Ryan’s Scoring Success at Arete Prep

Arete Prep senior Ryan Mourad is a leading scorer on the school’s varsity boys’ basketball team, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his high school basketball career, and ranked 13^th in the nation for 3-pointers made.

Mourad recently told the East Valley Tribute that the 1,000^th point came as a surprise. He made the milestone point while playing in a tournament in December. “A few games later my parents walked in with some balloons I knew it was happening,” he said. The official announcement was made weeks later during a special pre-game ceremony at the Arete Prep gym, where he also received a special basketball commemorating the achievement. Mourad said he knew he was around that mark but didn’t realize he was there yet.

But this isn’t the only record Mourad has made. He set the school read for three-pointers for the last three years in a row. He is currently second in the state of Arizona and 13^th in the country for three-pointers made in a season. He will leave Arete Prep this year as the all-time leading scorer in program.

Mourad said he caught the basketball bug from his two older brothers. “They were playing it so I just I had to do it too, and just kind of always stuck with me,” recalled Mourad.

He said the sport has brought many life lessons for him during his time at the Great Hearts academy. “Basketball has taught me a lot of patience. If you look at games from last year and sophomore year, I was really short-tempered. I got a lot of [technical fouls] last year. Yelled a lot. And this year I’ve really learned to dial it back.”

With a high school athletic career like his, you would assume he was in talks with schools to play at the collegiate level, but Mourad said he is closing the doors on his organized basketball career when he graduates this year. “I love basketball. It’s like been a big part of my life and it’s been a lot of things for me, but it’s kind of nice to know the stress, and the anxiety, and the anger that comes with it – it’s just going to be set down finally. I’ll play recreational but organized basketball ends in high school for me.”

Mourad will be trading his gym shoes for a stethoscope. He will be majoring in medicine at ASU before going on to med school with the goal of becoming a doctor. But Mourad says that he feels Arete Prep has prepared him for success in his secondary education. “You always hear that student comes first and I think Arete does a good job of emphasizing that. It’s a pretty big workload in the classroom, but they give you all the resources you need to succeed. The rigor of the classes here set you up for success.”

Mourad, along with Grace Howell – an Arete student athlete who also reached the 1,000 point mark this year in girls’ basketball, is enjoying their senior year, with all the accomplishments and kudos coming their way. But more than anything else, they love basketball and the friendships it has brought their way.

“Winning is fun, playing at state is great,” Mourad said. “But playing basketball with your friends is so much fun.”

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