After winning the Mid-Eastern Conference men’s basketball player of the year award each of his last two years in school, Norfolk State’s Joe Bryant Jr. can now add professional hardware to his list of basketball accomplishments.
Bryant was recently named MVP of Liga 1 in the second tier of the Polish Basketball Association last week, averaging 24.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.6 steals per game.
Another league, another MVP…Joe Bryant is for real! @WhoGotJoe4 https://t.co/BgwYnAN6JL
— Robert Jones (@NSUCoachJones) April 24, 2024
“It feels pretty good seeing all the work I’ve put in over the years and this season,” Bryant told The Virginian-Pilot earlier this week. “Just working on my body working on my shooting and things like that. My coaches and teammates putting me in the position to be successful. Not a lot of people make it where I come from. So to be named MVP somewhere outside of America is pretty cool.”
Bryant was the 2022 and 2023 MEAC men’s player of the year, leading Norfolk State to the NCAA tournament in 2022. The Norfolk native scored 1,747 points in his Spartans career. After graduation, he competed in the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Reese’s All-Star game, earning MVP honors with 22 points and six rebounds. Bryant also was invited to and participated in the NBA G-League’s elite before signing with Śląsk Wrocław of the PBL.