Two of the best basketball players in the history of the John Carroll University men’s basketball program have shaped the season. And they just happen to be twins.

Sitting across from each other, both so similar and yet so different, Ryan and Jimmy have become staples of the program. The Berger brothers are the faces of Blue Streaks basketball. Those same faces are in the last stretch of their JCU careers, and they’re cherishing every moment.  

Ryan sits across from Jimmy and is sipping on a Cherry Coke — Jimmy’s favorite soft drink — two days after a team-best 28 points in a crucial 100-88 win over Muskingum. Ryan Berger leads the team in points per game and has scored 20 points or more nine times this season. At the same time, Jimmy mimics his brother’s posture, almost always answering each question after Ryan has expresses his thoughts first.

For Jimmy Berger, 2019-20 has not been the best season of his basketball career. That is more of an attestment to how great he has been for the Blue Streaks, not how he recently fell into a slump. He has scored less than 10 points five times during his senior campaign. However, his slow start has not wavered his confidence. 

Things may be turning around for Jimmy, who is coming off his best two-game stretch of the season. He scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Baldwin Wallace. Before that, he added 19 points and six assists against Muskingum. 

Overall, Ryan has had a career year and Jimmy has seemingly turned the corner. The most ironic part is that for nearly all of their 22-year lives, these roles have been reversed.

“Jimmy always was more athletic,” Ryan Berger admitted. “We were third-graders and we played with the fourth-graders. Our dad was the coach. Jimmy was the starting point guard and I came off the bench. It has always been like that. Jimmy is a little taller than me and naturally a better athlete.”

“Dad,” as Ryan refers to him, is James Berger, a 1988 graduate of John Carroll. James Berger had an accomplished career as a Blue Streak, scoring 12.5 points per game and added 6.0 rebounds, shooting 52.7% from the field — those marks rank within the top 20 all-time in program history. James is the one most responsible for his twin sons following in his footsteps and playing basketball.

“Since we were growing up, we have always played basketball. Our dad coached us since fourth grade, all of the way up until now. Just giving us pointers, he still coaches us up,” said Jimmy.

“Definitely growing up, my dad coached us in everything,” Ryan adds. “My dad instilled basketball in us. It came natural.”

Although James Berger played a pivotal role in the two playing basketball, their mother Barb had a hand in it too. She played high school basketball and helped introduced the game to Jimmy and Ryan when they were young. 

James and Barb met at Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights. James played for John Stavole at Valley Forge, a 1958 graduate of John Carroll. (Stavole also served as an assistant coach under legendary coach Mike Moran for eight seasons.)

Jimmy and Ryan’s older brothers, Colin (25) and Kyle (23) also influenced their younger twin brothers. Kyle Berger, perhaps the most athletic of the four, was a four-star rated linebacker at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland and went on to play collegiate football at Ohio State. 

Kyle’s career as a Buckeye was short lived. He tore the ACL in his left knee twice. Ohio State suggested he call it a career in 2016, in fear that he would reinjure his knee a third time. 

Although Colin isn’t quite the athlete his three younger brothers are, he has meant just as much to the twins. As the eldest, Colin has served as a mentor and has been there for them their entire lives.

“He’s supported us throughout our entire career. He wasn’t really an athlete like us three, but he’s made sure to stay in Cleveland and not take a job elsewhere, just to be able to watch Jimmy and I play our senior year,” Ryan said. “It means a lot to us. He’s made every game this year and there is probably only one or two games I can think of that he’s missed. He’s our No.1 fan.”

Jimmy and Ryan have always been competitive, whether it was racing home from the bus stop after school or fighting with each other on their six-foot basketball hoop at home — which typically always ended with Ryan getting mad at Jimmy for whatever reason. Ryan calls himself the “ultimate competitor” where Jimmy is a bit more “laid back.”

That was evident last Saturday against Muskingum. Ryan was mad at Jimmy for not communicating on the court. Ryan was screened and Jimmy left his man open, which resulted in a made basket for the other team. 

