THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 30, 1995 TAG: 9501300214
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
You don't have to be a math whiz - like Derrick Bryant - to calculate the Norfolk State forward's shooting percentage against Fayetteville State a couple of weeks ago.
Bryant was 6 of 6 from the field, 2 of 2 from the line. That's perfection on anybody's calculator.
It was the second time this season that Bryant, a business management major with a penchant for crunching numbers, had achieved a perfect bottom line. Against Wilberforce, back on Dec. 3, he was 8 of 8 from the floor, 1 of 1 from the line.
Some players never met a shot they didn't like. Bryant, who leads the CIAA in field goal percentage at 66 percent, is more discerning with his affection, and selection.
``He takes the shots, the very high percentage shots,'' coach Mike Bernard said. ``We continue to encourage him to shoot more, but it's not a problem because he does so many other things well.''
Bryant leads Norfolk State in rebounding at nine per game, and usually guards the other team's best frontcourt player. He also leads the team in tables hurdled - he's got the stitches to prove it - and in minutes played, which might be the most telling stat of all.
``He's been the core of this team all season,'' said Bernard, whose team is 16-2 and ranked fourth in Division II heading into Tuesday night's game at Hampton.
Bryant has always had an airtight game, but what makes his performance, particularly his eye-popping field goal percentage, even more impressive is that he's added some new elements this year, his third at Norfolk State.
``The biggest improvement for Derrick is his confidence to play both on the perimeter and in the hole,'' Bernard said. ``Last year at 6-foot-5 he wanted to play a big man's game. This year he has the kind of confidence from 15 feet where he can put the ball on the floor, as well as shoot the 15-16 footer with ease.''
Developing a consistent jump shot was Bryant's summer project. Formerly content to do most of his scoring around the basket, Bryant wanted to add a new dimension to his game.
``It was something I never really worked on before,'' he said. ``This summer I worked on it a lot. When I came out this year I felt really good about my shot.''
Norfolk State assistant coach John Siers helped Bryant with his jumper, and also helped him by taking him along with a group of Big East All-Stars on a trip to the Dominican Republic last summer.
Bryant led the team in field goal percentage and rebounding, and was third in scoring.
``The trip game me a lot of confidence,'' he said. ``I got a little edge coming in.''
Bryant has long had an edge on most players his age, and size. At 20 (he just turned on Dec. 26) he remains the youngest Spartan, a distinction he's held since starting his college career a little more than two years ago at age 17.
And at a hair under 6-foot-4 - he's listed at 6-5, plays like he's 6-6 - Bryant routinely gives away inches to the players he's asked to guard.
Not a problem, he says.
``Sometimes I've looked in the mirror and wished I had another three or four inches,'' Bryant said. ``But it's not going to happen.''
He'll also occasionally think of what might have happened if he had taken a year off to work on his game. At 20, he's younger than many college sophomores, although he's halfway through his junior year.
``I've thought about that, but I just have to make the best of where I am now,'' Bryant said. ``And it makes me a little more satisfied knowing what I've accomplished at a younger age.''
Bryant accomplished a lot during his career at Suffolk's Nansemond River High, leading the Warriors to a Group AA state title in 1992, while holding down a 3.9 average in the classroom.
He could have gone to some of the nation's top schools - he was recruited by Harvard, Cornell and Dartmouth, among others. He chose Division I Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa.
Bucknell wasn't for him, though, and Bryant sensed it immediately. He was back home within a week, and enrolled at Norfolk State.
Bernard gives Bryant credit for knowing what was right for him.
``I've got to give him credit for not yielding to the pressures that many young people yield to in going away from home,'' he said. ``He did what was right for him.''
Bryant says he's never regretted his decision to leave Bucknell. He's carrying a 3.2 average at Norfolk State and says he finds his classes challenging. He says he may pursue a master's degree, probably in math, and is interested in teaching.
``Ever since high school I've been in love with math,'' he says.
If Bryant's conservative on the court, he's a bit of a throwback off it as well, with family and school atop his list of priorities.
``He's the kind of model student athlete we want to have here at Norfolk State,'' Bernard said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by D. Kevin Elliott, Staff
Derrick Bryant, a business management major, carries a 3.2
grade-point average and says he may pursue a master's degree.
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