Around The Basketball League: After Nearly Signing In Russia, Chris Bryant's Leadership Comes To Life With Tallahassee Southern Kings
The former Miami University big man is back home in Tallahassee, Florida with TBL and is playing for more than just himself.
Tallahassee, Florida — On any given Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday afternoon at the Tallahassee Community College, expect Chris Bryant to go to work.
The 6’8 kid from Tallahassee who garnished praises as Florida’s Player of the Year and two-time state champ at Rickards High School is back on the court in his hometown striving to capture a trophy as a professional in The Basketball League with the expansion Tallahassee Southern Kings. It is here where Chris takes pride not only in his city but also his own personal sojourn through basketball that nearly included signing to play professionally in Russia with Dynamo Stavropol prior to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. The world health emergency that’s now spanned two years undoubtedly changed the world in numerous ways, but it didn’t deter Chris from holding onto hope about beginning his professional career.
He put his head down and went to work.
The result: the former Miami University big man is currently averaging 22 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and ranks among league leader in TBL in offensive rebound (5th at 3.9 per game) and 2-point percentage (7th at 72.1%) through 9 games. In four of those games he’s logged double-doubles. Those numbers help make-up the solid foundation of what the first-year Southern Kings and head coach Andrew Moten aspire to build upon in Tallahassee, thanks to the core of Bryant, Zach Naylor (Tarleton State University) and Marlon Hunter (Jacksonville State University).
Chris recently took time to share his story about what it means to play in his hometown, emerging as a leader on the court and in the community, and his aspirations to bring a TBL championship to the Tallahassee Southern Kings.
In learning a little bit about your well-traveled background in high school and college playing basketball in Florida growing up, what does it mean for you to be back home playing in your home town of Tallahassee?
For me to have the opportunity to play professional basketball in my home town of Tallahassee, Florida one last time means the world to me. I love my city of Tallahassee and for the people in the surrounding area to come out and embrace not only me but my guys on the Tallahassee Southern Kings as well is special. The people of Tallahassee haven't had that spark in the city as it once did since I left and went to college. This new professional team being here gives the city and people hope and something to look forward too. Since the Southern Kings arrived, there has been less violence and gives people a good show on a Friday and Saturday night with exciting basketball to watch. Also, for me personally the people haven’t had an opportunity to see me play since I left Rickards High School and for me to give the city of Tallahassee a chance to see how my game has changed throughout years gives me great motivation and a responsibility to show and prove that the Southern Kings are here to stay and we are going to do our best to deliver the city a championship. This means the world to me.
Can you flashback to your time playing high school basketball at Rickards and all that you accomplished there from being Player of the Year, winning multiple state championships, and MVP. Does that feel like forever ago? What was your focus that Senior year and what made that time so special to you?
Being 29-years old now and being able to still play at a high level makes me feel like high school was forever ago. High school basketball playing at Rickards was one of my best experiences and first experience playing high profile basketball with a system in place where we had study hall, weights and a 2-mile run every day following practice right after. Rickards had always been known as a winning program in Tallahassee and I wanted to write my own history and have an everlasting legacy there where people remember what all I accomplished to help win for the city I was born and raised in.
Rickards means everything to me because it's where things all started for me. While I was there I went through ups and down. I started on varsity as a freshman and towards half the season I was making a huge impact and taking seniors' minutes. I later went through the struggle of not finishing the season due to my struggles of adapting to the academic requirements and not being eligible to finish the season my freshmen year. My sophomore year we had a good year. We made it to the second round of the playoff and lost. As a team we were so hurt because we knew we had a chance to at least make it to state with the talent that we had at the time. I will never forget that moment because it changed everything for me and my squad at the time. After we lost we cried as a team and took no time off and went to practice the next day after we lost the second round. We took everything personal from that point on.
By my junior year I had taken my basketball career seriously, expanded my game, and became a leader for my team. We went on to have a year of basketball that the city would never forget. We went the whole summer undefeated as well as the regular season all the way to the state championship game and competing against a tough Pinecrest squad with their star and future NBA player Brandon Knight who went Top 5 in the NBA draft after his one year at Kentucky. We ended up beating them by 20 points and ended the season 32-0, a true Cinderella story. Senior year my focus was winning another state title. My junior year was for my seniors at the time and my senior year I wanted to win one for the guys we had recruited who haven’t had that state championship experience. I promised those guys that we will get there. We later on made it to state again and won in an overtime thriller against Jones High School. I ended up ranked in the Top 100 players in the county, MVP of the state tournament, 3A Player of the year, and Big Bend all-first team. I accomplished so much during my time at Rickards.I couldn’t ask for more. I’ve done everything you dream of as a player.
Before officially wrapping up your high school career you spent one year in Virginia playing at Fishburne Military School where you led the team to a big 24-win season. How did you adjust to time away from Tallahassee and that experience? How did that time help shape and mold you as a person and athlete?
