Late-season NBA basketball for a team eliminated from playoff contention can be a wild journey, often spotlighting names you may not otherwise know.
That’s likely the case for Milwaukee Bucks fans after the April 1 loss to the Houston Rockets, 119-113, when a scrappy crew of reserves pushed a playoff team to the brink before falling short. Cormac Ryan scored 25 points for the Bucks on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. He also scored on Rockets star Kevin Durant.
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So you might be wondering who Ryan is? He’s only played in five games for the Bucks – all were losses.
Here’s a little more about him:
How old and how tall is Cormac Ryan?
Milwaukee Bucks guard Cormac Ryan (30) scores during the first half of their game against the LA Clippers Sunday, March 29, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The 27-year-old native of New York stands 6-foot-5.
Where did Cormac Ryan come from?
After playing college basketball at Stanford, Notre Dame and North Carolina, the Bucks signed Ryan to a two-way contract after he averaged 20.4 points per game for the Wisconsin Herd. He’s proven to be a strong three-point shooter.
Ryan was signed by the Bucks in the summer and made a couple of preseason appearances.
He went undrafted in 2024 after finishing his college career at UNC. He initially signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder and played with the Thunder’s G-League affiliate last year.
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A couple of things to know about Cormac Ryan
Ryan scored 29 points in the NCAA Tournament in 2022, an upset of Alabama in the first round, 78-64. The Irish had been the 11th seed.
Notre Dame only got that far because Paul Atkinson Jr. hit a layup with 1.4 seconds left to beat Rutgers in the tournament’s First Four. Atkinson played three years at Yale, where he was teammates with Cormac’s older brother, Thomas.
Ryan made his NBA debut against Utah on March 19, checking in during the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz. Eleven seconds later, he had his first NBA points with a three-pointer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who is Cormac Ryan, Bucks player who scored 25 vs Rockets?