Earning Success in Basketball and Business

On a basketball court, Ryan O’Connell was fundamentally flawless, with a silky-smooth shooting touch from the outside. So, it’s really no big surprise that O’Connell is now lighting up the business world much like he did with scoreboards at Springstead High School and Saint Leo University.

Thirty-four years after concluding a storied basketball career at Springstead, O’Connell is a star in the business world. After climbing a ladder that included stops in Tampa, Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee, O’Connell is living in North Carolina, where he’s a Pizza Hut franchisee and Vice President of Operations. That’s really not a surprise to anyone who saw O’Connell shooting from the wing or watched him growing up.

The son of former Springstead basketball coach Greg O’Connell and long-time Hernando County middle and high school teacher Mary O’Connell may have had a push in the right direction, but Ryan is the one who took the opportunity and ran with it.

“Ryan is a self-made man,” said Greg O’Connell, who coached at Springstead from 1977 through 2000 and also served as athletic director for a large chunk of those years. “Nothing was ever handed to him. He’s always worked hard and earned what he’s got.” On the basketball court or in the business world.

Let’s start with basketball. The game always surrounded O’Connell, but he embraced it. When he was born, Greg O’Connell was working as an assistant coach at Saint Leo, where he had been a star player in the early 1970s. When the young family lived across the street from Saint Leo, Ryan spent hours shooting at a portable hoop on the porch. Before long, he was planting the seeds of the basketball player he became at a large basket at a ne”My dad never forced me into basketball,” Ryan said. “I played other sports. Little league baseball and backyard football. My dad came to all my Little League games and supported me. But basketball is what I loved.”’

O’Connell had a simply wonderful career at Springstead. He moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and played on two of the best teams in Springstead history in his first two seasons. The Eagles won a district title in his sophomore year. As a junior, O’Connell started alongside four seniors on what his father said was the most talented team he ever coached. With their eyes focused on a state title, the Eagles went 28-3 but lost in the district championship game to Tampa Jesuit.

“That game hurt,” Ryan O’Connell said. “We beat them in the regular season and I don’t know if we overlooked them or what. But we didn’t reach the expectations we had for ourselves.”

Expectations dropped considerably for O’Connell’s senior year. As the only returning starter, he was surrounded by underclassmen. His role changed.

“As a sophomore and junior, I didn’t have to score. I mean, I scored some, but I distributed the ball because we had some very good players,” O’Connell said.” As a senior, I had to score.”

O’Connell did that quite well. On his way to finishing his career as the fourth-leading scorer in Springstead history, O’Connell led the Eagles to a winning record and was named The Tampa Tribune’s Player of the Year for Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Along the way, father and son said they never encountered the kind of tumultuous relationship that often happens when parents coach their children.

“I did feel I had to prove myself and show that I wasn’t getting any breaks because my father was the coach,” O’Connell said. “I worked my butt off. But my dad and I never had any problems. It was a great relationship.”

Give Mary O’Connell a lot of credit for helping to keep things balanced. Mary made it clear that Greg was supposed to be “Coach” at basketball practice and games but “Dad” at home. “I would come home, do my homework and go to bed,” Ryan said.

Ryan always did his homework and also excelled in the classroom. “Both my parents were teachers,” O’Connell said. “If I didn’t behave or didn’t get good grades, they were going to know about
it.”

Former Springstead baseball coach Chuck Moehle taught Social Studies and had Ryan in class. “I remember very clearly Mary coming to me and saying, “If Ryan gives you any trouble, you let me know,” Moehle said. “That really wasn’t necessary. Ryan was one of the best kids I ever taught. Ryan O’Connell was a model student.”That continued through college. O’Connell first attended Webber International University in Babson Park. He did well in school and in basketball but decided to transfer after his sophomore season when Norm Kaye, who had coached his father at Saint Leo, returned to the sidelines after a lengthy stint as athletic director. Although he was making the jump to a higher level of competition, O’Connell fit in right away at Saint Leo.

“Ryan was a gym rat and so was I,” said Joey Brauer, who was Saint Leo’s point guard while O’Connell manned the wing for two seasons. “We were best friends almost right away. Part of it was because we were the only two guys on the team who didn’t party. A big night for us was playing video
games.”

“(Brauer) was the outspoken kid from Brooklyn,” O’Connell said. “Let’s just say I was more reserved.”
The friendship endured. After graduation, O’Connell and Brauer ended up in Tampa and roomed together for a year. Brauer went to work as a teacher and coach in Hillsborough County. O’Connell got a foot in the door at Pizza Hut and began working his way up the ladder.

O’Connell married, started a family and rose through the ranks of his career. Moving to different states came with the territory. O’Connell now lives in Winterville in the Eastern part of North Carolina with his wife Karen, two daughters and one son. Through the years, he frequently has come back to the Tampa Bay area to see his parents and Brauer. He also has remained a season-ticket holder for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has seldom missed one of their home games, no matter where he lived at the time.

“Even though I spent much of my life around basketball, I’ve always loved football,” O’Connell said. “One of my biggest thrills was going to the Super Bowl with my son and my dad when the Bucs played in the Super Bowl in Tampa a few years ago.”

O’Connell’s life is about to come full circle. Next summer, he and his wife are planning a move back to Florida. They have already purchased a house in Land O’Lakes. “I’ll still be doing what I’m doing,” O’Connell said. “I’ll still spend a lot of time in North Carolina and I’ll spend a lot of time traveling. But Florida has always been home for us and we’ve always wanted to come back. The time is right. My parents are getting older and my wife’s family is all in the Tampa area. We want to be closer to them.”

Land O’ Lakes isn’t quite Spring Hill. But, fittingly, O’Connell will only be a three-point shot away from where it all started.