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'Big kid' Fitzgerald comes up large for Burlington Central

Burlington Central senior Ryan Fitzgerald has been playing basketball against bigger kids his entire life.

Now he's the big kid.

Standing 6 feet, 6 inches and weighing 210 pounds - down 10 pounds since November due to the rigors of the 29 games that have led to Friday's Class 3A Glenbard South regional final - Central's leading scorer and rebounder has translated years of honing his skills against older players into one of the finest seasons in program history.

Fitzgerald has been named an honorary co-captain of the 2016 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area Boys Basketball Team for leading the Rockets to an outright Big Northern Conference East Division title, a school-record 26 wins and their first appearance in a regional title game in eight years. He shares the award with Batavia senior guard Canaan Coffey.

Fitzgerald entered the state tournament this week averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 steals along with 30 blocked shots, all career bests for the third-year varsity performer who shoots 59 percent from the field (197 of 333) and makes 78.6 percent of his free-throws (114 of 145).

"We knew he'd be able to score and do things inside, but the athleticism kept improving," Central coach Brett Porto said. "His unselfishness - his ability to not only score but pass, defend and do all the little things - has really taken us to the next level."

Unofficial training began at a young age for Ryan, the youngest of Mike and Colleen Fitzgerald's three sons. When the family moved from Crystal Lake to St. Charles before Ryan started first grade, one of the first additions to their new home was a basketball hoop in the driveway. For years Ryan tried to keep up with older brothers Thomas and Sean, both of whom went on to play varsity basketball at Central.

"I always wanted to play with the big boys," Ryan said with a laugh. "We had some pretty good games, but those guys can't keep up with me these days."

Ryan learned more from his brothers than how to survive a bruising driveway pickup game. He learned leadership. Thomas was the captain of Central's basketball team when he was a senior; Sean captained the school's soccer team.

A two-sport standout himself, Ryan has captained both Central's soccer and basketball teams as a senior.

"My brothers taught me a lot and led by example," Ryan said. "They helped me be a leader as well. I think the experience in some of those big soccer games helps on the basketball court, too."

Fitzgerald said he learned his basketball foundation between third and eighth grade on teams coached by his dad and Tom McCurdy, Sr.

The learning curve accelerated once he hit high school. As a freshman he was elevated to the sophomore team, but he struggled initially.

"He wasn't doing great but I told our sophomore coach to keep going with him," Porto said. "By the end of the year, he was the best player on the sophomore team."

The following year Fitzgerald was promoted to the varsity as a sophomore. That meant going head-to-head in practice every day against 6-9 senior center Duncan Ozburn, the area's top shot blocker at the time. Fitzgerald, then 6-4, was forced to expand his game.

"I worked on post moves so I wouldn't get my shots blocked in practice every day," he said. "I learned up-and-unders, developed my post fakes and learned to be patient in the post. I would see where he was at, on my back or fronting me, then turn the other way or give him a shoulder fake. It's a pretty quick decision in the moment when I get the ball."

Fitzgerald made enough progress as a sophomore that Porto felt comfortable playing him important minutes in a regional semifinal against Wheaton Academy, though the Rockets lost 45-44 on a last-second shot.

With Ozburn graduated, Fitzgerald assumed a larger role as a junior and filled it seamlessly. He garnered all-Big Northern East and all-area accolades after finishing his second varsity season as BC's leading scorer (11.6) and rebounder (6.6).

Meanwhile, he continually added to his game. He developed a Eurostep, commonly used by NBA stars Manu Ginobli, Derrick Rose and John Wall, among others. A Eurostep allows a player to beat a defender off an initial high dribble by changing directions on a second, quick step.

Fitzgerald learned to catch the ball in the post, turn and face the basket. From there "I'll take the shot if it's open or drive to the rim," he said.

Still, he wanted to learn more, to continue to develop. He became further motivated at Central's winter sports awards banquet at the end of the 2014-15 season.

"At the banquet (Porto) brings up past teams and past players and their accomplishments, and he asks what we would do to be remembered like they were," Fitzgerald said. "That touched me pretty hard. I knew going into the season we had to do some special things."

With that in mind, last summer the still-growing forward joined an AAU team coached by Kaneland coach Joe Conroy called DC Hoops, comprised mostly of players from DeKalb, Sycamore and Kaneland. Competing with top-notch players like DeKalb 6-5 forward Robert Mitchell and Kaneland 6-4 guard/forward Ryan David improved his game.

"That was the biggest stride for me going into this season," Fitzgerald said. "It was good for me to play with kids who love the game and play like I do. I definitely got better."

Likewise, Fitzgerald left an impression on DC Hoops.

"He just goes hard on every drill, every play, and has a strong desire to be great," said Conroy, whose Kaneland team could face Burlington Central in a Woodstock North sectional final next Friday if both teams advance that far. "We played at a little faster pace than what (Central) did a year ago and the guys he competed against forced him to be stronger on the ball."

One rival coach has noticed Fitzgerald's year-by-year improvement.

"I remember him as a freshman when he was up on sophs and I coached against him," Hampshire first-year varsity coach Ben Whitehouse said. "He just played hard and he was unselfish. He's developed every year and gotten a little better. Ultimately, you can tell other kids want to play with him because he works his butt off. I would have liked to have coached him rather than against him."

Fitzgerald took his college recruitment into his own hands. A student with a 3.4 grade-point average, he had the goal of attending Wisconsin-Whitewater to study business whether he played basketball or not, so he decided after 8 games this season to send the school his statistics and a video of his highlights. The Whitewater coaching staff liked what they saw, invited him to a December game and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald has unfinished business to handle for his high school team, which plays Friday night at Glenbard South seeking its first regional title since 2007-08.

Win or lose, it has already been a dream season for the Rockets and Fitzgerald, who becomes the fifth boys basketball player in Burlington Central history to be named a Daily Herald honorary captain, joining the late T.J. Sportsman (1998-99), Kas Wleklinski (2004-05), Cully Payne (2006-07) and Mike McCurdy (2007-08).

"I'd like to thank my parents for their support my whole life," Fitzgerald said. "Through basketball and sports they've sacrificed a lot of their time and I couldn't have done it without them.

"And I couldn't have done it without my team and coaches behind me. They've been huge and supported me throughout my career. My teammates are my closest friends and are very close to me. I'm hoping together we can accomplish some really good things."

Images: Daily Herald All-Area Honorary Team Captains in Basketball

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