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Grayslake North's Connolly remains driven despite ACL tear

Few local basketball followers would be surprised to learn that Ryan Connolly, a springy, 6-foot-2 Grayslake North forward, won an opening tip against a 6-11 Deerfield big man in a Summer League game in June.

But the senior-to-be at the time - GN's career leader in points (1,525) and last winter's Daily Herald All-Area Captain in Lake County - overcame more than a redwood in high-tops to achieve the feat on June 6.

Connolly launched himself toward the gymnasium's rafters-sphere on one good anterior cruciate ligament. The Knight had unknowingly suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the waning seconds of a game against Warren, held earlier in the day.

"I caught an inbound pass and turned to start dribbling, not realizing how close a defender was to me," Connolly recalls at a recent GN practice. "My right foot jammed against one of his feet and the collision stopped me, suddenly. I felt something; I thought I had tweaked my knee."

Tweaks don't faze gym rats, especially a 182-pound, basketball-loving "rodent" like Connolly, who poured in a school-record 46 points in an 89-82 defeat of Streamwood on Jan. 21.

The Round Lake resident then soared to tap that Game 2 tip and got down to hardwood business again - until the second possession of the Summer League game vs. Deerfield.

"That was when I realized, 'OK, my right knee does not feel stable when I run,' " Connolly says. "I had to stop playing."

Connolly saw a doctor a few days later. The doctor felt the Knight's right knee and needed a little more than a few seconds to utter the last 3 letters an elite athlete wants to hear in succession: ACL.

"I started laughing," the amiable Connolly admits. "I thought he was joking."

The laughter stopped. The young man on pace to net his 2,000th career point this winter (after tallying a school-record 678 points as a junior last winter) underwent surgery on June 17.

"Ryan's mom [Beth] called me four days after the injury, and as soon as I heard 'ACL', I said, 'What?' " says GN boys basketball coach Todd Grunloh, set to begin his 14th season at the 14-year-old high school. "Then I said, 'No ... wait ... what did you just say?' "

Among the loudest voices at Knights hoops practices in the early going this preseason is Connolly's. Connolly had let his crowd-pleasing, above-the-rim exploits on the court do most of the orating for him since averaging 14 points per game as a freshman starter on varsity. His game, as a rookie, in a word: shooter.

It evolved into one featuring explosive slashes against overmatched post players, pogo-stick-ish rebounds and net-fraying dunks. The fast-twitch-muscle-bound Connolly averaged 22.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 12 rounds of applause (maybe more) for GN's 17-win club last winter.

But the stats leader is a Most Valuable Leader these days.

And thriving in the role.

"Ryan has been an awesome teammate at practice ... at every practice," Grunloh says. "His attitude throughout this entire process has been phenomenal. He shoots by himself when we practice. He rehabs when we practice. And he also finds time to encourage his teammates, to bark - in a good way - at them.

"It's going to be hard, battling without him this season," the coach adds. "Such a freakish athlete, such a special, special player. Somebody pointed out to me that Ryan had the chance to end up between fifth and seventh in career scoring in Lake County history. It was a privilege to coach him and to watch him compete."

But, come February, Connolly might be cleared by a doctor to return to the court if the rehab goes well, if the knee heals fully. Connolly, who took a combined 2,000 shots in six practices last week, would jump out of the gym at that opportunity - and return to Earth a couple of days later.

"It keeps me going, thinking about that possibility," says Connolly, whose brother, James, a 6-3 guard at St. Mary's (Minn.) University, sustained a torn left ACL in his final prep game at Grayslake North in 2018. "What I'm focusing on now is doing what I need to do in rehab. Doing the little things, the right things. I'm shooting as much as I am because you never know. I might get good news in February.

"If I get it, I want to be ready."

Connolly fished regularly, atop Round Lake, after the injury. His best catch of the summer, using a plastic worm, was a 2.5-pound bass. He released it - with a textbook follow-through, no doubt. Grayslake North senior guard Ray Shoemaker served often as Connolly's boat mate.

"Patience, patience," Shoemaker says. "Ryan is a good fisherman because of his patience. He's showing patience now, as an injured basketball player.

"Ryan," Shoemaker adds, "eats, sleeps, breathes basketball. He encouraged me to watch YouTube shooting drills, and now my form is better. What's amazing about him, but not surprising, is what I saw him do not long after his surgery. Ryan, while on crutches, worked on his shot in his driveway."

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