Cornell's Rourke a well-traveled man

When Ryan Rourke stepped on the court for Cornell's first game this season, he was far from the typical first-year basketball player.

Although it was his first game at Cornell, Rourke is a junior, and Cornell is the fourth school he's played for in a turbulent three-year college basketball career.

After a distinguished career at Bothell High School in Bothell, Wash., the 6-foot-8 forward signed to play college basketball at Air Force. Although he liked the basketball part of being at Air Force, the Air Force part rubbed him the wrong way.

"I was there through boot camp there, and started school and decided that it was the wrong place for me to go as a school and to play basketball," Rourke said. "The military isn't for everybody, I knew it wasn't for me."

So, Rourke transferred to Edmonds Community College in nearby Edmonds, Wash. After a short stay at Edmonds, he decided that moving away from his home was the best decision for him. So, he transferred again, this time to Mesa Community College in Arizona.

The head coach there was Alton Lister, a seven-foot-tall former-NBA center, who after an illustrious college career at Arizona State floated around the NBA for 16 seasons. Lister got a call from Tom Newell, brother of Pete Newell, the most famous big-man guru in the country. Newell told Lister he had "exactly the type of kid [he] was looking for."

"I thought he was kidding," Lister said. But after he invited Rourke out to Mesa he found that Rourke was a perfect fit.

"The kind of kid he is, he's a prototype of the type of kid you want in your program. He's a good student, he's a good student-athlete, he doesn't have a lot of baggage, no tattoos or piercings; he's a clean cut kid."

And he could play.

After a small adjustment period, Rourke became a star player at the small school. He averaged 17.1 points per game, leading Mesa to a 20-11 record. The combo forward was named first-team all-league and all-region and was an honorable mention National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American.

"Coach Lister was a major influence on how I play and how I want to play," Rourke said. "He was a great teacher there for me because I tried to pick him apart. He's been to the highest level, he was a great player in the NBA, so I just tried to take advantage of that."

"I hope that my role in this whole thing is kind of a mentor to him," Lister said. "Since I played at every level, I talked to him all the time. I really like Ryan. He's a very likable person, and a really good kid."

Rourke's hard work on and off the court at Mesa allowed him to transfer to Cornell. He was recruited by a number of other schools, but Rourke, attracted by the academics of an Ivy League institution, settled on going to school in Ithaca, New York.

"A big factor was academics," Rourke said. "It's a given in the Ivy League, above a lot of schools, the academics. Basketball's not going to be forever and I'm going to need a backup plan when I'm done."

Rourke's game is not exactly the type of game that gets people out of their seats, but definitely the type of game that fits in in the Ivy League.

"As far as his basketball," Lister said. "He's very fundamentally sound, he almost has that old school feel to his game that's refreshing in this day and time because so many kids want to go one-on-one and are so about themselves. Ryan, he's skilled, he's fundamentally sound and he's the type of kid that will work and continue to get better."

This season, Rourke has improved as the year has progressed. He is far from Cornell's best player, or even their best big man, averaging 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. However, Rourke's combination of skills in the post and outside the paint have allowed him to produce games that show just how good he can be.

Last Saturday, against Yale, the big man had the game of his life, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 boards in a big double-overtime win. His play has helped keep the Big Red in contention for an Ivy League title for the first time in years.

After four schools and three years, Rourke is finally settling down and trying to just enjoy playing college basketball.

"It felt great, every time you step on the floor," he said. "Everyday I'm just trying to take advantage of the time I have here and try to make the most of it."

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