Ryan Thomas Kalkbrenner (born January 17, 2002) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Creighton Bluejays The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams that represent Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. They compete in NCAA Division I in the Big East Conference. Sports sponsored Base ...

. He is from

Florissant, Missouri Florissant () is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a middle-class, second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population ...

High school career

Kalkbrenner played basketball for Trinity Catholic High School in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. As a junior, he averaged 13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, earning AAA Player of the Year and Class 3 All-State honors. Kalkbrenner competed for Mac Irvin Fire on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

circuit, and was named

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. In his senior season, Kalkbrenner averaged 16.3 points, 11 rebounds and 5.7 blocks per game, repeating as a Class 3 All-State selection. A consensus four-star recruit, he committed to playing college basketball for Creighton over offers from

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

College career

Kalkbrenner came off the bench in his freshman season at Creighton. On December 17, 2020, he recorded a season-high 15 points and five rebounds in a 94–76 win over St. John's. As a freshman, Kalkbrenner averaged 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, leading all

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

freshmen in blocks. On February 12, 2022, he scored a career-high 22 points and had 15 rebounds in an 80–66 win against Georgetown. Kalkbrenner was named Honorable Mention All-

as well as Defensive Player of the Year. He suffered a knee injury in a 72–69 overtime win over

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

in the NCAA Tournament, ending his season. Kalkbrenner averaged 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. During the following NCAA tournament, Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 31 points during a 72–63 first round win over

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. On October 23, 2024, he was named 2024-2025

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Preseason Player of the Year. On November 6, he scored a career-high 49 points in a win over the

UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (often referred to as the UT–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros, Rio Grande Vaqueros or the UTRGV Vaqueros) is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The Vaquero ...

and set a Bluejays record with 20 made field goals.

National team career

Kalkbrenner represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Latvia. He averaged 5.9 points, four rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, helping his team win the gold medal.

Personal life

Ryan's parents are Kraig and Lynn Kalkbrenner, his brother is Nate Kalkbrenner. He married Rachael Saunders, a Creighton women's basketball alumna, in August 2024.

Career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Creighton , 31 , , 0 , , 13.8 , , .645 , , .000 , , .489 , , 3.5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Creighton , 34 , , 34 , , 29.4 , , .646 , , .250 , , .736 , , 7.7 , , .9 , , .4 , , 2.6 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Creighton , 34 , , 34 , , 32.2 , , .695 , , .316 , , .795 , , 6.1 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 2.1 , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;", Creighton , 35 , , 35 , , 34.7 , , .646 , , .296 , , .711 , , 7.6 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , 3.1 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2024–25 , style="text-align:left;", Creighton , 35 , , 35 , , 34.5 , , .653 , , .344 , , .681 , , 8.7 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 2.7 , , 19.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 169 , , 138 , , 29.3 , , .658 , , .311 , , .709 , , 6.8 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 2.4 , , 14.5

References

External links

Creighton Bluejays bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalkbrenner, Ryan 2002 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from St. Louis Centers (basketball) Creighton Bluejays men's basketball players