Athletes of the Week: DeAnn Ryan, Quaker Valley/Kamic Anyang, Mt. Lebanon
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Mt. Lebanon's Kamic Anyang, a transfer from Michigan, leads the Blue Devils with 15.3 points per game, and is one of the Post-Gazette's high school athletes of the week.
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Last week: A 5-foot-4 senior guard, Ryan averaged 18.8 points over a four-game stretch that were all Quakers' wins, in the process clinching the program's first section title since 1981.
Check this out: Averaging a team-high 17.5 points, Ryan is leading Quaker Valley in scoring for the second consecutive season after playing at West Middlesex her freshman year and North Catholic as a sophomore. Ryan has opportunities to play collegiately but is more concerned with academics when making a college choice. A prospective medical school student, Ryan has a grade point average of better than 4.0.
What does winning a section title for the first time in 31 years mean to you? It's such an amazing feeling. At North Catholic my sophomore year, we won the section [title] and it was a really good feeling -- but it's kind of different at Quaker Valley. It's like it's unexpected.
What was better viewing -- the Super Bowl game or the Madonna halftime show? The Madonna halftime show. And the commercials.
Something people might be surprised to know about you ... I really love school -- more than I love basketball. I know (academics) is what's going to take me where I need to be later on in life. People always look at me as a basketball player but don't really know how I get where I am is with school.
Last week: Anyang continued his hot play for the Mt. Lebanon boys basketball team, which is ranked No. 3 in Class AAAA.
The skinny: Anyang, whose first name is pronounced Kam-eesh, is a 6-foot-5 senior forward and is averaging a team-best 15 points per game. Anyang is well travelled. He was born in Sudan and lived in Egypt for four years prior to moving to Michigan in July 2002. After attending East Kentwood High School for three years, Anyang moved to Mt. Lebanon last March to live with his older brother, Deng, who works in Pittsburgh.
Manute Bol was a well-known basketball player from Sudan. What comes to mind when you hear his name? He was a great player. I feel like he opened up doors for everybody (in Sudan).
Have you visited Sudan since you left? No, I haven't, but I really want to.
Your statistics have gotten better all season. How have you improved? Every day [the coaching staff] teaches and I love to learn. Coach (Joe David) really puts time into helping everybody get better.
How does the high school competition here compare to what you faced in Michigan? Every competition is almost the same. I felt like maybe the players are a little tougher here, but I've learned how to play that way better.
What do you like most about Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh is a nice place. I really don't like all the hills, but everything else is nice.
First Published February 10, 2012 12:00 am