“I screamed, ‘Jimmy! Why weren’t you talking? Let me know what is going on!’” Ryan said, describing the moment. 

Jimmy being the more “laid back” type, only responded with “my bad” after the play sequence. Ryan apologized during halftime for getting frustrated with his brother.

“That is always how we are,” Jimmy said. “It is funny. We can never be mad at each other for more than five minutes. That is how we have always been.”

One of their favorite stories came from back when they were playing “upward basketball,” which was a recreational basketball league in Stow — their first-ever organized basketball team. Ryan was hysterical after a loss and Jimmy was not quite sure why.

“I remember a story after a fourth-grade basketball game. We were always really good — our team. We lost,” Ryan recalled. “I remember I was crying to my mom and dad after the game and Jimmy says, ‘Ryan, stop crying. We are playing tomorrow.’ It was just always competitive no matter whatever we did, no matter if we are on the same team or not.”

—

That competitive nature was infused by older brother Kyle Berger. However, Kyle not only played a major role in their lives athletically, but personally as well. 

Jimmy and Ryan attended Medina Claggett Middle School. It was a relatively big school with their class size exceeding 250 kids. Once eighth grade finished up, they were set to attend St. Ignatius, following in the footsteps of Kyle. At St. Ignatius, most of the students are from private Catholic schools, comprised of smaller class sizes. They estimated they only knew 10 kids at Ignatius: five from Medina and five from playing AAU basketball. They sat in class and didn’t know a soul.

The twins found a safety net in their older brother, Kyle, who was finding his stride playing football. Kyle was friends with Dre’Mont Jones, who now plays in the NFL for the Denver Broncos, and Ray Brown, a former John Carroll All-American football player. Knowing the upperclassmen made them feel comfortable. Jimmy and Ryan even played football too.

Jimmy was a three-year varsity letterman in football, partly in thanks to one of Kyle’s best friends, Pat Hopkins —  a 2018 John Carroll graduate. Hopkins was the team’s long snapper, but tore his labrum. That resulted in Jimmy, a high-school wide receiver turned long snapper, being called into the line of duty.

“The starter tore the labrum in his shoulder early in the year … Pat Hopkins. The second stringer was out, too. The third guy forgot his equipment. We had a junior varsity game earlier in the morning. Afterward, we were on the way to go watch the varsity game and I get a call from my older brother Kyle and he says, ‘Hey, Coach [Chuck] Kyle needs you to go get your stuff and come back on the field. You have to long snap for us today,’” Jimmy explained. 

“I was a little, six-foot, 150-pound sophomore at the time. I was scared and not knowing the deal with varsity football, because all of the kids were bigger than me. I ended up snapping ever since.”

Ryan played football too, but did not have the same sort of success as Jimmy. Ryan was a third string wide receiver and quit his junior season to focus on basketball  … only to return for his senior year and play as a contributor on defense. 

“Week four, we were playing St. Joe’s, a team out of Philadelphia. They had two receivers that were 6’4” and one was going to Pitt. Our tallest cornerback was 5’10”. So, Coach Kyle came up to me and said, ‘Hey, go try out cornerback real quick. We did one-on-ones. We did really well. He threw me in against a 6’4” receiver. I ended up staying there the whole rest of the season. I rotated with guys.”

To no surprise, the Bergers found success in football, but their true niche was basketball.

—

To say that by going to St. Ignatius that the Berger twins were small fish in a big pond would be an understatement. There were 300 boys in their class, 100 of whom tried out for basketball. After making the freshman and junior varsity teams their first two seasons, Jimmy had more success than Ryan athletically once they got to the varsity level. 

Jimmy was the sixth man coming off the bench as a junior for St. Ignatius head coach Sean O’Toole — the father of JCU sophomore Owen O’Toole. Meanwhile, Ryan Berger was the “15th man” behind Dylan Nieto, who went on to play at Baldwin Wallace and also Andre Walford, who earned a scholarship with St. Francis in Loretto, Pennsylvania (Division I, FCS). 

