North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Hall Honor Humbles Bryant
5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
May 11, 2006
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - When he was officially inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame at the North Raleigh Hilton on Thursday night, it was hard for Charlie Bryant not to be in awe. After all, he was joining select company that includes many of his cohorts and close friends from NC State. Bryant was joining an exclusive group that includes the likes of former Wolfpack basketball coaches Everett Case, Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano. A former Pack assistant coach and executive director of the Wolfpack Club, Bryant was among eleven new inductees who received the ultimate athletics honor the state of North Carolina can offer. He also became the 30 representative of NC State to be enshrined.
"When they told me I was going into the hall, I said that I didn't deserve it," Bryant said. "But I also said I had arthritis and I didn't deserve that either."
There he is, Charlie Bryant, a true Wolfpack original. This prestigious recognition, of course, felt a lot better than arthritis. In fact, Bryant probably feels like he has arthritis of the mouth after smiling so much this week.
The thread that starts with some of the greatest names of `Tobacco Road' basketball history and runs through Bryant is undeniable.
His ties to the ACC first started in the late 1950s. A successful basketball coach at Anderson (S.C.) high school, Bryant received a call from the new head coach at Wake Forest, a fellow by the name of Bones McKinney.
"I was invited up and interviewed and he hired me on the spot," Bryant said. "We had some great years. Bones was an absolute magician and a motivator. He taught us all that the game of basketball is something that we should have fun with. That's something that Sidney Lowe has been saying recently. I love for people to emphasize that and Bones did. He proved that you could win championships and I think Sidney Lowe is going to do the same thing."
Like many who have given so much of themselves to Wolfpack athletics over the years, Bryant was thrilled to find out that Lowe, the starting point guard on NC State's 1983 national title team, would be returning to Raleigh to take over the men's basketball program.
"When you think of family, you think of strength," Bryant said. "All of a sudden, NC State basketball gains strength and all the fans are now united. To me, it's a strength thing and I think it's going to pay off. It's a group that has the best of NC State in mind."
Bryant knows a little about strength, success and winning, particularly at NC State. It was the legendary Case who lured him away from Wake Forest to first join the Wolfpack family in 1964.
"Everett was so kind to me when I first went to Wake Forest," said Bryant. "He loved anybody that had anything to do with basketball. Everett was just a dear friend as well as an outstanding coach to work for."
When Case stepped down due to failing health, Bryant joined the staff of another dear friend, Press Maravich. He then stuck around for the early stages of Sloan's regime, enjoying the fruits of the 1970 ACC Championship.
After leaving NC State and the coaching business for awhile, he returned in 1977 to direct the Wolfpack Club. While there, he became close with Valvano, who guided the Pack to its improbable title run in 1983. Bryant figures that if Valvano were still around today, he'd use Bryant's induction into the Hall of Fame as subject matter for a new comedy routine.
"He'd probably have an hour's worth of material," said Bryant, giggling. "By the same token, he would also be as overjoyed by as I am."
Bryant's effort at the Wolfpack Club built a strong foundation, a foundation that has now produced record-breaking membership numbers and fundraising successes that have led to the current facility improvements that are unprecedented in the annals of NC State sports.
"You could see it coming," Bryant said. "When Jimmy V was here, he started talking about the arena. It took a long time for us to get it started and get it completed, but I always felt that if we could get the arena started, that would be the catalyst that would make everything else happen. The job that Bobby Purcell and the Wolfpack Club has done in recent years is out of sight. It's so indicative of the dedication that group has and the dedication our fans have for our athletics program. I just think NC State can do what it wants to do."
When he joined Case, Sloan, Valvano and others in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, Charlie Bryant did something he never dreamed of.
