Washington High School senior Garrett Rickman was surrounded by lots of people who love him when he recently announced his decision to attend Tiffin University, where he will continue his education and his basketball career.
“Mount Union was definitely on top, because they stayed in contact with me and they invited me to visit,” Rickman said. “Mount Union and Ohio Christian (Circleville) were two camps I went to. The coaches stayed in contact with me. They were definitely the other top two behind Tiffin.
“The Tiffin coach over spring break messaged me,” Rickman said. “He cared a lot. He showed me it’s more than just basketball, it’s like a family thing. That’s what really drove me to sign and commit to them.
“I want to thank God, of course, first,” Rickman said. “Without Him, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to go (to Tiffin).
“I want to thank my mom, the most,” Rickman said. “Coach (Kory) Proby, coach (Shannon) Bartruff, coach (Dustin) Pfeifer, coach (Max) Knisley. All the guys who really built me up for this and took the extra time out of their day to help me.”
Rickman’s mother is Kasey Rickman.
“My brother, L.J. he was big on me,” Rickman said. “He watched over me a lot growing up, making sure I went down the right path. And my sister, Trinity, too.”
As for a course of study, Rickman is looking at business.
“I want to open up my own business in the future,” Rickman said. “I really like cutting hair, so, maybe a barber shop. Getting a haircut is like a new feeling, like you are fresh. I want to thank my barber, Riley, too. He always gets me right.” He was speaking of Riley Moon, C & C Barbershop in Greenfield.
When asked about a favorite teacher, Rickman responded without hesitation.
“Miss (Molly) Dye, for sure,” Rickman said. “I can talk to her about anything. She’ll tell me the truth instead of just what I want to hear. And Mr. Donnenwirth, too. He always pushes me past my limits and my comfort zone to make me a better person every day.”
Dye teaches criminology (Social Studies), a subject Rickman enjoys.
Shane Donnenwirth teaches British Literature.
“He helps me a lot through it,” Rickman said. “He pushes me to get better at it each day.
“Leadership, with my coach, coach (Shannon) Bartruff,” Rickman said. “We get to help around the school and make it look nicer every day.”
As he enters this new chapter of his life, Rickman knows that patience will be key to his success.
“It’s definitely going to be patience,” Rickman said. “I definitely just need to be patient about everything. My recruiting class going into Tiffin, they are really good. I’m going to have to go in there with confidence, too. You have to always make sure to keep your confidence. And really, time management, too.
“(I have to) make sure I put school first, then basketball,” Rickman said. “It’s student-athlete always. Yeah, patience.”
Memories are the stuff of life.
When we look back on our journey and recall our experiences, what did we do, with whom did we share those moments and the happiness it brought us, lifting us from the leaden realities of life.
Rickman spoke about a game from the 2022-23 season.
“We were going to play a tough Gallia team,” Rickman said. “They had a good record. Winning that game and the ride back. The ride back means more than just basketball itself.
“I got to be with Tanner Lemaster, Michael Bearden, Isaiah Haithcock, John Wall, those memories will stick with me forever as the best memories,” Rickman said. “Not even the game, it’s just the experience to be with the family, the team, it makes you feel like it’s more than just basketball.”
“I’m really, really proud of Garrett and the progress he’s made in our program over the last four years,” Bartruff said. “Moreso, probably, the last two years. One of the things I’m most proud of Garrett is his love of academics for the last couple of years.
“His GPA (grade point average) was not great and Garrett will tell you that,” Bartruff said. “We started to send film out last year and talk to coaches. We sent him to a couple of camps — get his name out there, get his game out there for college coaches to see him. A couple of them came back and said, we love the kid and I think he can fit here, but, his grades are not good enough.
“To Garrett’s credit, he used that as motivation and busted his butt for the last two years and he got his GPA up to where it’s respectable,” Bartruff said. “He’s done a really, really nice job. Really, for the last, probably, three semesters, he’s been a straight ‘A’, maybe a ‘B’ here or there student. That’s what I’m most proud about his accomplishments.
“His (basketball) skill is obvious to anyone who came and watched him play,” Bartruff said. “He’s super-athletic. I’m really excited for him to get this opportunity at Tiffin. It’s not going to be easy and G and I have talked about that. He’s really, really going to have to bust his butt and commit himself to their program.
“Tiffin is Division II and they play some really tough competition,” Bartruff said. “They’re elite athletes. It doesn’t matter if you go NAIA, Division III, Division II, ju-co, you have to be a stud. You have to be a really great prep player. And Garrett is. He’s going to have to hit the weight room. He’ll probably have to put some weight on for the competition level he’s going to see up there. He’s going to have to continue to work at his game.
“I’m just excited for him to get away from Washington C.H., be on his own and have to grow up a little bit,” Bartruff said. “Because, I think he’s ready for it. I think he’s prepared himself over the last couple of years. I have used him to talk to our younger players, to impart to them how important grades are.
“All these kids want to be college athletes,” Bartruff said. “But, they don’t understand that the grades come with it. The NCAA has a threshold. If you don’t have a specific GPA, it doesn’t matter, ACT (American College Testing) or whatever, they can’t accept you into a college.
“Again, Garrett’s done a phenomenal job in the classroom,” Bartruff said. “Personally, coaching him the last four years, getting to know him really well — we’ve been through some ups and downs. I’m just excited for him to have this opportunity to go to college.
“Garrett was one of our lead guards, he and John Wall,” Bartruff said. “He did a great job in transition. He became a much better shooter and he worked very hard to get to that point. There were times when he would just take games over.
“A game that stands out was last year against Warren,” Bartruff said. “He really didn’t do anything in that Sectional championship game here. Then he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and that’s what he can do. We ended up beating them by, I think, 10 or 11. It was a nip and tuck game the entire way. I think he scored six or eight straight points out of that 13 in that quarter. It was the difference in the game.
“Garrett’s a kid that, when other teams are doing scouting reports against us the last couple of years, he’s at the top of the list,” Bartruff said. “He would get face-guarded — they don’t want to let him get the ball because they knew if he got the ball, he was just really, really tough to guard.
“He can be a lock-down defender,” Bartruff said. “He can be a great rebounder. He wasn’t for us. It was something Garrett and I talked about a lot. I would show him stats after games and I told him, ‘you’re one of our best athletes, you should be getting more than one rebound a game.’ He’ll get better at that.”
Rickman was recognized this season as Second Team, All-District and First Team, All-FAC.
“For us, he was our most outstanding offensive player,” Bartruff said. “He averaged around 16 points a game and four or five assists and two or three steals a game.
“He came a long, long way from his freshman year to his senior year,” Bartruff said. “I’m super-excited to see what he can do at Tiffin University. It’s an opportunity and I hope he grabs it and takes off with it.”
