THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230594
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
There are 97 players in the CIAA taller than leading rebounder Derrick Bryant, assuming you believe his listed height of 6-foot-4 1/2. There are 119, if you go by what Norfolk State's very small forward tells you.
``I was measured back in the fall, and I'm closer to 6-2 1/2,'' Bryant said. ``I think it's funny. I try to play bigger than I am. When I realize how small I really am, it's a joke.''
Nobody, however, overshadows him.
Bryant leads the CIAA with 10 rebounds a game. Four more Saturday against North Carolina Central and Bryant will have 1,000 for his career.
``I take pride in rebounding,'' Bryant said. ``I've wanted the 1,000 rebounds in the worst way, and I want to get it at home before we leave for the CIAA Tournament. I hope I'm not jinxing myself talking about it.''
The secret to Bryant's success may rest in the story behind his tattoo. Unlike another tattooed rebounding machine - Chicago Bulls billboard Dennis Rodman - Bryant's lone piece of body art draws scant attention, but carries a resounding message.
It is a cross with the insignia: In memory of Crawley Bryant.
According to Derrick Bryant's mother, her son's ``anything's possible'' approach started with his paternal grandfather.
``He used to tell Derrick, `Son, there's nothing you can't achieve,' and Derrick believed him,'' Vivian Bryant said.
Most conversations about Bryant and rebounding eventually focus on the height issue. If he were to tell acquaintances 15 years from now that he once led the CIAA in rebounding, they may not buy that he was once chairman of the boards, even if he were their chairman of the board.
It's a possibility. Despite the rigors of college basketball, Bryant is carrying a 3.3 grade-point average in management and would like to pursue a master's degree in business administration next year at William and Mary. He talks about possibly seeking a doctorate.
If Bryant is held to less than four rebounds Saturday, that would almost be bigger news than his reaching 1,000. His season-low was six against Auburn in December; in the Spartans' last seven games he has been in double figures in rebounding.
Robbed of a chance to return to the Division II tournament this season - Norfolk State's application for Division I status prevents the Spartans from playing for Division II titles - Bryant set the 1,000-rebound plateau as a primary goal.
He is one of only three players in the CIAA among the conference's top 10 in rebounding and scoring. The other two - 6-7 Douglas Hines of Virginia State and 6-7 Antwain Smith of St. Paul's - play for teams with losing records.
Couple Bryant's 19 points per game with NSU's 19-4 record and it's easy to label him a leading contender for CIAA player of the year, though he shuns such talk.
``Not me,'' said the 205-pound Bryant. ``Ben Wallace at Virginia Union or Levelle Moton at N.C. Central, they might be candidates. I'm not one.''
Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard begs to differ. ``Pound-for-pound, he's the best player I've ever coached,'' Bernard said. ``And if he were three inches taller, he would dominate at any level.''
With a good showing in the CIAA tournament, Bryant could become the school's seventh-leading scorer. His 1,648 career points place him 10th on NSU's all-time list. Within reach are Bobby Dandridge (1,740), LeRoy Jones (1,725) and Ronald Wilson (1,704).
He ranks even higher (sixth) in rebounding.
When a shot goes up, Bryant brings timing, leaping ability and excellent technique together in his dogged pursuit of the ball.
But when the whistle blows, he's all smiles.
In a regionally televised game against Virginia Union, the biggest game of the Spartans' regular season, Bryant looked down at the court after the ball had gone out of bounds and saw something shiny.
He leaned over, picked up a quarter, and handed it to CIAA compliance coordinator Patrick Carter at courtside, adding, ``I want it back after the game.''
Then he winked.
``Basketball is supposed to be fun,'' Bryant said. ``It's a game and some people forget that. If I can make a kid smile afterward with a handshake or an autograph, then that makes me happy.''
Bernard concedes Bryant is a ``major reason we've won 92 games in the last four years.''
In fact, had Bryant's sheer hustle not knocked him out of last year's Division II semifinal game against Southern Indiana, Bernard figures the Spartans might have won it all.
As Bryant dived for a loose ball, Division II player of the year Stan Gouard stepped on the back of his head. The nasty gash that needed six stitches to close sidelined Bryant for some critical minutes.
``At the time he got hurt, he was our go-to guy,'' Bernard said. ``We were up five when he left and down five when he came back.''
The Spartans eventually lost, 89-81, ending Bryant's and the Spartans' chances for a national title.
So the CIAA has become the final goal of his college career. But when the CIAA tournament ends, does basketball end for Bryant?
The way players are pigeon-holed by size these days, there isn't an NBA team around who would take a serious chance on a severely undersized forward unless he happened to be Charles Barkley. Bryant would have to play guard and develop skills he's only touched upon at the college level - dribbling and jump-shooting.
Bryant has shown adequate range with his jump shot this season, making 9 of 25 attempts (36 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. And he brings the ball up court against full-court presses.
But he would have to impress scouts at an event such as the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a showcase of potential NBA players, to get any kind of interest.
As a Suffolk native, Bryant would be sure to bring a rooting section if he were invited to the PIT.
``But if there is no future for me in basketball, if I really don't stand a chance, then I don't want them to give me an invitation they could give to somebody more deserving,'' Bryant said. ``I don't want to take somebody else's opportunity just because I had a good year in the CIAA.''
Bernard says a different Derrick Bryant would show up at the PIT.
``In our team scheme, we couldn't afford to put him at guard, we just didn't have the personnel,'' Bernard said. ``We tried to put him in some situations where he could exhibit his ball-handling skills, but there just haven't been many.
``Personally, I'd love to see him in the PIT. I think folks will be surprised to find that he can hold his own at any level, and I think his skills would show even brighter.
``But Derrick knows basketball is not an end. It's a means to other ends.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk State's Derrick Bryant in a familiar spot, under the board
after wiping it clean. He leads the CIAA with 996 rebounds.
by CNB