Bryants take center stage at Night of Hoops

Not even Laird Smith could spoil the Bryants' night Saturday in Batavia.

The Morgan Park forward hit the jumper dubbed "the shot heard 'round the state" to deny West Aurora the 1976 Class AA state basketball championship.

Jay Bryant was the Blackhawks' starting point guard that March night more than three decades ago, the middle of five brothers to play for West Aurora coaches John McDougal and Gordie Kerkman.

Northern Illinois' career assists leader and nine of his 10 siblings will be on hand at the Night of Hoops Saturday when host Batavia plays West Aurora in the marquee game.

"There aren't too many times when I root against West Aurora," Bryant said. "It's a weird situation. You like to see West do well, but we'll be rooting for David's team. Blood is thicker than water."

Not only will the current Batavia team be led by four-year varsity member David Bryant, whose father, John, captained the Blackhawks' 1973 third-place team; the honoree for the three-game shootout is Maureen Bryant, the matriarch of the family.

Maureen Bryant and her late husband, Fred, were fixtures on the local basketball scene ever since their sons Fred, John, Jay, David and Mark powered the Blackhawks' storied program for nearly two decades starting in 1969.

"We like to honor a person - not necessarily a coach or player - who has made special contributions to basketball in the Fox Valley," Batavia coach Jim Roberts. "Being able to play basketball in the area is special because of people like (Fred and Maureen Bryant)."

This will be the third time David Bryant faces off against the program where his father and uncles played.

He was the Bulldogs' sixth man when the programs met in the East Aurora sectional final three years ago, and Batavia reversed the results of the first encounter with a buzzer beater at a shootout his sophomore year.

Bryant has shifted back to point guard after being a shooting guard the past two years.

The elder Bryants were renowned for their cerebral approach to the game as well as a collective propensity for delivering in the clutch.

"They always knew what to do and when to do it," Kerkman said.

The next generation of Bryants has continued the decision-making prowess that was the family trademark on the court.

"The Bryant name is synonymous with basketball at West Aurora," said Dave Heiss, the current Waubonsee Community College coach who teamed with David Bryant to lead the Blackhawks' 1980 third-place squad. "(David) has got the exact same mannerisms as Jay."

"Without question," Roberts said of the comparison between David and Jay. "Although I think David is a better shooter."

"David is probably the best shooter in the family," Jay Bryant said.

But David Bryant relishes his role as the Bulldogs' chief conductor.

"I always like to have the ball, especially at the end of the game," David Bryant said. "I kind of knew that when Phil (Albrecht) graduated that I would go back to point guard."

For his current teammates Bryant has talents inextricably linked to experience.

"You can definitely tell he's been on varsity for four years," said Batavia guard Ben Potter. "He always knows when to make the right pass at the right time."

Bryant can only hope the game Saturday night approximates the grandeur and atmosphere of the Bulldogs' scintillating double-overtime game against Simeon last year at the Night of Hoops.

But he is also hoping for a different outcome.

"It was probably one of the (best) games I've ever been a part of," David Bryant said. "I didn't know it was going to be that good. The only bad thing was we didn't win."

The multiple generations of Bryants and the symmetry of the game made the Night of Hoops special honoree a no-brainer.

Unless there is a conflict with her grandsons' games, Mrs. Bryant still has the same season tickets behind the West Aurora bench the family has owned for decades.

The Aurora freshman boys basketball city tournament is named in honor of her late husband.

"(Our parents) were incredibly supportive in whatever we did," David Bryant said.

The Bryants' shared devotion to their beloved Blackhawks was legendary.

Jay and David cannot recall a single West Aurora game their parents missed during the boys' tenure at the school.

Even when a family member was not playing, the Bryants were equally loyal to the program.

"They were at every game," said Jay, who estimates his mother has witnessed more than 3,000 games. "Pontiac (for Christmas), Sycamore (for Thanksgiving)-wherever we played they were there."

"I think it's cool," David Bryant said of his grandmother being honored. "I think it's definitely the right game for her to be honored at."

David Bryant said get-togethers between his father and uncles typically leave one question unsatisfactorily resolved.

"They're always going back and forth as to which West team was the best," he said with a wry smile.