Fishburne Military school was definitely an experience for the books. It taught me a lot about discipline and being ready to work every time I stepped on the court. I learned how to be responsible and be a young man at the time. This was the real first time I was away from home so it was an adjustment being on my own and being a young man. I enjoyed my experiences and having a winning season with those guys there. We grinded day in and day out to get better and to push each other to be better young men. It helped mold me to be my own man and how to utilize my time to get better and not waste time.
You certainly got a wide variety of basketball education in college, from starting at Florida Atlantic University and transferring to College of Central Florida, before going on to play at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I imagine it wasn’t always easy to start, stop, and re-start with a new program. How did you make it through those college years?
I always thought my college years would be a typical student-athlete at a 4 year college. But God had other plans for me. I actually enjoyed moving around. I was always the new guy on campus so people were always curious about who I was because I was so tall. I met a lot of good people and friends along the way. I guess you can say it prepared me for what overseas and the NBA is like. You can be on one team for a year and move to a better situation the next. It just prepared my mind to think that at any time your situation can change so give it everything you got and cherish every moment.
These last couple of years have been difficult for professional basketball players overseas between COVID-19 and teams limited with signings in shortened seasons. How did you navigate the process of playing overseas?
What's crazy is that when Covid-19 hit I had just signed a contract to play in Russia. I was so excited until I found out how serious Covid was and it changed my whole situation in a blink of an eye. I needed that year in Russia to update my resume. Unfortunately, the season was cut and I was stuck as a free agent fighting through the struggles of not knowing when my next opportunity will be. I ended up not playing ball for two years and thinking to myself that was it. But something in my heart had been telling me to grind and wait for my opportunity to come again. I was meant to do this and knew it in my soul. This struggle was just a chapter in my story and I’m proud of myself for always believing in me and staying ready for when the opportunity came.
Best advice you’ve ever received from your mother, Suzette Bryant? Does she serve as your primary source of inspiration as you continue to play?
Just watching my mom do whatever she had to do to help me be successful was the best advice I could ever have. See, my mom moved from Georgia to Tallahassee on her own. As a single mother I watched her do what she had to do to provide for me. She plays a special role because she was the first person to show me what hard work was in the real world and handling your responsibilities. My mom always gave me the freedom to make my own decisions and always told me to work hard everyday and leave it all out there. I always wanted to help provide for my mom and eventually get her a new house by playing basketball. I owe that to her and I’m still going to fulfill that promise. She is my everything.
As a player, do you see or approach the game differently now compared to maybe the last 5 or 6 years? How so?
As a player my game has grown more mentally. I study a lot of film of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kevin Durant and how they play the game and manage the whole game. So, I am comfortable with doing anything the team needs me to do. I currently play a lot and my coach and owners need me to help lead the guys on and off the court. So, everything I’ve been studying I’m getting a chance to put it all to the test. I can say I’m doing a great job but I’m a person that strives for perfection. We are 5-4 for a first-year ball club, which is amazing but I want more. I help these guys fight through their own struggles so we can all win at the end. I am their leader and it’s my job to help guys get to where they want to be, but have them mentally strong to get through whatever comes their way.
What’s been your approach to the TBL and suiting up for TSK and this season?
TBL and the Southern Kings gives me the opportunity to play for my hometown, to help lead the guys on and off the court, and gets me back comfortable managing the game at a high level. I approach every game as if it's my last because nothing is promised. I put in the time and the work so now it's time to leave it all out on the court, live with the results, and most importantly to have fun playing the game. When you watch me play, I play with a certain passion and excitement. The crowd and people feed off my energy and all I can do is try to put on a show that they will remember so they would want to come back and see us again. I enjoy this process and I know its way more in-store for me. I’m just taking things a day at a time and getting 1% better everyday.
You guys have certainly made some noise in the Southeast Conference and you’ve been a really big part of that with your stellar play. How have you guys been able to mesh over the last month and why should other teams in the conference take notice?
We are making a lot of noise in the whole TBL. If you ask me, I take everything personal on the court. So, there was some noise out there from other teams that they were going to just walk all over us. And me and the players didn't take things lightly. We use everything as motivation! We all have something to prove and the guys that the owners surrounding me on this team are people with the same mindset and that is to put the Southern Kings on the map and win a championship. The owners and coaches put everything in place for us to be successful from team bonding, practice and mandatory weights at F45 Training Tallahassee Midtown. I thank them a lot for helping us be successful. But us winning and making noise in the TBL is not something I can take credit for because my teammates deserve it all. I couldn’t do any of this without the help of them guys. No one person is bigger than the team and we are going to need everybody to have a shot at the championship.
Lead photo credit: Chris Bryant
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Wendell Maxey has covered and written about professional basketball and sports for 19 years including eight years reporting on the NBA in New York and Portland where his work appeared on ESPN.com, NBA.com, USA Today, FOX Sports, YAHOO Sports!, SLAM Magazine, and The Oregonian among other publications and outlets. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn or read through his archive on Linktree.