Two weeks ago, the freshman center played six minutes in IU’s 79-72 Dec. 30, 2015, win at Rutgers. On Sunday, he recorded his first career double-double in IU’s 85-60 win against Ohio State.
He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday for the second time in his career.
“He’s one of the most coachable 18-year-old young men I’ve ever been around in my life,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “He wants to be great. He has an unbelievable desire to see his teammates be successful.”
Bryant only played six minutes against Rutgers due to foul trouble. He just couldn’t seem to stay on the court for more than a few minutes at a time without fouling.
In his first Big Ten game, Bryant looked like a freshman. But Crean’s confidence in his five-star center never wavered.
“It’s one game and the sky isn’t falling,” Crean said after the Rutgers game. “He’s still moving. I loved his energy and we’ll watch the film and move forward and grow from it.”
In the three games since, Bryant has definitely grown. He’s averaging 15.6 points a game to go along with eight rebounds per contest.
The Hoosiers have also won all three of those games, in part because Bryant is playing an average of 27.3 minutes.
“Just stick with the game plan,” Bryant said regarding what’s changed since Rutgers. “Just have a mindset to where I won’t let myself get into that situation again. It was bad that it happened at that time but I just stayed on a positive note and just kept improving.”
Bryant is one of the few rim protectors for the Hoosiers, so his presence on the floor is enough to alter opposing team’s offensive approach.
Also, since sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr.‘s injury, IU has been forced to alter its offensive approach. Much of that shift has been working the ball inside to Bryant more frequently, creating more space on the floor for IU’s other player to operate.
But this meant Bryant needed to stay on the floor and play better once he’s out there, which he has.
A lot of the reason for the change is simply improvement, and with a freshman, that’s to be expected.
Bryant has said he’s been improving the entire year, so an improvement after a subpar Big Ten debut was to be expected in a lot of ways.
His teammates have also never doubted him, Bryant said. They knew he was talented, so they kept pushing him.
“They are patient with me and they push me to the limit because they know that I can be good and I just try and just stick with it,” Bryant said.
For much of the non-conference season, Bryant was also dealing with an injury to his left foot. Now that he’s healthier, other parts of his game are naturally improving.
He’s able to participate in practice more frequently, meaning, quite simply, his ability to play basketball has improved. But even simple things like his conditioning and his level of comfort with IU’s playbook and schemes have improved because of his increased involvement.
But perhaps more than anything, Crean said, Bryant is simply a perfectionist.
“He’s a perfectionist every day,” Crean said. “He truly is.”
