Hall of Fame
Bridgeport’s spent time in various classifications throughout the years, but Bryant Irwin got to play against the big boys in Class AAA, including some future NBA players in Patrick Patterson and O.J. Mayo.
The newest member of the Harry Green Bridgeport High Athletics Hall of Fame wouldn’t have it any other way.
“What sticks out the most to me is my junior year season and the team that we had,” Irwin said of the 20-4 squad. “We went down to Charleston and beat Jefferson in the state tournament and then played against Huntington. That was the year they won the championship and were pretty good.”
That’s putting it mildly: That Huntington team is in the discussion for the state’s greatest ever.
“Two NBA guys on the same team, let alone even one,” Irwin said. “I always wanted to be in the AAA classification, just to play against the best, the biggest schools. We would see a lot of that when we went to Charleston. When I was a sophomore, we played George Washington in Charleston and they were good.”
Local tests were aplenty, too.
“The battles with RCB stick out as well because both of the schools had such great teams,” Irwin said. “The gym was always packed and there was a lot of competition….my senior year, RCB was fantastic and I thought we had a pretty good team.”
Irwin averaged 31 points and 11 rebounds as a junior to claim the Bill Evans Award as the state’s top high school boys basketball player.
“When I was a sophomore and junior, we had a pretty balanced team. As a senior, I think there was a need for me to score more for us to win games. I played with a great, great point guard all three years in Derek Gilbert. He probably assisted me on most of my baskets. There wasn’t a slow game with him as the point guard, so we had an opportunity to score a lot of points and push the tempo.”
That run came with good coaching from Gene Randolph and Dennis Hutson.
“We took it seriously and we wanted to win. At the end of the season, we wanted to be in the state tournament, that was always our goal,” Irwin said. “They were able to prepare me for that next level. I learned a lot from them about the game and discipline and team basketball and especially defense. We were a defensive-minded team with our pressure,” Irwin said.
Irwin went on to play college basketball at St. Joseph’s and Furman, then professionally in Colombia.
“I saw a lot of really great competition in the Atlantic 10 at St. Joseph’s,” Irwin said. “I loved those schools. I was very thankful that my education was able to be paid for by athletics.”
