Modesto Christian senior Ry Atkins staying home to play basketball at Columbia College

“I gained an unbreakable, very strong relationship with (Rob) Hoyt. He’s an amazing guy and coach,” Ry Atkins said. “There was a feeling of being away from home for two years, even though I slept at home. People have said, ‘You’re back!’ But I never left, I just drove. I feel like I have a lot of things to work on as a basketball player to be where I want to be in four years.

“I played against EJ (Campbell) and Ahsan (Huff) last year. Watching them come here and develop into the players they are now, my mind was blown. Going to Columbia, I’m content with being a better basketball player when I leave here. I believe that God opened a door that no man himself can close. It feels like the best option for me to play here.”

Ry Atkins bypassed one Division I offer, from Air Force, to play for head coach Rob Hoyt in Sonora. He had also received interest from the University of Montana, University of the Pacific, Sacramento State and countless D2 and D3 programs.

“He’s such a good kid, and we just want people like that in our program,” Hoyt said. “In his senior year, I went to watch him at the Modesto Christian Christmas tournament. I remember he caught one ball on the corner baseline, ripped it, took two dribbles and two-hand dunked it on this kid from Mountain House, right on his head. It kicked off from there that we had to do everything we can to make him a priority because essentially he’s in our backyard.

“His ability to (be versatile) makes him extremely valuable because he doesn’t necessarily have a position. He’s a wing, and that’s where we’re going to play him. He could play at the five if you need it. He brings more value to the table in that regard. The number one thing with him is he was willing to bet on himself to drive an hour and a half one way and back every day to go to a school to better himself. Any time you see that, you know that he wants it.”

Born and raised in Sonora, Ry Atkins and his family relocated to Tuolumne when he was in fifth grade. He’s the second oldest and only boy of the Atkins clan, raised by parents David and Denise Atkins. The eldest sibling is Hosanna, followed by Ry, Freya and Aria. 

Ry Atkins played several sports throughout his youth, including baseball, basketball, calf roping, cross country and track and field.

From kindergarten through eighth grade, the Atkins siblings attended Mother Lode Christian School in Tuolumne, where he was coached by his father on the middle school basketball team. He later followed in the footsteps of his sister Hosanna by becoming a Bear at Summerville High School.

“He’s the one who got me on the path of basketball,” Ry Atkins said of his dad. “He taught me a lot when I was a kid, then I started picking up after him.”

Ry Atkins was a three-sport student-athlete as an underclassman at Summerville. He also played football as an outside linebacker, defensive end, safety and wide receiver, and baseball as a first baseman and right-handed pitcher. During his time on the gridiron as a sophomore, he reached the Division VI CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championship game with the Bears, who narrowly lost 14-13 versus Hughson.

Little did he know, that experience would pay dividends less than 15 months later at another school.

“I played football for coach Sean Leveroos and that was the most fun I’ve ever had,” Ry Atkins said. “My goal going into high school was to play varsity basketball as a freshman. I didn’t tell anyone my goal except my parents. There was this tournament, and I played fairly well. Kole Elkins called and asked if I wanted to be on varsity, I said, ‘Absolutely, I would love to!’

“From there, Elkins, Leveroos and Kurt Bayers helped kickstart me falling in love with basketball and pushing me to be good at everything. My dad was a huge aspect in my basketball knowledge. In my sophomore year, I loved football more than basketball because I was getting bigger and stronger. We went all the way to sections, the farthest I’ve ever been in any sport, and we fell short. Summerville prepared me for something I was unaware of yet.”

In the summer of 2023, after his sophomore season at Summerville, Ry Atkins began to notice his talent and reevaluate his hoops future, when he was intrigued by a program in Salida. He avidly followed the career of Sacramento native Jared McCain, who was playing his senior campaign at Centennial High School in Corona, and is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I’m 6’7, tall, athletic and quick. Ideally, I’m a three and a powerful wing,” Ry Atkins said regarding his positional versatility. “I shoot the ball really well, so I’m more of a shooting guard. But at the same time, my AAU coach deemed me as a Swiss Army knife. If they need me to shoot the ball, drive and go get a bucket, or pass the ball and be a point guard, I’ll do it. I’ve been working really hard to take care of the ball and be a multi-skilled player wherever I’m needed.”

As McCain and the Huskies prepared to play in the semifinals of the Open Division CIF State Championships, Ry Atkins glanced at the other side of the bracket to see who they may match up against with a win. Enter, the Modesto Christian Crusaders.

Both the Crusaders and Huskies fell in the penultimate contest. However, the wheels started spinning for Ry Atkins, who was intrigued by a powerhouse program that was within realistic driving distance from him in Tuolumne. He and his dad submitted an application to the private school, and following an introductory meeting, the rest was history as they say.

“I told my parents that there was another level to this,” he said. “I did not get recruited! I went to MC on a whim. My dad has been a pastor his whole life, so it was a good idea for me to go to a Christian school. At the same time, I wanted to play basketball there. I just wanted to try faith and basketball at the D1 level. It was what’s best for me and my family outside of basketball. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were a top five team in all of NorCal.

“My parents and God are who I want to praise at this moment. My parents ultimately let me go there and supported me in that journey through every up and down. They trusted me to drive down every single morning. It felt like I was going to college as a junior, being an hour and a half away, and coming home late after practices and games. If I were to go back, I wouldn’t do anything differently. I’m super glad I went to MC. It changed my life drastically.”

Ry went on to play two years in Salida, where he won the D1 CIF SJS Championship as a junior and helped contribute to a section three-peat for the Crusaders with a 68-63 victory versus Lincoln from Stockton at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

After Modesto Christian advanced to the state playoffs, Ry Atkins had a breakout performance in the regional semifinals at top seed Salesian College Preparatory of Richmond. While the Crusaders may have lost 64-52, he made a name for himself in defeat.

