Brennan Frost had a front row seat when his younger brother Ryder’s legend started becoming real.
Ryder was in the sixth grade, playing for his father Brady’s Beverly, Mass., travel team in a game at the Mill Works in Westford, Mass. Brennan sat at the scorer’s table at center court, keeping the game book, and it was getting away from them. They trailed by 12 with less than 2 minutes left. And they never expected what happened next.
Ryder’s family had always known how good of a shooter he was, but this even shocked them: In an unbelievable sequence of events, Ryder made five 3-pointers in those final moments to lift Beverly to an unthinkable victory.
Brady and those around him could only laugh. There was no grand plan. They knew their best shot of a comeback was to keep getting Ryder the ball and letting him shoot. He just happened to catch fire, and Beverly came up with enough stops to escape with the win.
“We were all just like, ‘What just happened?’” Brennan said.
As he looks back now, Brennan identifies it as one of several moments when it became clear a basketball future was realistic for Ryder, who developed into one of the best shooting prospects not just in New England, but the country. A snapshot into the potential of a kid from Beverly who transformed himself into a sure-fire high-major recruit who’s heading to Notre Dame next fall.
“That was like, ‘Whoa, OK, it made you stop and think about where it could go,’” Brennan said.
Sports were ingrained in the Frost family. Ryder played everything growing up – basketball, baseball, flag football. His dad Brady, who played baseball at Vermont and had a cup of coffee pitching in the Montreal Expos farm system, was his coach for over a decade. Basketball, though, was in their blood. Ryder’s grandfather is Tom Brennan, who was the longtime head coach at Vermont.
There were mini-hoops everywhere at their Beverly home – inside, in the basement, the driveway – and sports were always on TV. This is where it all started for Ryder. As a 3-year-old, he watched Red Sox games and mimicked the players. He did the same when watching the 2008 Celtics. He copied Kevin Youkilis’ batting stance, and Ray Allen’s quick-release jumper.
The similarities were striking. Even at that age, Brady said Ryder had advanced body control, motor skills and an understanding of his own movements and spatial awareness. Over the years, Brady coached him up on his shooting form and mechanics. It was nothing crazy, but Ryder picked up on it quickly.
“He would do it and he would repeat it,” Brady said. “He would stay locked in with those repetitions over the years.”
Ryder remembers the moment when it all shifted, when he truly started basketball seriously in eighth grade. Brennan was about to be a senior captain at Beverly, and Ryder wanted to play with him. And he didn’t want to have any regrets.
“Just not wanting to ever look back and say I wish I put in more effort or I wish I worked harder at this or I wish I did this differently,” Ryder said. “That’s not a feeling I want to have, looking back in the future and saying I could have done more.”
THE DECISION: Why Frost chose Notre Dame
Ryder told his dad he wanted to commit to basketball, and his dad brought out a plan he had laid out for Brennan a few years earlier. They all got to work. Brady imparted his wisdom on Ryder, who ate it all up. Brennan took Ryder to the local YMCA to lift together. That summer, when COVID-19 hit and left him little else to do, Ryder took it to the next level with workouts and gym sessions.
The work paid off as Ryder made varsity as a freshman and played with his brother in a shortened season. The commitment only increased. That spring, he joined the Middlesex Magic, an important step in his journey. Ryder’s goals only got bigger. He and his father’s training plan kept changing, too. Everything that went into getting better – nutrition, lifting, endurance and quickness training, skill work – was accounted for.
“He’s been addicted to the things that would enable him to reach his dreams, which I preached to him,” Brady said. “I said, ‘If you want something, you just have to keep working at it.’ He’s done that.
“He just dove right in and has never looked back since.”
Though his freshman season was short, it didn’t hinder Ryder. He worked hard the following offseason and came back even stronger. He grew a few inches and enjoyed two more standout seasons at Beverly under head coach Mike Karakoudas, including a breakout junior campaign when he really opened eyes around the state.
In a Christmas tournament win over Newburyport, Ryder put up an insane stat line: 40 points, 20 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
Ryder was one of the best players in the state, and he was turning heads everywhere.
“You literally would have to live under a rock not to know who Ryder Frost was,” Phillips Exeter coach Jay Tilton said.
