From the moment Ryan Kriener was born, he was destined to play basketball.

His father, Rich, who played college basketball at Mankato State, recalls his son always being attracted to putting the ball in the hoop when he was a toddler.

“From the time Ryan was two years old, he loved having a ball in his hands. We bought him one of those plastic hoops in the basement and he would play with that every day.”

That passion stayed with Ryan Kriener, even in his early teenage years. The Kriener’s put up a hoop in the driveway and if the weather allowed it, Ryan was putting up shots. When it didn’t he would get his parents to take him to the indoor gym to get some work in.

“We knew he had a passion for it and we did our best to fulfill it. He did all the work and we just tried to give him the access to it,” his father said. “He was always really self-motivated. It wasn’t like we had to urge him or push him towards basketball. He always wanted to get out there and work on his game.”

That passion for basketball became even clearer to his parents when after a long weekend at an AAU Tournament away from home, Ryan jumped out of the car when he was in his early teens and immediately went out and started shoot for an hour.

“I think I was just tired of sitting in the car and wanted to get out and stretch my legs,” Ryan Kriener said with a laugh.

Being a basketball parent comes with some level of sacrifice. It’s long weekends at events in the spring and summer that involve a lot of travel, the cost of staying in hotel rooms, and time away from home. Ryan has a deep appreciation for what his parents did to help him get to where he is today.

“It means so much,” he said. “I have thanked them a few times and I probably need to thank them a few more because of all the time that they put in driving me to camps and events. They have been all over the country with me and helped me get to where I am today.”

From an early age, it was clear Kriener had the talent to play basketball, but from the college perspective, it was unknown how high his ceiling would end up being. At the start of his freshman year in high school, Kriener was about 5-foot-11. His father is tall, so a growth spurt was almost certainly coming, but what stood out early on was his drive and competitiveness.

“I thought he had talent and we would work on a lot of different things. We would work on different moves, like a jump hook, his outside shot, and things like that. We also took him to camps and he started working out with Tim Schuring from T&T5 out of the Cedar Rapids area. We started with him at a young age. I have always been a big believer in skill development and he was really helpful to Ryan.”

Then by the end of his freshman year, Kriener hit his first growth spurt and grew to 6-foot-5. By the end of his sophomore year he as 6-foot-7 and playing on a very good varsity team at New Hampton High School.

At that same time he was playing with the Iowa Barnstormers AAU program and they played a role in starting to get his name out to scouting services by taking him to a few major events and camps.

Kriener went into this junior year looking to start to gain more D1 scholarship offers. That season, after transferring to Spirit Lake High School, Kriener sustained a broken nose during the season. He had to have surgery after the high school season was done and that slowed him down during the spring evaluation period.

“He probably had about 15-20 offers at that point. UNI really wanted him and he had a lot of schools after him, but Ryan decided he wanted to wait until July to make a decision, so he did that,” his father said.

That turned out to be a sound decision because during the July evaluation period, Kriener had his blow up moment while playing on the Martin Brothers AAU team coached by Hank Huddleson. It was a talented team with Jordan Bohannon running the offense and Kriener, along with Cordell Pemsl (when he was healthy), doing their thing in the paint.

Suddenly, Kriener went from mid-major prospect to the hot high major big man prospect in the Midwest. Wichita State offered. Minnesota jumped into the fray and Clemson was ready to join the offer list.

One phone call changed everything and that was from Fran McCaffery and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kriener grew up a Hawkeye fan, so when McCaffery called it changed everything as far as his recruitment. His father recalls that day in detail.

“I remember I was out in California at my brother’s wedding and Ryan called and said Iowa offered,” he said. “He was really excited and I told him, if you want to do it then let’s do it.”

Ryan Kriener recalls it a little bit differently. While he didn’t actually commit on the spot, it was close.

“Richard Pitino had called and offered me the same day and they were both on me pretty hard. I was actually thinking about Minnesota because they had been on me really hard and then the offer from Iowa came and I was like, wow, I can really live out the dream. I thought about it for six hours, so it wasn’t on the spot, but it was close,” he said with a laugh.

With Kriener now officially a Hawkeye, he could live out that Iowa dream and he has for the past four seasons. But, it wasn’t without its share of highs and lows.

The low points were scary and involved a couple of concussions. A decade or more ago, multiple concussions wouldn’t have been as big of a deal, but today, they are and Kriener had three of them in fairly short period of time.

One happened in a team camp setting where he was undercut and landed on his head. Another was against Penn State, and the most dramatic one was against Rutgers when he ran into an official. The last one sidelined him for several weeks.

“It was scary. The second one was pretty bad and it took a long time to come back from that one,” he said.

His parents appreciated the care that he received from the Iowa doctors and their ability to isolate the injury to help with his recovery and treatment.

“All of the doctors and trainers at Iowa were terrific,” his father said. “They were able to figure out the area that was injured and treat it properly and give him the best treatment possible.”

Due to the injuries and a deep roster, playing time was sometimes scarce and as with most college players, doubt starts to creep in. Should I go somewhere else for a fresh start? Would there be an opportunity to get more playing time elsewhere?

At the end of the day, Kriener knew he wanted to be a Hawkeye and his father dispensed with some very sound advice.

“There were always schools that were interested in him and he probably could have gone elsewhere, but when you leave it might work out, but it might not and staying somewhere four years, whether you are a star or not, has a lot of value. Later in your life if you leave, you will never have that same bond with the Hawkeyes.”

Since that point, the Hawkeye bond grew and Iowa made the NCAA Tournament last year and is a lock to make a return trip in his senior season, with Kriener playing a significant role on both teams.

“It’s always been my belief that it’s team before me,” Kriener said. “I’ve always looked at myself as a team player and I will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means just screening and rebounding. That goes back to my freshman year when I was playing scout team. You realize that there are 15 other guys on the team and everyone was the best player on their high school team and it’s not your team, its coach’s team. You have to do things to help the team win.”

The final year is hopefully always the most rewarding for a player and their family as they watch from the stands. That has been especially true for the Kriener and they make the five hour road trip to Iowa City for home games and even longer trips to various arenas around the country. This season he’s been a part-time starter and potential sixth man of the year in the best conference in America, averaging 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

“Not a lot of people thought they would have the season they are having and I think that’s a sign of the determination of Ryan and his teammates. They don’t quit and they keep coming and that’s a special quality for a team,” his father said.

On Tuesday night, Kriener will take the floor one final time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa will be hosting Purdue and before the game, the emotions of the moment will be with Ryan and his family.

“I picked up my senior poster the other day and it really all sort of hit me that this was coming to an end here. I'm really grateful to have lived out my dream at Iowa. It’s going to be an emotional night for sure,” he said.

“That is going to be hard,” his father said. “It’s emotional and it’s been a fun and rewarding journey. We are just really proud of Ryan and his accomplishments and what this team has accomplished.”