Damien Ryan is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

er.

Ryan attended Salesian College in Sunbury.

After starring as a junior basketballer in Sunbury, Victoria, Ryan began his NBL career with the Canberra Cannons

Canberra Cannons

The Canberra Cannons were a basketball team competing in the Australian National Basketball League. They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter Pirates...

 for the 1998/1999 season and he won the Rookie of the Year

NBL (Australia) Rookie of the Year

* 1983 Jamie Kennedy * 1984 Andrew Gaze * 1985 Mike McKay * 1986 Steve Lunardon * 1987 Greg Hubbard * 1988 Shane Heal...

 award for that season. After only one more season with the Cannons, Ryan signed on to play for the Brisbane Bullets

Brisbane Bullets

The Brisbane Bullets were, until 2008, a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The Bullets were one of only two teams that survived since the NBL's inception in 1979; the only surviving team is now the Wollongong Hawks. The team played in Midnight Navy...

 in 2000. Ryan continued with the Bullets for a further two seasons, included a stellar season in 2002/2003 where he averaged 18.62 ppg http://www.nblstats.com/players.php?playerid=10997.

After this stint with the Bullets, Ryan left Australia to compete in Serie A

Serie A (basketball)

Lega Basket Serie A is the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball where play determines the national champion. The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 30 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals and semifinals series are best-of-five, and...

 basketball league in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. He initially played for Avellino

S.S. Felice Scandone

S.S. Felice Scandone, also known by their sponsorship name of Sidigas Avellino, is a prominent Italian League professional basketball club that is based in Avellino, in southern Italy. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.-History:...

 from 2004–2005 and then played for Teramo

Teramo Basket

Teramo Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Teramo, Italy and plays in the Italian League. For sponsorship reasons, it is also known as Bancatercas Teramo. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.-History:...

 in 2006. During his time in Italy, Ryan was named in the Australian national men's team, the Boomers, in 2005 and 2006.

In late 2006, Ryan returned to Australia and was signed by the Perth Wildcats

Perth Wildcats

The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League. The Wildcats are the only team in the league representing the state of Western Australia and are based in the state capital, Perth...

 to replaced injured guard Adam Caporn

Adam Caporn

Adam Caporn is an Australian basketballer currently playing in the National Basketball League for the Perth Wildcats.-Playing career:...

. His signing was a significant boost to the Wildcats lineup as Ryan provided excellent performances coming off the bench. Ryan has been named as a free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 after the completion of the 2006/07 season. For the 2007/08 season he has signed with the Italian LegADue

LegADue

Legadue or Lega2 is the second-highest division of professional club basketball in Italy since 2001-2002 season...

 (second division) team Vanoli Soresina

Gruppo Triboldi Basket

Gruppo Triboldi Basket, also known for sponsorship reasons as Vanoli Soresina or Vanoli Cremona, is an Italian League professional basketball team whose legal domicile is in Soresina but plays its home games in Cremona...

. On August 2008 moved to Aurora Basket Jesi

Aurora Basket Jesi

Aurora Basket Jesi, also known for sponsorship reasons as Fileni Jesi is an Italian professional basketball team from the town of Jesi.-History:...

, in the same League.

In 2010, Ryan will return to the Australian NBL with the Sydney Kings

Sydney Kings

The Sydney Kings are a professional basketball team competing in the Australasian National Basketball League. They are the only team to date to win three consecutive championships in the NBL and currently sit third behind the Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne Tigers two away from the record five wins...

.

In January 2011 he signed with Cimberio Varese

Pallacanestro Varese

-Notable players:-Notable coaches: Aleksandar Nikolić Nico Messina Sandro Gamba Edoardo Rusconi Joe Isaac Carlo Recalcati Valerio Bianchini Ruben Magnano-Sponsorship names:Through the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as:...

.