Ryan McMahon committed to Louisville in 2015 during his senior year at Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, FL. McMahon was rated as the 237th prospect in the class according to 247sports’ composite rankings. A few recruiting services, including ESPN, rated him as a 4-star recruit out of high school.
McMahon redshirted during his first year in the Ville. The Cards finished 23-8 despite missing the NCAA tournament due to a self-imposed postseason ban.
During his freshman season in 2016-2017, McMahon appeared in 28 games off the bench, scoring 2.5 points per game while shooting 36.5 percent from three in 6.3 minutes per game.. All but one of his 20 made field goal attempts were from three-point range. McMahon’s best performance of his first season came in a 106-51 win over Pitt on January 24th when he scored 15 points with 5 assists on 5-7 shooting from long range.
During his sophomore season under interim head coach David Padgett, McMahon improved his game in every major category. Ryan played 15.6 minutes per game, averaging 6.5 points, 1.5 assists and 1.1 rebounds per contest. He appeared in 29 games off the bench after missing Louisville’s first seven games due to a broken rib. McMahon improved to 40.8 percent from long range and made 12 two-point field goals after only making one in his first year.
In season three, McMahon took on a larger role under first year head coach Chris Mack. Ryan played double-figure minutes in all 34 games for the Cards, averaging 7.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game on a Louisville team that earned a 7-seed in the 2019 NCAA tournament. McMahon shot 35.3 percent from three-point range and a team-leading 95.0 percent from the free throw line. The highlight of his junior year came when McMahon scored 24 points in an 82-78 overtime win over 9th ranked Michigan State at home. Ryan connected on 4 of 7 three point attempts and 12 of his 13 free throws. Overall, McMahon scored in double-figures eight different times during his junior season after doing so a combined seven times in his first two years.
His senior season was his best in a Cardinal uniform. McMahon appeared in all 31 games, starting 15 of them while posting averages of 8.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game. He shot 43.6 percent from three point range on a career-high 156 attempts. That was the sixth best single-season three point shooting percentage by an individual in Louisville men’s basketball history. McMahon scored in double-figures 12 times as a senior, highlighted by his 23 point performance at NC State on February 1st. Louisville finished tied for 2nd in the ACC with an overall record of 24-7 before the season was unexpectedly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For his career at Louisville, Ryan McMahon ranks eighth all-time in made three-point field goals (182) and sixth all-time in three-point percentage (39.5%). He holds the Louisville record for career free throw percentage (91.3%).
