Four-star center Thomas Bryant has committed to Indiana, Bryant said in a live interview on ESPN on Saturday afternoon.

Bryant did the interview in a sweatshirt with “Just a Kid From Rochester” written on the front of it. And as he weighed offers from Kentucky, Indiana and Syracuse — his presumed “final three” — Orange fans hoped that his Rochester roots would steer him to central New York.

Bryant’s Huntington (West Virginia) Prep fell to No. 1 Oak Hill Academy in the semifinals of the Dick’s National Tournament on Friday, and Bryant took to the ESPN broadcast of finals between Oak Hill (Virginia) Academy and Montverde (Florida) Academy to announce his decision.

“I just wanted to come here and just be on TV just to say that I will be committed to Indiana University to play college basketball next year,” Bryant said on ESPN.

Even with a former teammate in Syracuse reserve center Chinonso Obokoh and a recruiting pitch from five-star SU signee Malachi Richardson at the McDonald’s All-American game on Wednesday, Bryant chose the Hoosiers over No. 1 Kentucky and a Syracuse program that carries a lot of uncertainty into the near future.

With Ron Patterson and B.J. Johnson transferring after the season and Chris McCullough declaring for the NBA Draft earlier this week, the Orange finally had the space to bring Bryant in.

Here’s how Richardson reacted to his fellow All-American’s announcement:

I tried

— KingMali (@KingMali23) April 4, 2015

Then Richardson offered positive reinforcement. SU will bring in Richardson, four-star guard Franklin Howard, and four-star forwards Moustapha Diagne and Tyler Lydon.

Syracuse we gone be fine next season #OrangePride

— KingMali (@KingMali23) April 4, 2015

With his commitment to Indiana, Bryant joins three-star small forward Ogugua Anunoby and four-star power forward Juwan Morgan in the Hoosiers’ Class of 2015.

“I’m very excited,” Bryant continued on the ESPN broadcast. “I’ve been thinking about this long and hard, and I’ve been talking it over with my mom and coaches.

“… We just felt that being at Indiana was the best decision for me.”

Published on April 4, 2015 at 1:45 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse