Men’s Basketball Adds Preist Ryan to 2026-27 Roster

Canisius head men's basketball coach Jim Christian announced today that Preist Ryan has committed to join the Golden Griffins' roster for the 2026-27 season.

Ryan, who played the 2025-26 season at Cleveland State, joins the Canisius program from the NCAA Transfer Portal. He will have one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, starting next year.

"Preist is a big-body player who brings a level of toughness and physicality to our roster," Christian said. "He has a really good feel for the game, and he possesses good footwork for someone his size. Preist also brings a veteran leadership presence to our roster, both on and off the court."

Ryan played 32 games and made 25 starts at Cleveland State last season, where he averaged 7.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the Vikings. He scored in double-figures nine times, including three of Cleveland State's last four games, highlighted by his season-high 23-point performance against IU Indy in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship tournament play-in game. In that game, he also grabbed 12 rebounds, one of his three double-double efforts on the year. In the team's last six games of the season, he averaged 13.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 44 percent from the field.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Ryan started his collegiate career at Coppin State, where he played in 16 games and made four starts as a true freshman in 2023-24. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 boards per game for the Eagles while shooting 37.9 percent (36-for-95) from the floor. He was good for a season-high 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block against Wagner, and he also posted 12 points in his collegiate debut at Virginia Tech, one of four games that year where he scored 10-or more points.

In 2024-25, Ryan played 30 games and averaged 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game at Howard College, a junior college located in Big Spring, Texas. After playing high school basketball at Richmond Heights High School in Pittsburgh, he went on to average 20 points per game in his post-grad season at Perkiomen School, where he helped lead the Panthers to the Great Atlantic Championship game.

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