SAN DIEGO — As a kid, Cormac Ryan spent every March watching the NCAA Tournament and seeing Notre Dame play in the old Big East Tournament.
He’s now living out his childhood dreams.
The Manhattan native helped ensure the Irish weren’t one-and-done, playing one of the best games of his career in Wednesday’s classic First Four, double-overtime win over Rutgers. The 6-foot-5 junior guard is hoping to extend his stay against sixth-seeded Alabama on Friday at Viejas Arena in a West Region opening-round game.
“It’s a great feeling. To see hard work pay off in any respect is awesome,” he told The Post. “To finally be here in a position to make some noise, all you can ask for is a great opportunity and that’s what we have.”
He’s hitting his stride at the right time, scoring in double figures seven times in his last nine games. He had 16 points and three steals in the win over Rutgers, a seesaw affair that likely will be remembered as the best First Four game since that play-n round was created 11 years ago.
Cormac Ryan Getty Images“You live for that kind of stuff,” said Ryan, who is averaging career-highs in rebounds (4.8), field-goal percentage (43.8) and 3-point percentage (38.4) along with 8.6 points per game.
Ryan initially committed to Stanford, but after a year at the Pac-12 school, he opted to transfer. His first call came from Notre Dame, which was one of his finalists coming out of Milton Academy (Mass.). It didn’t take long for him to make a choice.
“It was a pretty easy decision,” Ryan said.
