Nov. 16, 2006
By Danny Martin, Sports Writer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published November 16, 2006
Posted in Sports, College
Metlakatla is exactly 854.6 air miles southeast of Fairbanks, and it means that Chris Bryant is technically a long way from home.
He had never been any farther north in his home state than Anchorage, where he helped Metlakatla High School to a fifth-place finish in the 2004 Class 3A boys state basketball tournament at Sullivan Arena.
The students in the packed gymnasium at Lathrop High School on Wednesday afternoon didn't care about technicalities or that Bryant was a newcomer to the Interior. All they cared was that he is from Alaska and he's playing with the Drake University men's basketball team in the BP Top of the World Classic, which runs today through Sunday at the Carlson Center.
Lathrop is the host school for the Bulldogs of the Missouri Valley Conference, and during a prep rally for the team, the loudest cheers for player introductions were for Bryant.
The heartiest cheers, though, weren't because the 6-foot-1 junior guard led the Bulldogs last season with 61 3-point baskets or that he's the team's first player off the bench. The heartiest cheers came from most of the female students in response to his answer to a question of if he was single.
Two of those female students who were happy to hear that Bryant is single asked for his autograph while he was doing a media interview, and they were oblivious to the gift sack and "Welcome Home'' balloon that were sitting nearby. Those offerings were presented to him by a Lathrop cheerleader, and she included a signed card with a closing of "Love, your cheerleader ...''
The cheerleader probably won't mind sharing her adoration for the next four days because based on the pep rally, Bryant will be among the most popular players in the eight-team, predominantly NCAA Division I tournament (the host Alaska Nanooks are the only Division II entry).
"I really enjoy it and it's great to see all the support and love we're getting from the Alaska people," said Bryant, who turned 21 exactly one week ago. "I'm really excited to be back here and just to see everybody ... that feeling of being at home is just a great feeling.''
Bryant has made himself at home in the 3-point neighborhood. In his first two seasons, he became Drake's eighth-leading all-time shooter from beyond the arc with 103 treys. There's a possibility this season that he could surpass the No. 2 shooter on the Bulldogs list, Armand LeVasseur, who drained 178 from 1996 to 2000.
"He's potentially one of our best 3-point shooters," said Drake head coach Tom Davis, who is no stranger to Alaska, as he guided Iowa to the title in 1986 and second place in 1995 in the Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.
Bryant takes a business-like approach to 3-point shooting, because when he connects, Drake benefits. His 61 treys last season were also the fifth-highest in the conference.
"Personally, it's a wonderful goal,'' Bryant said of moving up the Bulldogs' all-time 3-point shooting list. "Being able to hit 3-point shots is really helpful for our team. However, I've been working on other parts of my game to become complete (player) and add other dimensions to just make the team better.''
Among returning Bulldogs, Bryant was second on the team last season for free-throw percentage (78.3) and his 8.2 points per game ranked fourth for Drake.
He's also been working to raise last season's rebounding average of 2.0 and Davis noticed that Bryant's penetration of the low post, defensive play and passing have gotten better since the guard first wore a blue and white Drake uniform.
"He's doing other things that it takes to become a good basketball player at this level," Davis said. "Some nights, you just don't get the 3-point shots. Some nights, they can shut you down unless you're getting really good in those other areas ... that's what he's been all about this last offseason.''
Bryant showed during his senior season for Metlakatla the potential to become the second athlete from Southeast Alaska to play Division I men's basketball. The other is Juneau-Douglas grad Carlos Boozer, a forward who starred for Duke and is in his third season with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association.
Bryant's senior-season averages of 28.3 points, 13.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists helped him earn a first-team all-state recognition and finish as runner-up for the Alaska Class 3A State Player of the Year.
Drake assistant coach Chris Davis (no relation to Tom Davis) saw Bryant for the first time during the summer of 2003, when Bryant was playing AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball for the California-based Branch West Basketball Academy at a tournament in Houston, Texas.
The Bulldogs assistant coach also saw a potential shooting guard for Drake.
"He shot the ball really well," Chris Davis said. "He played hard and he had good athleticism."
The coaching staff at Drake can thank Bryant's parents, Paul and Lisa, for the foundation for his skills and work ethic because they played, respectively, for the men's and women's teams at Western Montana College in the 1980s.
"Good genes, really good advice and a lot of experience,'' Chris Bryant said of his parents' effect on his career. "What's really funny is they didn't pound it (basketball) down my throat. They just told me what it's going to take and they let me grow and do things on my own. I want to give them credit for that."
Paul and Lisa Bryant are scheduled to be at the Carlson Center for Drake's tournament-opening game against Southeast Missouri State at 8:30 Friday. They'll be joined by several fans from Lathrop who welcomed their son home on Wednesday, albeit 854.6 miles away.
