JACK RYAN aka "BLACK JACK" [nyc]
"Black Jack" was also called "Water," and that's exactly what his
jump shot was. Chris Mullin once described Jack as the best shooter
he'd ever seen who hadn't played in the NBA. Peter Vecsey was a
believer, too, and got Jack a tryout with the Nets in '90. Jack was
27. Nonetheless, he was the second-to-last man cut. But the story
behind Jack's legend is his crazy antics. He is legend at East 5th
St. Park in Brooklyn. As a senior at John Jay HS, he averaged 26 ppg.
In his first season at West 4th, he played one game and dropped 44
on former Piston Phil Sellers. Tournament director Kenny Graham
broke the minimum game rule and named Jack to the all-star game.
The first time Jack and I teamed up, he went 17 of 17 from the
field, all from deep, before finally missing at the buzzer-it was an
open lay up! I once passed him the ball on a break, and Jack went up
in the air, tapped the ball on the defender's forehead twice, hung
and scored the lay up and one! Currently, Jack performs halftime
shows with Project Playground Basketball at NBA arenas, as well as
doing solo shows for kids as the Hoop Wizard (hoopwizard.com).-BOBBITO
GARCIA
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