Earning His Way

In the end, it was flat-out impossible to ignore Ryan Forehan-Kelly.

People at California did at first, though, when he showed up for basketball practice in the fall of 1998. The Santa Margarita High forward turned down scholarship offers from several Division I schools and walked on with the Golden Bears, whom he had admired since childhood.

But Forehan-Kelly persevered, earned a scholarship and has become one of the best three-point shooters in Cal history, making 46% of his shots. The 6-foot-5 junior will be one of the first players off the bench tonight when Cal (1-2) plays UC Irvine (2-1) at the Bren Center. Game time is 7:30.

Cal is coming off a disheartening 88-66 loss at Saint Louis. The Bears have not won a road game since the middle of last season, a string of six consecutive losses. Irvine is desperate for a victory against a name-brand team. The Anteaters are 2-13 against Pacific 10 Conference teams since 1990. One of those victories was over Cal, 98-88, on Dec. 22, 1990.

Forehan-Kelly, a swingman on Santa Margarita’s 1998 Southern Section championship team, realizes the importance of tonight’s game for both programs.

“It’s tough to win road games, period,” he said. “It’s a big disadvantage being away from home, but we have to be that much tougher and go out and get it.”

The fact that Forehan-Kelly, who hopes to become a lawyer, has an opportunity to discuss his role in a game--any game--is amazing. He spent his freshman season on the Bears’ practice squad.

“Being a walk-on in general is real tough,” he said. “Most walk-ons are pretty much the stars of their high school teams, not just some bums on the court. It’s tough going from playing the entire game for your whole career in high school to strictly being a practice player.

“You are kind of on your own at first. My freshman year, we had four or five senior transfers and the coaches were busy concentrating on getting them better, instead of spending any time with me.”

Things didn’t appear much brighter at the start of last season. Despite spending a lot of time polishing his game and lifting weights in the off-season, Forehan-Kelly averaged only 7.2 minutes and scored a total of 12 points in Cal’s first 15 games.

“I was always ready to play, always ready to go into the games,” he said. “It was just a matter of putting in work and having the determination to do so.”

Hard work paid off on Jan. 15, when Forehan-Kelly made four of five three-point attempts and scored a team-high 17 points in a 71-65 victory at Oregon State. Forehan-Kelly went on to start the final five games of the season and earned the team award for best defensive player.

“I knew I was good enough to play,” he said. “I just kept improving every day, and the coaches saw that and gave me a chance.”

Last summer, Cal Coach Ben Braun gave Forehan-Kelly a scholarship.

“Ryan has become a major contributor for us on both sides of the ball,” Braun said. “He is an excellent shooter and a totally unselfish player.”

Forehan-Kelly led the Bears with 13 points in their 57-54 loss to Texas two weeks ago. But against Saint Louis, he scored only seven points in 24 minutes.

“We played terrible in St. Louis,” Forehan-Kelly said. “We just have to use that performance to learn from. We did a lot of stuff to hurt ourselves.”

Forehan-Kelly said that he was grateful for the scholarship, but it wasn’t expected.

“I was raised not to expect or want anything,” he said. “I just want to win. Whatever the coaches think . . . if we’re going to win with me on the bench or if we are going to win with me starting, I’m going to do that. If they want me to serve water, I’ll serve water. Whatever it takes to win.”