Northwestern State University of Louisana

Coach Dan Bell on Bryant: "He's gone from being known as 'Whopper' to where we respect him enough to call him 'Brooks.'  He has a very renewed spirit for the game. He and our staff have decided he's going to be a 6-10 post player instead of a guard. We think we'll get a lot more out of him. He's real hungry to go inside, get us the tough buckets and get fouled. We think he's really due to have a very good year."

In 1991-92: The team's No. 2 FT shooter (18-24, 75%), Bryant became more assertive inside although still sinking 10 3-pointers (10-31, 32%). He scored 11 points three times and in the most memorable of those outings, had a critical 10-foot jump-hook basket with 26 seconds left to help lock up a 95-91 home win over UTA. Bryant had 10 points in 8 minutes in the early rout of Grambling. He scored 11 in 18 minutes in a home loss to UTSA, then had 11 in 13 minutes two nights later in the blowout of LeTourneau. Bryant got a season-high 8 rebounds in that game.

In 1990-91: Bryant became eligible in the eighth game and made a great debut, getting a season-high 16 points at Fresno State, hitting 3-8 s-pointers. He started 13 games and had a season high of 10 rebounds vs. Texas-Arlington.  Bryant, playing mostly high post and wing, scored 12 in a win over U.S. International and had 10 against Texas-Arlington, but finished with a 5.1o scoring average and 41.4% FG%. He struggled with conditioning, averaging just 17.4 minutes in his 21 games.

In 1989-90: Transferred to Northwestern after the first semester from East Carolina, where  he did not play as a sophomore. As a freshman, he played in 20 games and missed seven others with a knee injury which required surgery. He shot 59.1 percent from the field (13-22) and had a high game of 8 points vs. American University.

At Grissom HS:  helped lead Grissom to the Alabama Class 6A state title along with teammate Jay Scherer. Bryant averaged 19 ppg and 9.3 rebounds, shooting 58 percent from the field and 81 percent from the line. In the state tournament, he won the MVP award after averaging 29 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in three games.  A second-team All-State 6A selection by the state sporstwriters and the Birmingham Post-Herald,  Bryant was first-team all-area and all-city.

Personal:  Michael Brooks Bryant is the youngest son of David and Sandra Bryant.  His father is an engineer and his mother is a nurse who has triumphed in a battle with breast cancer. "She's taught me never to surrender, no matter what the odds," he says. His older brother, Brandon was an All-Southeastern Conference wrestler at Auburn. Bryant is majoring in psychology and hopes to play professionally overseas.  He is nicknamed "Whopper" and "Whop" by his teammates. If there's a standup comic among the Demons, he's it. "I can be crazy some days and reserved others," he says, "but I know I can make a person smile at any given time." Named after baseball star Brooks Robinson, Bryant has a sports card collection of about 800,000 cards. He wears jersey No. 22 to carry on a family tradition.