Athletic careers all have unique beginnings. 

Whether activity initiates because of friends, peer pressure, accessibility, boredom or a combination thereof, each athlete gets a start in his or her own way.

For New Trier basketball players and siblings Griffin and Taite Ryan, it was all about family — and more poetically, a family domino effect. 

Their father, Doug Ryan, played basketball at New Trier and was a captain of the Trevians his senior year in 1979-80. And more recently, Griff followed the lead of older brother Whitt. Then, Taite was next up.

“I’ve been playing for as long as my older brother has been, so probably [since age] 1 or 2,” said Griff, a senior on the boys basketball team.

“I started playing around second grade because my brothers were doing it and everyone was doing it,” Taite said. “It was natural.”

Family is more than just the impetus for the Ryans’ basketball tradition; it’s also the motivation.

The siblings have pushed each other, especially the elders upon the youngest, Taite.

“We’d always go practice with each other, do things like shoot free throws, make her shoot a certain number of free throws in a row, saying she couldn’t leave until she made all of them or something like that,” Griff said.

Griff and Taite have parlayed the family bloodline into ever-expanding roles on their respective New Trier basketball teams, each of which is hoping to make some noise in the rapidly approaching postseason.  

Taite, a junior, is in her second varsity season, just like Griff, has stepped into the starting lineup after coming off of the bench as a sophomore, and Griff has showed versatility and resilience as a constant Trevians’ starter, seeing more action in the paint as of late with many of his teammates out with the flu. 

While both mentioned that it was their teammates who have helped them with their progression, they’ve seen their games improve thanks to a number of different factors.

“When I first started out, I was kind of typecast as a big man because I was tall for my age,” the elder Ryan said. “But over the years, I’ve developed an outside game, worked on my three-point shots. That’s the biggest difference I’ve seen and especially my mentality coming into games. I used to not be as aggressive.”

Taite agrees with much of what her brother said, but there’s also something else that’s been key for her: confidence.

“I think my skills have improved but what’s more shocking is how much my confidence has grown,” she said. “Being on varsity two years in a row, it’s helped my confidence grow and my aggressiveness. The comfort level has helped my confidence, but also my coaches have helped me a lot. I used to be scared to shoot or have the ball with me but now its ingrained in my head that I can do it.”

Like many athletes in today’s high school sports landscape, both Griff and Taite are multi-sport athletes at New Trier. 

Griff plays on the varsity baseball team, while Taite has been a key contributor on the girls volleyball team the past two seasons.

Not only have both played key roles, but they’ve also led their teams to successful campaigns. The Trevians baseball team finished fourth in the state last season, while the girls volleyball team made it to the supersectional this past fall.

They both agreed that playing another sport has helped in their athletic development.

“It has helped my jump and agility,” Taite said. “When I’m playing volleyball, it makes me want to play basketball and vice versa, where when I’m playing basketball, it makes me want to play volleyball. It keeps my love for both sports alive.”

It’s not just physical action that has helped Griff.

“A lot of what baseball is about is the mentality you bring to the game and that’s what I’ve taken from there,” he said. “If you miss a shot, or in baseball, if you swing and miss, you still get to go up there and swing again. It kind of keeps you going in the mentality of never getting down and focusing on the game because like in baseball, if you’re not focused on the play, the ball will find you.”

The high school basketball season is nearing its end. Just next week — on Monday, Feb. 12 — the IHSA girls postseason begins. 

The New Trier girls squad earned the fifth seed in the rugged Maine East Sectional and will host a regional Monday-Thursday, Feb. 12-15, facing Glenbrook North in the regional semifinal, with a potential rematch with Trinity in the regional final.

The boys squad is half a game back of Evanston  for first place in the Central Suburban League South through Feb. 5. The next two weeks will determine the conference title as the Trevians head to Niles North (Friday, Feb. 9) and Evanston (Feb. 16) in back-to-back weeks.

Each Ryan sibling is confident as they approach postseason play.

“We think we can beat anyone, so it’s just a matter of showing up and playing to the best of our ability,” Griff said. “Doing all the little things is what’s made the difference in our biggest games so far. Stuff like taking charges, doing the small things to shore up what needs to be done to be successful.”

His sister agrees to an extent.

“For my team, the skills are there but we have to put them together, and second, have the attack mentality that this could be our last game and we have to go and fight our hardest, be the aggressor versus standing on our heels.”

With college decisions looming for both, Griff is looking to possibly attend and play basketball at the University of Chicago.

“I really like the enthusiasm they bring to the program,” he said. “Academics combined with the drive I saw when I’ve been there has really caught my attention.”

Taite, however, might have a bit of a tougher decision, having to choose between playing volleyball or basketball.

“I think I want to play volleyball in college,” she said. “I’m not quite sure where yet but I’m looking more towards the East Coast so hopefully somewhere up there.”

Griff would go on to be a walk-on for the University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team and will be a junior in the 2020-21 season, while Taite plays volleyball at Dartmouth and will be a sophomore during the 2020 season.