We met up with Liberty alumni Ryan Kemrite to get an update on his life and help preview the Flames’ basketball team this season as Liberty turns its attention to the 2022 ASUN Tournament. Kemrite played under Coach McKay and was part of the team that advanced to the Big South Tournament championship game in 2018 before falling to Radford on a Carlik Jones buzzer beater.
Here is our Q&A with Kemrite:
Alright, Ryan. Let’s start with the most important stuff first. Why powerlifting? Do you still play basketball in your free time?
Ryan Kemrite: I mean, powerlifting is really just my excuse to eat more Chipotle. Besides the extra Chipotle, I love getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things. For example, my first year after Liberty, in Miami, I was training MMA and wanted to fight in the 175-ish weight class. I then proceeded to get my MCL ripped off during a Jui-Jitsu session, so that experiment stopped pretty fast. I needed something else to do; I just started lifting heavy and never looked back. And just for context, in case people saw the picture of me at the game in Texas, my Liberty playing weight was like 190 pounds, but now I’m in the 250 range. Which again, is just a lot of Chipotle.
How have your law studies been going?
RK: It’s going well! If you asked Coach McKay in his first year if I was going to be an attorney, with how stubborn and argumentative I was, he would’ve for sure said yes. I’m in my last semester, so graduating in May. You can tell I’m near the end because of my renewed Twitter activity. After graduation, I’ll be clerking with a federal judge for a couple years. After that, you’ll have to ask my wife.
What was most memorable about this season for you as a Flames MBB alum?
RK: Darius absolutely obliterating my career three-point record. I mean, it was obvious from the beginning that he was going to pass me. I told him after the Vanderbilt game his freshman year he was going to smash the record and, I couldn’t be prouder.
I tweeted something about how I consider everyone who plays in the program to be like family, even if I never played with them. And I really mean that. It’s a testament to the staff and the people they recruit. Anyone in that program could call me now or in 20 years, and I would do whatever I could for them.
Who was/were the biggest influence(s) on your game as you developed in high school and college (looking for some NBA influence here and maybe coaching, as well)?
RK: I know you asked this wanting some cool NBA answer, but there weren’t many slow-footed, 6’4 white guys in the NBA, so there were many players I wished I was! I will say one player I loved to watch tape of was Dražen Petrović. I know you’re thinking, “who is that?” But he was a walking bucket. He died tragically in his prime, but man, was he a killer. The passion, The trash talking.
I also need to mention Coach Omar Mance. Coach Mance, without a doubt, was one of the most instrumental people in my college career. When I got red-shirted, it was isolating. For one, I was the only redshirt, and sometimes it felt like I was excluded from everything. I had to work out after everyone was done, get food after everyone ate, get treatment after everyone else.
Yet Coach Mance pulled me aside early on and told me, “are you kidding me? This is the luckiest thing to happen to you. You don’t have to worry about anything except getting better for a full year. You can either pout about it or get better; what do you want to do?” Luckily, I made the correct choice, and Mance worked me like a dog for a full year. I remember walking in the freezing rain at like 6 AM one time just so I could get 300 makes in with him before practice. He didn’t know me, never recruited me, but he invested so much in me. I owe him big time.
And coach Brad Soucie. I could talk for days about how much he’s meant to me.
What’s the biggest misconception you see people tweet during games?
RK: That ASUN refs are high-quality. I’m kidding; nobody tweets that. I think the biggest misconception is that good defense is based on whether the ball goes in or not. It’s why I’m a bit leery of some analytics, especially on defense. Points per possession is a great example. If the other team comes down on a fast break out of control and kicks it into the third row, was our defense good? Or are they just not good? Same if someone misses an easy layup. That’s why the staff usually tracks things like the percentage of total shots contested (you want it to be higher than 65%).
A quick eye test for people watching the games is to see how many shots are contested and where they are coming from. A contested mid-range jumper is good defense, whether it goes in or not. A contested 5-footer is usually bad defense, whether it goes in or not. All uncontested shots are breakdowns. And for shots like contested layups, look for which direction the shooter’s momentum is going. If they are moving towards the rim, likely a defensive breakdown. If, however, they are shooting a layup while moving or floating away from the rim, likely a good contest. Jo Venzant is really good at making people float away from the rim on contested layups. Everyone should know I did pitch a pack line primer idea to Stephen here, but nobody wants to hear me ramble on about defense.
What are some keys for the Flames as they get ready to start the post-season?
RK: Defense, defense, defense. At this point, I’m just a broken record, but defense wins. Darius is phenomenal. But if he has to score 40 for you to win, that is physically taxing. And to expect him to do that 3 out of 4 days in a conference tournament is a big ask, even for someone as talented as him. Defense is what helps you get three straight stops at the end of the game, which over the last couple of weeks, we’ve struggled to finish those close games out. Tourney time also gives lower seeds that “Cinderella” feeling, so you have to ensure they know they can’t hang with you right from the jump. The pack does that. It can just demoralize a team when they don’t score for 6-8 minutes.
What is one thing you wish fans knew about Coach McKay that isn’t common knowledge?