“That is the year I quit football. It ended up not working out for me. I ended up learning a lot from that season,” Ryan said. “I sat and watched on the bench. I only played garbage minutes. I learned a lot.”

Ryan became a student of the game and started seeing more minutes off the bench once senior year rolled around, taking Jimmy’s sixth-man spot. Jimmy shifted to the starting point guard role for the Wildcats. Although Ryan was slightly in the shadow of Jimmy, Ryan had the biggest spotlight moment of their high school career.

Coming off a sprained ankle in a win over arch-rival Lakewood St. Edward’s in the District Final, Berger missed the next game against Solon. He came back the following game against Garfield Heights and drained two buzzer beaters in the Regional Championship. 

“I wasn’t going to play in that game but I ended up playing. I was limping. I was in miserable pain,” Ryan described. 

“In the first quarter, I was in at the end. I shot it from three-quarters away from the hoop and swished it. Cashed it,” he said energetically. “At the end of the third quarter, their guy hit a shot with a couple of seconds left and we get the ball out quick. I swished it again. 

“I went over to our student section that was going nuts. I held up the number two. Everyone was going nuts out of their seats. It was a cool memory.”

Although Jimmy was not quite in the limelight that game, he still felt the magnitude of the game. 

“When we played Garfield [in the regional championship], we played at the Wolstein Center in front of five-six thousand people. We were down 8-10 points in the third quarter and we did a 2-3 half court zone. That brought us back into the game,” he said. “I couldn’t even talk to my one buddy Tyler next to me; it was that loud. I couldn’t even hear it.”

Unfortunately, St. Ignatius ended up losing to Garfield Heights, ending not only the Berger twins’ season, but their high school basketball careers.

That loss was a gateway that signaled one of the toughest moments in their young life.

—

When it came time to pick colleges, both Ryan and Jimmy had to make a decision. There was a realistic chance they’d be split apart for the first time in their lives and that is exactly what happened.

Jimmy was heavily recruited by Gannon University, a Division II school in Erie, Pennsylvania. Ryan didn’t receive an offer. 

“Senior year came around and Gannon was looking at him,” Ryan remembers. “I am his twin brother, so they were going to look at me a little bit. We were up there for a visit and their coach was talking to my dad off to the side. We get to the car, go home and we ask Dad on the way home, ‘Dad, what is going on? Did he offer us?’ He says, ‘Well, kind of … well, they offered Jimmy.’ I was like, ‘Ohhh yikes.’ It didn’t upset me because I was so happy for him.”

Ryan eventually chose John Carroll after being recruited by OAC rivals Capital and Ohio Northern. Jimmy insisted that Ryan could play Division II basketball at Gannon.

“He could have played there a year, and then he would’ve gotten a scholarship. That is what they said,” Jimmy stated, explaining that the two could have teamed up at Gannon.

Jimmy lit it up at Gannon as a freshman, averaging 7.2 points and 6.8 assists per game while starting in all but three games at point guard. He was awarded the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. But even with the success on the court, he admits that he was unhappy off the court. Which eventually led him to transfer to John Carroll, reuniting with Ryan.

“At Gannon, it was really tough for me. I am more of a homebody, I would say. That was the main reason I came back to Carroll. I love being close to home. I obviously like playing with my brother, being around him and all of that stuff. 

“For some reason, I just wasn’t that happy there [at Gannon],” Jimmy said as he became choked up, trying to find the right words. “It was a really tough time. There are more reasons that I don’t want to talk about it …”

Ryan interjected and finished speaking for Jimmy.

“Basketball was hard for him. Right after Christmas, they had two days of practice. They practiced three hours, had a two-hour break, and then practiced for another three hours. That is not easy and not fun.”

Jimmy pulled himself together and continued.

