Photo courtesy of Southwest Minnesota State University 2002 graduate Ryan Martin will be the Southwest Minnesota State commencement speaker on May 10.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University announced on Thursday that Ryan Martin, Class of 2002, will deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2025 at the 57th Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m. May 10 in the SMSU R/A Facility.

Raised in Somers, Connecticut, Ryan Martin was born with spina bifida and had both of his legs amputated at the age of 2. He was adopted and raised in a family of 12, with several of his siblings living with some form of disability.

According to a SMSU press release, Martin and his siblings were active and eager to try anything. Upon discovering basketball in his youth, Ryan’s world went from wheelchair bound to college-bound at SMSU.

He competed in co-ed wheelchair basketball at SMSU. He was a member of the SMSU team that captured the National Wheelchair Basketball Association title.

In his senior year, Martin joined the prestigious 1,000-point club and set the all-time assist record for the wheelchair basketball program.

Martin graduated in 2002 with a degree in Secondary Education with a minor in Sociology.

After graduation, he taught briefly in Arizona and joined the Phoenix Wheelchair Suns, playing in the 2005 NWBA All-Star games. Then a call came that changed his life. He was invited to play in the professional basketball league in Europe. He competed in 10 seasons of professional basketball in Spain and France.

While in Spain in 2006, he established a nonprofit organization, The Ryan Martin Foundation (RMF), to promote athletic opportunities for people with disabilities. Today Martin is the executive director of RMF, now an international non-profit organization. The RMF mission is to help youth and adult athletes with disabilities live independent, impassioned, productive, and fulfilling lives through sports training, mentoring, and education. RMF supports two year-round junior programs, one in Connecticut and the other internationally in Madrid, Spain.

“The motivation behind my nonprofit came from noticing the lack of representation for youth with disabilities at basketball camps. I felt a strong calling to provide these opportunities to those who are often marginalized,” he said. “Our mission has always centered around increasing access to sports for youth with disabilities. It’s vital to provide these opportunities where they may not typically exist.”

Martin is the advisor for the City University of NY Athletic Conference (CUNY) working to bring an adaptive sports program to the New York City campuses that serves 250,000 undergraduate students. In that capacity, Ryan has achieved bringing the first adaptive sports team in the history of CUNY and inspiring disabled athletes to return to college.

He coaches the Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair Basketball teams which launched in Fall 2020. This program was the first in the region competing in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Collegiate Conference.

“I believe that adaptive sports can significantly impact not just physical health but also emotional well-being, fostering confidence and a sense of belonging among participants,” said Martin. “I believe that adaptive sports can significantly impact not just physical health but also emotional well-being, fostering confidence and a sense of belonging among participants.”

In his free time, Martin also plays in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA). He is a member of the back-to-back reigning national champions, the New York Rolling Knicks. He serves as the vice-president of the NWBA. He is also a consultant for the NCAA on its Inclusive Sports Model.

In 2019 he was named to the Hartford Business Journal’s “40 under 40” class and received the same honor in 2015 from Connecticut Magazine. In 2022, he was named the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee College Coach of the Year. He is also a consultant for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

“I’m incredibly excited to return to campus as the commencement speaker. It’s a unique honor to share my journey and insights with the class of 2025,” said Martin.