since his father’s firing and Grimes’ injury.

“(Ryan) has stepped up even more since Brian went down. We’ve won our last three games without Brian and a lot of it has to do with the way Ryan has been playing,” Fenerty said. Germantown has gone 3-0 since Grimes’ injury.

Ayers is averaging 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists and has been a major reason behind Germantown’s 22-6 record. The team finished 14-14 last year.

“He is having a phenomenal year for us,” Fenerty said. “He’s doing everything but washing the jerseys at the end of the game.”

Fenerty said Ayers has played all five positions and has put the team on his shoulders since Grimes’ injury. It isn’t a big surprise to see versatility oozing from Ayers. As a freshman, he played alongside current NCAA players Matt Walsh of Florida and Lee Melchioni of Duke and picked up some tricks to the trade as a well-rounded player.

With the tradition within the program and having players like Ayers and Grimes on the roster, high major colleges have made it a priority to scout the team.

“Schools from all over have been in this year to see Ryan,” Fenerty said. Duke, Maryland, Notre Dame, Penn State, Rutgers, Villanova, Virginia and Wake Forest have all stopped by Germantown or caught them on the road to evaluate Ayers this season.

Ayers will have one of his toughest draws this weekend when Germantown takes on St. Benedicts and UNC bound J.R. Smith and UTEP bound Alex Galindo.