PG West: Moon's Falbo will head to Yale
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Moon's Ryan Falbo, driving to the basket Chartiers Valley, is a two-sport standout for Moon who plans to play football at Yale.
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It's easy to understand why Ryan Falbo wants to help Moon Area go as deep into the WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA basketball playoffs as possible. This will probably be his last season playing organized basketball.
Falbo, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior, was a starter and key player for the Tigers last year as they fought their way to the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game before losing to Central Catholic on a buzzer-beater.
This season, he is one of the team leaders and is averaging close to double figures. But basketball isn't his primary sport.
"If you watch me play basketball, you can tell I play football," Falbo said with a laugh.
He is headed for Yale University where he will play safety for the Bulldogs. He signed a national letter of intent last week.
While most of the attention Falbo received on the football field came from his play at quarterback, opponents recognized his ability to make plays in the Moon secondary. He was named to the Associated Press Class AAA All-State team's second unit as a defensive back.
"That's what I was recruited as ... a safety," he said. "I enjoy playing defense. I guess if I was asked to switch to quarterback [at Yale], I'd do it. I'll play anywhere they want me to play."
At quarterback in the fall, he was one of the bright spots for the Tigers, who were winless in nine games. He completed 65 of 160 passes for 814 yards and rushed 52 times for another 220 and four touchdowns. Falbo finished his high school career with 1,593 yards passing and 106 tackles.
It isn't all about football for Falbo, which is why he is headed for the Ivy League. He has an outstanding 4.55 grade-point average, is in the National Honor Society and is ranked No. 6 in the senior class at Moon.
While he has yet to decide on a major, he is interested in getting into the field of medicine.
Falbo committed to Yale in December and didn't waiver on his choice while the university searched for a new head coach. Tom Williams, a defensive assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was named the Bulldogs' coach in early January.
Falbo is the only defensive back among the 11 players Yale signed last week. Two of those -- Dez Duron from Shreveport, La., and John Powers from Hamden, Conn., -- are quarterbacks. Obviously, Falbo enjoys the challenge of combining tough academics with athletics. He said the new coach has talked about holding morning practices to avoid conflicts with laboratory classes.
"It is nice to get it out of the way even though I had verbally committed," he said. "It wasn't an easy decision. I looked at William & Mary and a few of the [Mid-American Conference] schools were interested in me.
"I visited Yale at the end of my junior year and I think that was the deciding factor. It came down to Yale and William & Mary. I don't think I could have gone wrong with either choice."
Now, Falbo can devote his full attention to basketball, which is a good thing with the WPIAL playoffs about to start. He has been providing the muscle on the front line for the Tigers.
"He's a very physical, tough kid and sometimes that hurts him," Moon basketball coach Jeff Ackermann said. "He's very fast and strong, just an athletic kid."
There have been games where Falbo's aggressiveness gets him into foul trouble. Ackermann said there have been times when Falbo has hurt the team by sitting on the bench in foul trouble.
"We need him on the floor because he is a leader and because he's a good athlete," Ackermann said. "He's a scorer for us. He's not averaging in double figures, but he's had some big games for us."
In Moon's 57-53 victory Friday against Central Catholic, Falbo scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. In a 58-57 loss Saturday to Hopewell, Falbo scored 14 points and connected on four 3-point attempts.
"If we're going to do something in the playoffs, Ryan is one of the guys who is going to help us do it," Ackermann said.
First Published February 12, 2009 10:04 am
