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Spriggs Departs As Plano Varsity Hoops Head Coach
Reapers Name Bryant As Successor

By Bill Lidinsky

In an orderly turn of events on Monday night at the Plano school board meeting, the Reaper athletic department announced a big change in regards to their boys varsity high school basketball program.

After two season as head coach Nate Spriggs tendered his resignation effective immediately in order to pursue the same position at Reed-Custer High School in Braidwood, IL. The Comets are a fellow member of the Interstate Eight Conference along with the Reapers.

Almost simultaneously the Plano administration announced the hiring of 27 year old Eric Bryant to replace Spriggs as Reaper head man on the hardcourt. Bryant served as boys varsity head basketball coach at Flannagan High School during the 2005-06 campaign.

“Nate came in during 04-05 and did a great job winning an IHSA Regional Championship in just his first year as a varsity head coach,” said Plano Athletic Director Jim Schmidt. “This year his team struggled a little bit maybe due to our success in football. But he battled every day to make things work and we’re going to miss him as a person and a coach and I’ll personally miss him as a friend.”

Spriggs departs with a two year overall record of 32-27. In 04-05 Spriggs captured the Plano Regional Championship with a win over Ottawa Marquette during an unforgettable run of basketball. It was a new high point for Reaper hoops since the 1999 Class A Final Four appearance in the State Championship round of play under then head coach Scott Miller. Spriggs squad bowed out in the Sectional Semifinals to St. Anne with a sparkling record of 20-10.

“By far the Regional Championship was the highlight of my time at Plano. I had very good players last year in Victor Mendez, Alex Jensen, Will Brown, and Brook Bott,” Spriggs said. “Even this year despite getting the late start due to the football team’s success, I felt we had a shot at making another run at a regional. Unfortunately we got put in a very tough regional with Seneca who were the eventual state champions. We scored the most points against them with 51 in the regional semifinals. No other team got above 46 all season long as they went undefeated and our kids were proud of that this year.”

Spriggs finished his second season with a 12-17 record which proved to be disappointing considering the success of his freshman campaign. But the down year had nothing to do with Spriggs decision to make the change.

“It was a tough decision for me to make but at 28 years old it proved to be a better fiscal decision to go to Reed-Custer,” Spriggs said. “With the phenomenal facilities they have there it was a move I had to make now in my young career as a head coach overall. I don’t think I would have ever left Plano had it not been for the financial concerns. I couldn’t be happier with the Reaper administration for giving me the chance two years ago to be their head coach. They truly supported me in anything and everything I did during my two year tenure.”

So with Spriggs departure Plano looked to find a coach that could deliver some stability. Reaper hoops have seen five head men over the past ten years so they set their eyes on Bryant to fulfill the need for a coach who will stay put for awhile.

Despite a 4-20 record in his first year of varsity coaching experience at Flannagan, Bryant has a tremendous pedigree and a wealth of championship experience on the high school level as a player in both basketball and football.

Bryant’s father Eric senior is an IHSA basketball Hall of Fame coach with 30 years of experience including two IHSA Class A second place finishes ion 1997 and 1998 of Spring Valley Hall High School. The junior Bryant was a starting guard in his senior season as the Red Devils lost a 92-85 overtime game in the championship against Warsaw.

Bryant achieved championship status as a junior in football at Hall with a 38-32 win over DuQuense in 1995 and then finished second on the gridiron in 96 with a 23-20 loss to Carterville. Bryant was a key in both title runs as a halfback and a defensive back playing both ways for the Red Devils. Bryant was a unanimous All State candidate in his senior year along with being tabbed as an honorable mention All American standout on the football field.

But Bryant’s fortunes would land him a basketball scholarship at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. The NCAA division two school welcomed Hall’s top player as a hoop standout. He would apply his basketball know how from there on his way to Plano.

“Eric wants to follow his father’s footsteps and possibly coach his son someday. He and his wife have a son on the way so hopefully he can settle in this area and coach for a long time with us,” Schmidt said. “If he’s half as successful as his father was at Hall we’ll have a great guy in place for a long time to come.”

Bryant’s wife Alison teaches fifth grade at Somonauk Middle School and both will welcome a son in the near future.

“I think Nate laid a pretty good foundation for something to build on. I’m hoping to stay here for awhile. My wife teaches at Somonauk and we really like the area and the people. It’s somewhere where we really want to be while building our family,” Bryant said. My dad had a lot of great years at Hall and I’d like to shape my coaching career in the same mold as he did. I’ll never stop learning and I think I bring a great background to Plano. Hopefully I and the administration here can shape it into something great for years to come in terms of play on the basketball floor.”

Bryant will get right to work holding a basketball camp for all high school players that are interested in attending. The camp will run from Monday June 26 through Wednesday June 28 from 9am until 12:00p.m. each day at the Plano High School gymnasium. The sessions are free and all Reaper players are encouraged to attend.