Thomas Bryant (basketball)

Thomas Bryant (born July 31, 1997) is an American college basketball player who plays for the Indiana Hoosiers. He is known for his ability to shoot, run the floor, and protect the rim.^[1]

High school career

Bryant played basketball at Bishop Kearney, where as a sophomore he led his team to a 17-8 record, the 2013 New York Class AA Tournament crown, and the New York Federation Tournament of Champions.^[2] Before committing to play for Indiana University, Bryant played for Huntington Prep School during the 2014 school year. While there, he played on the AAU team, Team SCAN.^[3] He was ranked the 20th best player in the class by ESPN and was recruited heavily by many schools, including Indiana, Kentucky, Syracuse, UCLA, and other power conference schools.^[4] However, his final decision came down to Indiana and Syracuse. According to Bryant's mother, who was heavily in favor of Syracuse, " [he] picked Indiana because Syracuse's basketball program was in chaos." While Bryant was trying to decide which school to attend, Syracuse was in the middle of an NCAA investigation, which eventually led to the loss of 12 scholarships over the next four years, 108 vacated wins, and Jim Boeheim being suspended for the first 9 games of the 2015-2016 ACC season.^[5] His final verbal commitment to Indiana was televised live on April 4, 2015 during the Dick's National Tournament on ESPN.

During the McDonald's All-American Game, Bryant scored 9 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in 16 minutes of play for the East team.^[6] He was the fifth consecutive McDonald's All-American Tom Crean was able to recruit to play at IU.

College career

Freshman Year

Bryant had a break out performance in an 86-65 win against Creighton. He recorded 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the Hoosiers win.

References