RK: He is the most competitive person I’ve ever been around. Not maybe or probably. He wants to win and hates to lose more than anyone I’ve ever met. I jokingly tweet he would fight someone in the parking lot, but it’s also half-serious. I mean, come on, he wanted to fight me every day his first year back at Liberty. When an opposing coach or player says something to the bench or stares him down (like FGCU’s Dunn-Martin a few games ago), every fiber of his being wants to run out there and check the ball up 1-on-1. I will neither confirm nor deny whether he will draw blood just to win the pre-game managers/coaches scrimmage. But man, it’s infectious. It’s why his players love him and is what makes him such an incredible coach. He will never settle for anything less than your best, and he is relentlessly pursuing perfection. You get better—not just as a player—but as a person just being around him. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without him.
Where do you see the Flames program in the next 5 years?
RK: Coach McKay repeats over and over again, “dream your biggest dreams.” It just means never put limits on yourself and know you aren’t shooting for a “goal,” you’re pursuing the daily process. If you trust the process and do the everyday, mundane work, you can achieve things you didn’t think were possible. So to answer that, I’ll hopefully see the program here in the coming years:
- 2022 Final Four, New Orleans – Caesars Superdome
- 2023 Final Four, Houston – NRG Stadium
- 2024 Final Four, Phoenix – State Farm Stadium
- 2025 Final Four, San Antonio – Alamodome
- 2026 Final Four, Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium
What is the biggest strength of the Flames squad from this year? Greatest weakness?
RK: I mean, I could just say Darius and move on, right? I say this as someone who could care less about the offense; he is fun to watch. He is incredible with what he does on a daily basis. With the kind of load he’s carrying, I bet he’s in good enough shape to run a marathon right now! But as a real strength, I would say it’s more about everyone else than Darius. What I mean by that is how unselfish the guys are. It seems impossible, but it’s like there are no egos on that team. They move, screen, and pass like everyone is averaging 10 a game. That unselfishness is so rare, and it’s a testament to the quality of guys Coach recruits. On the flip side, how good we are offensively is also one of our biggest weaknesses.
But because of how good we are on offense, I think we’ve lost our defensive identity. What I mean by that is we are lacking the concentrated “desperation” needed on each possession. When you’re rolling as a pack-line defense, every possession is a “we have to get a stop” moment in the game. It’s what made playing against guys like Cuff and Lovell so terrible. They took every possession personally.
This year, we can really score so it can feel like that edge isn’t really necessary. There is no point to really fight back in front on a straight-line drive and make that shot harder or make that little extra effort because what’s 2 points when we have the most electric scorer in the country? Since around January, it just looks like to me that we aren’t contesting as many shots as we need to be, and also having these defensive breakdowns that aren’t always backbreakers, but during a conference tournament, they can send you home.
As a sneak peek for my pack primer (looking at you, A Sea of Red), one of the deadly sins in the pack line is to leave your feet, i.e., go for a shot fake. Leaving your feet is a mortal [sins] that gets beaten into your head from day one because if you leave your feet, you’re opening up for a straight-line drive (another mortal sin). We seem to be going for shot fakes a lot more, which we should know better. Having said this, I now expect everyone who reads this to scream at the TV every time someone goes for a shot fake. It’s why my wife says I’m terrible to watch the games with, and you all should be too.
What do you anticipate will happen to the Flames in their first two years in C-USA?
RK: I think the second year in C-USA will be tougher than the first. The first year, we will be an older team, and the pack is such a shock the couple of times you play against it. So they might catch a few teams by surprise. I also think that next year—if they commit on the defensive end—they will have the most dominant defense Liberty has ever had. Think about it. Shiloh and Jo are one of the best 1-2 punches on defense in the nation. Then add in Kyle’s IQ and Zay’s toughness and intensity, and you have a murderer’s row on defense. The problem is you lose some key pieces, which might be hard to recover from. But the way Coach recruits, they will be fine. I mean, people were wondering how well the program would do moving to the ASUN. Yet after three straight championships, I think we will win in whatever conference we’re playing in at the time.
Lastly, what would Senior Kemrite have said to Freshman Ryan?
RK: I would tell him not to date anyone until he meets his future wife, Michelle Melendez (she definitely wasn’t pointing a gun at me off-screen). To give a more serious answer, I would tell a younger me that the little things matter—like a lot. One of our team pillars was “accountability with discipline, every detail adds up.” And they really do. I mean, the big stuff matters too, but anyone with two feet and a heartbeat can see that. Everyone can see someone score or identify who got the rebound. But did everyone see that your closeout was 4 inches closer to prevent a room-and-rhythm three? Or that your spacing on offense pulled a defender giving a teammate an easy layup? And that you did that every play for 40 minutes?
Maybe it’s just knowing your role and seeking perfection in that role. That didn’t click for me right away but was crucial for my career. A perfect example is Kyle Rode. Every time I see him, I tell him I want to be him when I grow up. Even my grandmother will text me and say he’s what the coaching staff wished I was! He is unbelievable out there, and he does the littlest things perfect every…single…time. I can’t compliment him as a player enough.