“School-wise it was fine. Basketball-wise, I know I had a great season. I played a lot,” he said. “It just wasn’t for me. Some things aren’t for some people. I had a tough time. It wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

Although he only spent a season at Gannon, Jimmy said he has no hard feelings towards the program.

“I am forever grateful for going there and playing there for a year because I know that the coach … Coach Riley, was really tough on everyone there. But it made me a real better basketball player. I brought a lot of things that I learned there to Carroll. 

“It helped me get through a lot of things here. It is not easy here, but playing at a place where you are coached tough, it made it easier here. I am grateful for that, honestly.”

Jimmy Berger was not the only Blue Streak to attend Gannon. Fellow senior Sean Flannery was on the team as a freshman, but only lasted three scrimmages. Flannery (St. Ed’s) and Jimmy (St. Ignatius) were roommates and meant by happenchance, even though they had played a few months earlier in the District Final.

“We went on spring break and they were down there in Siesta Key. So that is the first time I ever met him. That was the first time I asked him, ‘Hey, if you are going to Gannon, do you want to room together?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, sure. I will let you know.’

 “We roomed together for the first semester and he left after that. I finished out the year. Sean went to Carroll and Ryan and I have been best friends ever since.”

“Ryan, Jimmy and I have a brother-like relationship. I am extremely grateful to say that because of how great of people they are,” said Flannery. “When I was at Gannon my freshman year, Jimmy was my best friend and someone I relied on all the time. When I transferred to JCU the second semester of my freshman year, Ryan became my best friend and really welcomed me into the JCU family. Now, having both of them here at JCU, I really consider both of them my brothers.”

Although his roommate at Gannon, Flannery, left for John Carroll after just one semester, Jimmy contended that did not affect his decision to transfer from Gannon. 

“It really wasn’t Sean. When he first left I was like, ‘Damn, that is one of my close buddies that I met,’” Jimmy said. “He made it pretty evident that he was going to Carroll.

“It was more of a personal reason for me. I wanted to be somewhere where I can be happy. I saw Ryan having fun with basketball and enjoying college. I wanted to enjoy my college time. I felt like I didn’t really have that. It was more of a personal decision for me. I wanted to be in a happy place and a good place where I could enjoy life and basketball.”

Flannery foretold his decision to transfer and his relationship with Jimmy. 

“We became close at Gannon and realized we both weren’t at the place that was best for us. I think when he saw me leave for JCU, he was excited about the idea to play with his brother and a good friend at such a high level. Ultimately, I think it was his great relationship he has with his brother, Ryan, that made the move such a no-brainer to him,” Flannery said. 

Ryan explained that it was an adjustment, not being with his brother for a year. It was inevitable and they had to grow up.

“It was definitely an adjustment, for sure, because we had bunk beds up until our freshman year of college. We knew at some point in our lives we were going to have to separate and go our own ways,” Ryan said.

“It wasn’t as hard as a lot of people think it was or as I thought it would be. We always made an effort to see each other. He’d come down here on a Friday or whatever and I’d go up there for a game on Saturday. We always saw each other and stuff. It wasn’t easy but it is part of growing up,”

Jimmy’s first year at JCU could not have gone better. He started every game at point guard and averaged 8.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The Blue Streaks went on to win the OAC Tournament Championship. Jimmy scored 13 points in both the OAC championship game and OAC semifinal game. John Carroll advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year. To transfer in, and all of that happened. I would have never imagined that happening,” Jimmy said. “We had a great team with a bunch of great players … I loved going to practice every day. That made the whole season fun, and obviously and we were winning. Playing with my brother Ryan again. I couldn’t have really imagined it happening, but it did, though.”

“It was cool to get that chemistry back,” Ryan said. “A lot of people joked around like, ‘Holy crap, how did you see him over there? How did you pass it to him?’ It was just kind of like he knows I am there. He doesn’t have to look to make a pass. It is just being with each other for 19 years at that point, or whatever. It just clicks.”