“It was a dream,” Ry Atkins said. “Playing my junior year with talented players at MC that I competed with in practice, my game evolved and changed overnight. The three-peat, I look back and know how big of a deal it was, but back then I didn’t. I just thought it was awesome that we were going to sections. We got into the locker room and I just thought, ‘Dude, I am in an NBA arena! I would’ve never thought this would happen.’ I stepped foot on the floor and it was insane.

“Against Salesian, I played really well and people were saying, ‘Who is this Ry Atkins? This kid is going to be a monster his senior year!’ I ended my junior year on a really good note.”

In February, Modesto Christian returned to the home of the Sacramento Kings with a four-peat on the line. The Crusaders were defeated 62-52 by Folsom, but it wasn’t because of Ry Atkins, who tallied 16 points and 15 rebounds in the losing effort.

“For me, it was the cherry on top,” he said. “At the end of my senior basketball season, I was pretty burnt out with life. I was driving down every single day to school, I had a lot of homework in hard classes. There were some days that I was 30 minutes late to class, the traffic and accidents were crazy, I got pulled over once. My mom is a big part of my encouragement, wisdom and advice. 

“When we got to sections, she said, ‘You’ve worked really hard for this, driving every single day. I've never seen a kid do what you did with the dedication of someone who just wants to play basketball, driving that far. This is your time to have a good game. I want to see my son play really well.’ Walking out onto the Golden 1 floor, I just wanted to have fun. I played it like it was my last high school game. All of my entire life led to that moment of being the dude.”

Following the conclusion of his high school hoops career, Ry Atkins began to decide where he wanted to play next. He opted to stay home and play for Columbia College, where he will be joined by two local shooting guards, Noah Wright from Sonora and Titan Calise from Summerville.

With the trio of Tuolumne County talent, the Claim Jumpers will have the most local players on the roster since Hoyt’s first season at the helm in 2013-14.

“He’s got the size, but the biggest thing for him is his ability to play like somebody smaller,” Calise said of Ry Atkins. “Most guys his size from my experience are slow, sloppy and not as athletic as he is. His ability to stretch the floor and shoot from anywhere while still maintaining that frame, he really maintains his body and controls it really well.

“Here in Tuolumne County, you’re not getting the level of competition that you get at Modesto Christian. He’s going to be a step ahead of most people after playing at such a high-level school like that. He knows how to handle that pressure against guys of that caliber.”

When it comes to professional role models, Ry Atkins has two separate categories: Who he idolizes and who he sculpted his game after. For the former, it’s floor generals Stephen Curry and Kyrie Iriving. For the latter, it’s Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant and Austin Reaves.

“The way (Curry and Irving) love, cherish and play the game is a joy to watch! The way that they look when they play basketball is something that I hope I can achieve,” Ry Atkins said. “I went to a Warriors game with my dad and I got to shake Curry’s hand, it was like a ‘wow’ moment for me. I got to meet my idol.

“If you could combine Reaves, Doncic and Durant into one player, I feel like that’s who I model my game after. Durant has always been the person that I’ve modeled my game after the way he uses his length and height to shoot over the top of people, hit the open 3, drive past them and use his athleticism. Reaves for his ballhandling. Doncic on his pace, he created his own style. That’s the level I want to get to with court IQ.”

Columbia has a long lineage of local talent. From Sonora: Aaron Howell, Alex Kiriluk, Jonathan Mayben and Tim Skellenger. From Summerville: Travis Arenas, Rosendo AmayaWood, Mitchell Prevost, Jeremy Peterson and Gabe and Tige Wingo.

“Where Ry is going to stack on that, he’ll have a chance to have the best career of all of those guys,” Hoyt said. “He is because he’s 6'7, his attitude, work ethic and just stacking days. I would be surprised if he’s not at the top of that list when it’s all said and done.

“He has a chance to play basketball for a long time into his 30s. He is going to be great for us and move on with a scholarship. He’ll have a great career after Columbia. He’ll have a chance to fit in anywhere in any system. If he keeps working, he has a chance to play professionally.”

Ry Atkins hopes to cement his legacy not only as a local legend, but also, as one of the best Claim Jumpers of all time. Departing Columbia sophomore shooting guard, Rashaud Bradley, set the bar extremely high during his two years at Oak Pavilion, leaving the program as the third all-time leading scorer and arguably the greatest to ever don a Claim Jumpers uniform.

“Personally, it’s going to take a lot to break what Rashaud did,” Ry Atkins said. “Home is where the heart is. My heart is in Tuolumne. Born and raised, I love it here. You can’t beat everything here. For me to play basketball in front of a huge support system, who will hopefully pack out the arena, my goal is to be a Columbia College legend. I want to hang a banner and win state. I want to leave a legacy here for when I bring my kids back some day.”

After his time at Columbia concludes, Ry Atkins wants to continue hooping as long as possible, collegiately and professionally.

“As far as my dreams, I feel like Columbia could be a stepping stone for me to unlock a new level of basketball that I’ve never even touched before,” he said. “I trust coach Hoyt to push me to be the greatest basketball player that I’ll be. I want to play at a high major, D1, tournament-bound team like UCLA, USC, or Oregon. That’s if I’m the basketball player that I think I can be.

“I worked really hard to be a good high school basketball player. Now, the next chapter is I have to work 10 times harder than I did in high school to be an elite college level basketball player. Hopefully my game is good enough to be a really good four-year basketball player. After that, as long as I work hard, be diligent and trust in the Lord, if the next level is what I want, I can achieve that.”

Contact Shaun Holkko at sholkko@uniondemocrat.com or (209) 588-4526. Follow him on Instagram and X at @shaun_holkko