Following a five-year college career capped off by one season in Chapel Hill as a full-time UNC basketball starter, Cormac Ryan did not hear his name at the 2024 NBA Draft. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old wing from New York landed a spot on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Summer League roster.
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And his performances in Las Vegas led to the Exhibit 10 deal that became official over the weekend. Ryan is joining the Thunder for training camp, looking to impress OKC brass, potentially to the tune of regular season opportunities with the team down the road.
Cormac Ryan has signed a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder! Good luck, Cormac! 🐏#ProHeels | #CarolinaFamily pic.twitter.com/f2hxwaKI2l
— The Tar Heel Story (@tarheelstory) October 1, 2024
While the training camp contract is a promising sign in the beginning stage of Ryan’s professional pursuits, chances are he spends all or most of the 2024-25 season playing for the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League.
As a UNC basketball graduate bucket-getter last season, Cormac Ryan averaged 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. He shot 38.2 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from downtown, and 87.4 percent at the line for a Tar Heel squad that finished atop the ACC standings and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Ryan, who spent three seasons at Notre Dame following a freshman year at Stanford, cemented his place in UNC basketball lore by shooting 6-for-8 beyond the arc and 9-for-10 at the charity stripe en route to 31 points in the Tar Heels’ 84-79 road win in Cameron Indoor Stadium to silence the Cameron Crazies and complete their season sweep of archrival Duke.
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