Johnnie Bryant is not the type who likes to sit.
The Ute guard is doing a lot more of it during his senior season, but he's actually enjoying himself more as his team builds a winning record for a change.
After leading the team in minutes played for two seasons, Bryant has been asked this year by new coach Jim Boylen to be a spark off the bench. Bryant has embraced his new role for the betterment of the team.
"I've started here and played a lot of minutes, but I want to win and do what's best for the team," Bryant says. "Coach has been around a lot of basketball and he knows what is best for this team right now. If he wants me to come off the bench and lead, that's what I'll do."
While he might get frustrated with a few quick shots or an occasional careless turnover, Boylen is happy with Bryant's play so far this year.
"He has embraced his new role," he said. "Johnnie's role is to make shots and to run the team when he's in there. He has shown more leadership and he has taken more ownership of the team."
Ever since he came to Utah out of the Bay Area three years ago, Bryant has been known as a shooter, the kind of player who can light up the scoreboard in a hurry.
Last year against Virginia's highly touted guards, Bryant tied a school record by sinking 7-of-13 from 3-point range on his way to a 26-point night and a big victory. He also sank 4 of 6 in an upset win over nationally ranked Air Force.
He currently ranks No. 4 on Utah's all-time 3-point list with 168 makes and will almost certainly end up No. 2 all-time behind Nick Jacobson. He needs 39 more threes to pass Keith Van Horn. With a fourth year, he'd likely pass Jacobson (287).
Boylen said he has given Bryant the green light to shoot whenever he's open.
"Yes, no doubt. I tell him that every day," he said. "He gets a quick trigger every now and then and I understand that. But you've got to give (a green light) to a shooter like him, who's capable of busting a game open."
With junior college guard Tyler Kepkay moving into the starting point guard spot and Lawrence Borha settling into the 2 guard spot, Boylen figured Bryant would be a perfect sixth man off the bench. Bryant is capable of playing either guard spot and plays each about half the time when he's in the game.
Bryant can see the positive side of not starting the game.
"I get to see what the defense is doing off the bench," he said. "Once I come in I pretty much know what they're doing and how they're defending us and what they're doing on offense so I can get a little heads up. I'm still in there playing 25, 26 minutes a night so I'm not really worried about it."
Bryant describes his role as "come in and be solid, play defense and knock down shots." Then with a laugh he said, "If he asks me to be in the starting lineup, I'll probably say no."
Despite playing 22 minutes per game, Bryant ranks second on the team in scoring at 11.6, first in free throw percentage (91.7 percent), second in steals, and third in field goal shooting percentage (53.8 percent).
And while Bryant's scoring average has dropped from 15.1 last year and 13.1 the year before, he's actually averaging more points per minute this year, .532 compared to .438 last year and .401 the year before.
Perhaps the biggest improvement in Bryant's game is his assist-to-turnover ratio, which is 2-1 with 18 assists to nine turnovers. As a sophomore he had a negative ratio and it was 1.5-1 last year.
Bryant came to Utah as Ray Giacoletti's first recruit in the spring of 2004 after he had played a year at San Francisco City College, where he was first-team all-Coast Conference. He had played high school ball at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, where he was MVP of his league.
He joined the Utes in January of the 2004-05 season when the Utes went to the Sweet 16 and practiced as a redshirt. That allowed him to concentrate on his schoolwork while getting accustomed to the Division I basketball.
While many athletes leave college without a degree, Bryant will leave with two. He already received a bachelor's degree in 2006 prior to his junior season, in human development and family studies.
"I take school serious," said Bryant, who graduated from junior college in three semesters and was able to transfer a lot of credits when he came to the U.
Now he's finishing up another degree in sports management, which he hopes eventually lead to a job as a sports agent.
Before getting a real job, he'd like to play basketball at some level, perhaps overseas.
Except for the snow, Bryant said he loves Utah and his new coach, even if he's given a hard time sometimes.
"Coach Boylen is great — he demands a lot of me as a senior leader," he said. "At the end of the day, he wants me to be the best player I can be, but he also wants us all to be the best men as well."
Boylen calls Bryant "a terrific kid" and "a good leader" as a senior captain.
"He's putting the team first," Boylen said.
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