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Former OSS star commits to Queen's to court his dream

Ryan Heim had a goal to play post-secondary basketball; 'This was my goal ever since I got to high school,' says athlete, praising OSS coaches for their help

Ryan Heim, standing 6’6" and weighing 200 pounds, is an immovable force under the basket and during his four stellar years at Orillia Secondary School (OSS), he was known for knocking home rebounds and playing elite defence at the other end of the court.

With Heim’s offensive prowess and quiet leadership on the court, the Nighthawks soared to much success on the hardcourt.

In Heim’s Grade 11 year the Nighthawks won the Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championship, the Simcoe County Athletic Association (SCAA) championship and earned a chance to play at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) tournament.

However, the OSS squad failed to win a single game at the provincial high-school championship.

During Heim’s Grade 12 season, the Nighthawks repeated as GBSSA and SCAA champions and returned to OFSAA where they were winners of the consolation bracket, finishing as the ninth best team in Ontario.

“It was awesome to play with all my friends and compete at OFSAA with those guys,” Heim said.

After completing Grade 12 last year, Heim was awarded the school’s highest athletic honour, the Legends of OSS award. It's quite an accomplishment for Heim who came into OSS still learning the basics of the game, just one year removed from the start of his growing passion for basketball.

When Heim first started playing basketball in Grade 8 he wanted to model his game after Golden State Warriors small forward Klay Thompson, one of the best shooters in the National Basketball Association. That was something OSS basketball coaches Mike Tutty and Dan Fournier supported.

“Tutty and Fournier both let us all play," Heim said of his OSS coaches. "There was structure and we all trusted each other as teammates; that’s why it worked well for me." 

Heim feels he wouldn’t have found the same success playing basketball at a different school with different coaches.

“Playing under those two coaches was the best position I could have been put in playing in high school. Their style is the reason I played so well,” Heim said.

The 18-year-old has since moved on from OSS and signed on to play his Grade 12 B year at the London Basketball Academy (LBA) which competes against teams from across the country for a national championship in the National Preparatory Association. 

“Some coaches saw me play at OFSAA and contacted the head coach of the LBA (and) he reached out to me to see if I wanted to join the school,” Heim said.

Heim had already been on the radar of some notable universities but decided to join the LBA to take an extra year to craft his game.

“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. I’ve always lived at home with my family in Orillia,” Heim explained. “I think I really grew as a person and made the right decision.”

Heim’s LBA team was seeded fourth going into this year’s national tournament and Heim was ranked 113th on North Pole Hoops National Player Rankings before COVID-19 canceled the remainder of the season.

With the season coming to an abrupt end, Heim shifted his focus to his future. After receiving offers from multiple universities, Heim committed to playing for Queen’s University.

“It feels like all the hard work I’ve put in through the years has paid off and this is a motivator for me to keep going,” Heim said.

“This was my goal ever since I got to high school. Mike Tutty and Dan Fournier pushed me and I started getting better, I started to feel like I could get to the university level.”

Tutty says it was a treat to watch Heim grow with OSS during his four-year tenure at the school.

“When he came to OSS in Grade 9 he was big and talented and one of the first things everyone was shocked with was how he stretched the floor and shot from distance,” Tutty remembers.

“His leadership and his growth, from his agility to his ball-handling to his shooting to his ability to run a two-man game, he was unbelievable.”

Tutty was excited when he heard Heim had accepted an offer to play basketball at the post-secondary level, but it was no surprise.

“We have the utmost respect for him and to see him go on and commit to a university which I’ve known was his dream from Day 1, is fantastic,” Tutty said. 


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Tyler Evans

About the Author: Tyler Evans

Tyler Evans got his start in the news business when he was just 15-years-old and now serves as a video producer and reporter with OrilliaMatters
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