Ryan Cuff
Basketball Blood is a series of short motivational stories relating to the game of basketball and life.
Ryan Cuff is a former high school basketball All American from Richfield, Utah. He went on to play Division 1 basketball at three different universities. Ryan then continued playing basketball professionally in New Zealand and England. When his playing career ended, he began another life of coaching. For the past ten years Ryan has discovered and developed his true passion in life: coaching basketball. He is currently teaching and coaching at Dixie High School in St. George, Utah. Ryan has been married to his wife, Lisa, for 13 years and counting. They have three children: Tanner, Pyper, and Tiger Luke.
I fell in love with my basketball around the age of five. I’d wear my Junior Jazz jersey, act like I was John Stockton, run down the hallway and dunk my ball into a small five-foot hoop that my dad had set up in our living room. My parents would watch me and cheer for me. My dad would say, “Get it, get it, jump shot!”
That was surely just the beginning of my basketball career. Thirty years later I still love the game that has been in my life whether I’ve been playing, coaching, or watching it. I have decided that basketball is in my blood. Crimson-colored blood doesn’t course through my veins; I think it’s orange with neatly striped black lines.
Basketball is what I know and it’s what I do. My entire life has been dedicated to the game in some aspect, and not a single day goes by without basketball affecting me. Tony Dorsett, a former professional athlete, once said, “To succeed…you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.” I feel that basketball has been that “something” for me. It’s what keeps me going. It’s what has shaped me into the person I am today. I am who I am because of basketball.
I decided to write this book because I felt that I had something to share with everyone willing and able to read through these pages. You may not be obsessed with basketball like I am, but I believe that as you read these stories you will find meaning in them. I want to share my personal life-changing events with you to help you live a better life. For me, when I revisit these experiences I continue to learn. I learn from earlier mistakes. I learn from all those people who have passed through my life and left an indelible impression upon me. And as I think back, I perceive all these many events in a new light and I immediately want to change for the better. I want to become more by being my best.
My wish for everyone who reads this book is that you will enjoy reading about my passion, learn something new, take away something good and apply it to your life by becoming more. My goal is not to impress you, but rather to inspire you. Hopefully this book will motivate you to stay in the game of life. We all win some and lose a few. That’s how life is! And when you lose, I hope you will do it with dignity and jump right back in the game and become a winner.
I truly hope you will enjoy my real-life journey through basketball experiences and that you, too, will find joy and happiness in your own journey.