The prep school route, already a conversation in the Frost household, became real. Like that moment in eighth grade, Ryder didn’t want to leave a stone unturned in his basketball journey. It was time to take it to the next level.
Among a short list of schools, Ryder ultimately chose Phillips Exeter, a high-academic school that was close enough to home in Beverly. For Tilton, it was a perfect fit. Ryder was obviously talented, but he also brought a deep competitive drive to win, and he was a high-level student.
“This is a no-brainer to make this guy a staple of our program,” Tilton said.
The next level required an even bigger commitment from Ryder, who was still skinny, growing into his frame and rounding out his game. He reclassified to repeat his junior year, knowing he would need more time to develop. Like in eighth grade, he made a plan.
Ryder broke down his first prep year into time frames. He used the fall to adjust to living on his own and figure out how to manage his time. He committed to living in the gym, a benefit of being away, and with the help of Exeter’s facilities and strength and conditioning program, he took his work to a higher level. In some ways, it was an extension of the plans he created with his dad.
In addition to getting better on the court, Ryder focused on all the extra details – recovery, band work, mobility exercises – in taking care of his body as he got bigger and stronger. Things like getting extra shots up, or icing his knees and ankles after practices, became routine. It was a professional approach.
“I think staying consistent was the biggest thing for me,” Ryder said. “Doing the things that may be viewed as little things — rolling out, stretching before bed every night. We had a lot of early morning lifts, eating better. All the little stuff added up.”
After recovering from a foot injury early in the season, the work started translating. During a stretch from mid-January to mid-February, it took off with big performances. He scored a season-high 38 points in a win over Northfield Mount Hermon. He hit nine 3-pointers in a victory at Choate. Division 1 schools started to take note. He got his first high-major offer from Penn State.
Ryder wasn’t just a shooter;, he was proving himself as a more complete player. He became a more diverse scorer and committed to the defensive end. He picked up on nuances of the game like moving without the ball and how to free himself up, which helped separate him. He won NEPSAC Class A Player of the Year as he led Exeter to a championship. Everything was coming together.
“It was a good feeling. It was fun,” Ryder said. “It was awesome to bet on yourself and have it work out.”
He was not satisfied, though. After the season, he jumped right into the AAU season with the Magic and picked up where he left off. He was the best shooter on the Under Armour circuit, shooting 45 percent from deep as part of a life-changing, stock-rising summer.
The Div. 1 interest poured in. In May, Ryder had a huge performance at an event in Cincinnati, where he hit nine 3-pointers in a game. Brady was in attendance with Brennan, and remembers sharing awestruck looks with him as Ryder electrified a crowd of Div. 1 coaches.
It was the same type of shooting display they had always seen from Ryder since he was young, but this was different. The next Monday, Ryder’s phone blew up with eight offers. Call after call, offer after offer.
“It was insane, and just surreal,” Brady said.
In September, shortly after visiting, Ryder committed to Notre Dame. His transformation into a Power 5 player was complete, which wasn’t necessarily realistic at this time last year. He wasn’t physically strong enough or developed, and there were holes in his game, but he eventually put it all together.
“I think he’s still ascending,” Tilton said.
Brennan isn't surpsied.
“People see the threes and the highlights and everything, but no one really sees the work he puts in,” Brennan said. “Ever since that day in eighth grade, he’s just put his head down and got to work. He just kept working and working and working. ...
“He has a work ethic unlike a lot of people. I’ve been going to his games since he was 4 years old. It’s been surreal. All the work is paying off, and people are starting to see it now.”
With a full NEPSAC season under his belt, Ryder could be in store for another huge winter. He wants to become a better leader, and continue expanding his game and maintaining the winning habits that can make him an impact player at Notre Dame next year.
It’s hard not to envision what the future could hold for Ryder. It’s easy to make comparisons to Duncan Robinson, a former Magic and Exeter sharpshooter who was also a late bloomer in his path to the NBA. But for Ryder, it’s all about staying in the moment and the process.
“I want to take it as far as I can and be the best player that I can be,” he said.
Given what he’s accomplished to this point, it would be hard to bet against Ryder Frost.
“You’re not going to outwork him,” Karakoudas said. “He eats, sleeps and drinks basketball.”