During their career together at John Carroll, the Berger twins have so far played over 4,000 minutes and exceeded 2,oo0 points.

Jimmy is sixth all-time in assists average, seventh all-time in steals average and ninth all-time in assists. He is within the top 25 all-time in 12 other categories.

Ryan is fourth all-time in free-throw percentage, ninth in games started, and 11th in scoring average. He is within the top 26 in seven other categories.

Now, it is 2020 and the Berger twins have nine games guaranteed that remain in their competitive basketball career together. Although the Blue Streaks are 5-5 in the OAC, the twins see similarities in this year’s team compared to the 2017-18 championship team.

“We had a great team with a bunch of great players. That is what I like about this team,” Jimmy said. “I really think we compare to that team in a way. We have a lot of characters on our team this year.

“We are obviously 5-5 in the conference right now but our record doesn’t show who we are. I think a lot of people can say that. We have a lot of talent on our team. One through five, we can score the crap out of the ball. Even our bench … guys like Connor Fitzgerald, Corbin Anthony and Eric Hanna.”

The Blue Streaks began the season by winning five consecutive non-conference games and then lost three OAC games in a row. Their first loss came against No. 20 Mount Union. That rematch takes place tonight.

Following a slight three-game skid top open OAC play, the Blue Streaks won six games in a row, including an upset over No. 14 Whitworth. They have only lost twice since Dec. 28. 

“We have a good group. I am really confident in us. We are in the second half of OAC play now, and I do not think we are out of anything right now,” said Jimmy. We have to get to work every day and be ready for our next challenge. 

“With the teams going forward that we are going to play, I think we need to be confident. I am confident, we’re confident, Ryan is confident in our ability, that we can pull off a win and go on another good streak.”

Gallery • 14 Photos

(Photo courtesy of JCU sports information)

Jimmy (back, 21), Ryan (middle)

The Berger twins are at the forefront of the Blue and Gold’s ability to win games. Their roles on the court have essentially remained the same, but their leadership has increased and is depended on by the rest of the team and the coaching staff.

“The only thing that is different from the team our sophomore year, when we lost then, [is that] when we lose now, it is on us. We are the ones shooting ourselves in the foot. Not boxing out, not getting rebounds, little stuff like that. Giving the other teams second-chance opportunities,” Ryan said.

“There are a lot of similarities, that kind of hurt us sophomore year. That is kinda easy to fix. We just have to trust in each other. Once that happens, and everyone buys in every single half that we have, we are [a] special team.”

One member of the basketball staff for the last three years, student manager Ryan Hite, has observed the importance the Berger twins have served to the program.

“I’ve been able to see first-hand how much Ryan and Jimmy mean to John Carroll Basketball. Their dedication and hard work rubs off on everyone else around,” Hite said. “I have loved getting to be with them every day for the last three years on the team, and I’m enjoying this final ride with them.”

Head coach Pete Moran has been with the Berger twins for all three of their seasons together. He has praised them for their development on and off the court.

“Those two individuals are everything we look for — not only as basketball players but beyond that. They’re natural leaders. I know the guys gravitate towards them. They’re different types of leaders, despite being twins. They have continued this success at John Carroll and they’ve done that for three or four years since they have been in this program,” said Moran.

That final ride is nearing the end. Jimmy and Ryan are taking in every moment they have playing together not only with themselves but with their teammates. 

“It is starting to hit us now that we only have a couple of games left. We have spent our entire life [doing this] since we have been four years old, since we first started to pick up the basketball. It definitely is emotional,” Ryan said. “I am excited though. Taking it day by day and letting it come as slow as possible and enjoying all the best moments we have playing with each other.”

“We don’t want it to end but at some point it’s going to. Just try to enjoy every minute that we are with each other and with our teammates, the other fellow seniors,” said Jimmy. “Taking it day-by-day, possession-by-possession in games. Hopefully [we’ll] get to our goal of a national championship, and we are going to do whatever we can for that.”