Thomas Bryant commits to Indiana

  • 04/04/2015 1:31 pm in

Class of 2015 Huntington Prep (W.V.) big man Thomas Bryant committed to Indiana during a live broadcast of the Dick’s National Tournament on ESPN from Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.

Bryant, a 6-foot-10 McDonald’s All-American and a Jordan Brand All-Star, is rated the No. 27 prospect nationally according to the 247Composite.

“I just wanted to come here and be on TV and say that I’m committing to Indiana to play college basketball next year,” Bryant said. “I’m very excited. I’ve been thinking about this long and hard, I’ve been talking it over with my mom and coaches. We just felt like being at Indiana was the best decision for me.”

This is the fifth straight year that Tom Crean has recruited a McDonald’s All-American to Bloomington as Cody Zeller (2011), Yogi Ferrell (2012), Noah Vonleh (2013) and James Blackmon Jr. (2014) preceded Bryant.

A native of Rochester, New York, Bryant also considered Kentucky, Missouri and Syracuse.

Earlier in the week at McDonald’s All-American media day, he told Inside the Hall that being a focal point from day one in Bloomington was a major reason he was considering the Hoosiers.

“If I chose Indiana, being a dominant player, I’d be a key focal point because being there and putting the hard work in and also just having a bunch of shooters around you, they double down and I kick out for an open 3 or if they don’t help down, I could get a bucket down low, also,” he said. “That game with Michigan State, they had heart, they played their hearts outs and the way they lost was just hard. You just know that they fight each and every day.”

Bryant took an official visit to Bloomington last October and followed it up with an unofficial visit for IU’s final regular season home game against Michigan State. He led Huntington Prep to the semifinals of the DICK’s National Tournament and scored 27 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

His commitment brings Indiana’s 2015 recruiting class to three members as Bryant joins Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby.

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