Warsaw Community High School senior Kensie Ryman has committed to Grace College to continue her basketball and academic careers. InkFreeNews file photo by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – The family tradition continues, and Grace College is happy to see it through.

Warsaw Community High School senior Kensie Ryman announced earlier this month she is committed to continuing her basketball and academic careers at Grace College. The commitment continues a pipeline for the household, where her dad, Matt Dick, and mom, Nicole Ryman, are both Grace basketball alumni, Nicole still the all-time leader in single-season and career assists.

Maddie, Kensie’s older sister, is currently a sophomore on the GC basketball team. Jerry Ryman, their grandfather, was a successful basketball coach at Grace as well.

The Ryman sisters were both in the Warsaw program in 2017-18, but played varsity together in 2018-19, where Warsaw won 15 games. Maddie would go on to play for head coach Dan Davis at Grace last season, paving the way for Kensie to take over full-time as point guard for the Tigers as a junior.

An injury in the Crown Point game last winter caused Ryman to miss five games, to which Warsaw went 1-5 in those contests including the loss to Crown Point. Ryman was averaging 11.3 points and 3.0 assists per night before the injury. Coming back on Dec. 11 at Fort Wayne Carroll, Ryman would show her value as the Lady Tigers went 11-3 the remainder of the season. Her shining moment came against Elkhart Central on Jan. 28 in the regular season finale, where Ryman recovered a ball at half court and hit a buzzer-beating three to give Warsaw a 63-61 win in double overtime.

For her junior season, Ryman averaged 7.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per night.

Grace College head coach Dan Davis is ecstatic to have the sisters back together again. Kensie also joins former teammate, Kaylee Patton, a 2020 Warsaw grad, as well as class of 2021 commit Sally Mortensen of Perry Meridian, a team that has played in recent years at the Tiger Classic basketball tournament.

“Excited to sign another local player in Kensie, and excited to have her and her sister back together playing again,” Davis said. “I think Kensie is a talented combo guard. Definitely somebody that can play the point. She has a high IQ, and she is a great three-point shooter. She will be another great fit.

“Her toughness, she is a tough, competitive kid. When you break your collarbone and you come back in two weeks and play, that’s the kind of players you want. We want those kids that have that toughness in them, that competitiveness in them. The dedication and the sacrifice and the commitment they have for their team to be able to go onto the floor and compete at a high level.”