Photo by Samantha Davis. Southwest Minnesota State University 2002 alum Ryan Martin gives a graduation speech to the Class of 2025 on May 10 in Marshall in the R/A Facility. Martin played on the Mustangs’ wheelchair basketball team during his time, and played professionally for 10 seasons. Below: Photo from SMSU Newspaper Archives. Southwest Minnesota State University 2002 alum Ryan Martin (front row holding basketball) takes a photo with the 2000-2001 wheelchair basketball team who went on the become national champions runners-up.

MARSHALL — Continuing his life’s mission to advocate for those with physical disabilities through an example of a professional wheelchair basketball career, and starting a foundation of his own, Southwest Minnesota State University alum Ryan Martin had the recent opportunity to revisit Marshall and reflect on where his success began.

“It’s always wild to go back to Marshall … I was trying to recall my entire collegiate experience,” Martin said. “It was a full circle moment to come back … It was a really surreal experience.”

Martin, Class of 2002 with an education degree, was born with spina bifida and had both legs amputated at 2 years old, the age he was also adopted. He played on the SMSU wheelchair basketball team during his time in Marshall.

The Somers, Conn., native returned to the R/A Facility to give the graduation speech for the Class of 2025 at the 57th Commencement Ceremony on May 10.

“It was interesting, because when we toured around the campus, so much is still the same, and then there’s so many things that are different. It was a flood of memories, like the PE Gym smelled the same as it always did,” Martin said laughing. “It was really great to be able to connect with former professors … It’s always nice when you have somebody who really mentored and really helped you along the process, and you get a chance to say, ‘Hey, thank you.'”

Martin first discovered basketball at the age of 12, sparking an immediate interest in the sport. He enrolled at SMSU without ever seeing campus because of the inclusive opportunity to play wheelchair basketball.

“Southwest was a very critical time for me to realize my own potential, and then to start getting closer to that potential,” Martin said. “Whether that was on the court or off.”

Martin’s 2001 team in particular had an excellent season, reaching the National Wheelchair Basketball Association national championship game under the late coach Dale Erickson, despite a 60-47 loss to Lakeshore out of Alabama in Chicago.

The Mustangs finished that season 33-8, and Martin finished his career as the program’s all-time assists leader.

“That was a crazy year,” Martin said. “Definitely a memorable experience that whole run, going through the Final Four and things like that.”

After his time in Marshall, Martin embarked on a professional career that included a stint with the Phoenix Wheelchair Suns and 10 seasons overseas between Spain and France.

“I really appreciated the opportunity to learn other languages and embrace other cultures,” Martin said. “I think everybody should spend time traveling, especially when you’re young. Formulate some of your ideas, and be able to think critically. I can’t say enough about how formative that was in the person I am today, learning how to navigate difficult situations and being thrown into brand new surroundings.”

Martin translated his success on the court to his personal careers, becoming an advisor for the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNY), a consultant for the NCAA on their Inclusive Sports Model and created The Ryan Martin Foundation [RMF] in 2006 while he was playing in Spain.

In his role for CUNY, Martin developed an adaptive sports program for undergraduate students across New York City campuses.

“I helped design, implement and now I run the adaptive sports program at the university. The university has 250,000 undergraduate students all across New York City, 25 different campuses,” Martin said. “There was never an adaptive sports program on the East Coast until I took the role.”

The RMF works to create an opportunity for disabled individuals to participate in athletics, while offering mentorship of health, wellness, training and access to education.

“Creating systems where more individuals can get access to sport and access to education is really what I consider my life’s mission,” Martin said. “I look at adaptive sports as a part of the holistic journey for quality of life for an individual with a disability. I think you can look at it with a lot of different schemas, whether you look at education, employment, health and wellness or quality of life.”

Through his various roles, Martin has continued to make sure there is a voice for the disabled community, and shares insightful advice any chance he gets.

“I want my impact to help lead to systemic change … We need advocates within the disabled community, especially those who have been successful, to really remind people that, ‘Hey, these pathways are here for a reason,'” Martin said. “If they want to be an athlete, great. If they want to be a lawyer, great. If they want to be a doctor, great. But, just really honoring that gift and helping them recognize the potential they have is what I always get back to when I work with members of the disabled community.”

Martin, who now resides back in Connecticut with his wife, Lindsay, also noted his upbringing of being raised in a family of 12 played a significant role in his journey of success.

“Honestly, I really give a lot of credit to that [family of 12] because in a family dynamic like the one I had, you had to learn how to work with each other. There was no ‘I,’ it was always ‘We,'” Martin said. “You have to learn to work in small groups and large groups just for basic survival purposes, but also you learn when to lead and when not to lead … I think a lot of what I do now, like managing groups and organizing things, I owe credit to that upbringing.”

During his return to southwest Minnesota, Martin took time to revisit the halls that were once his and the athletic facility he made numerous memories in, to remember his old roots that shaped him into who he is today.

“I feel like it [SMSU] prepared me to use the skill sets that I had, and that I acquired, to do a wide range of things,” Martin said. “That’s probably the one thing that I reflected on, because the person I was when I was 18 in Minnesota, would have never imagined what I am doing now.”