Ryan Doherty
Doherty, was born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey, grew up playing baseball, including at Toms River High School East. He was named the 2002 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of New Jersey and was awarded a partial scholarship to play baseball at the University of Notre Dame for the Fighting Irish. He is believed to have been the tallest player in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association baseball history. While at Notre Dame, he did not play collegiate volleyball due to his baseball commitments. In 2002, he was named an All-American.
Height in sports
While the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) is filled with shorter players who achieved greatness (Theo Fleury, Martin St. Louis), and the highest scorer in NHL history, Wayne Gretzky, is tall and played at , the game's increasingly physical style has put a premium on imposing players, particularly over tall and over (Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, Chris Pronger). Taller, bigger players have a longer reach, are more able to give out and sustain body checks, and have greater leverage on their shooting such as a slap shot (examples include Tyler Myers at , and Eric Staal, Rick Nash, Ryan Getzlaf, and Joe Thornton, all at . The average height of an NHLer is just over tall. Zdeno Chára, at , is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL. In recent years, the height of goaltenders has increased as taller goaltenders can cover a larger portion of the goal when on their knees in the butterfly goaltending style. Ben Bishop at is the tallest goaltender currently in the NHL.