Genesis Bryant contemplated just a few years ago whether she should give up on her basketball dreams.
On Saturday, when the Illinois guard plays in a first-round NCAA Tournament game against Creighton in Austin, Texas, she will be grateful for the second chance that helped her thrive on the court.
Bryant, a second-team All-Big Ten selection this season, has become a key cog in Illinois’ three straight winning seasons under coach Shauna Green, including NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023 and this year and a WBIT championship in 2024.
Her personal turnaround has coincided with the program’s rebirth, and she’s hoping both can continue a while longer this month.
“People will forget how many points you score. They will forget those numerical things,” Bryant said. “But when you were a part of a change in a program — and like a new beginning of a program — that will stay in people’s minds and in their hearts forever. And to be able to say that I was a part of that, and to be able to contribute in a big way, it definitely is a blessing.
“I’m so grateful to be able to have this be a fresh start for me. This was a new beginning for me, as well, to come to Illinois in my junior year of college.”
Three years ago, Bryant was a little-used sophomore guard at highly ranked N.C. State. She felt no hope in her game, no motivation to practice. But she also didn’t believe in giving up what she had started. At 19, she wondered if she should just ride out her time with the Wolfpack on the sideline until she received her degree.
Not one to get emotional often, Bryant broke down in tears during a conversation with her parents about how she was feeling. And then they all prayed about what she should do.
A few days later she was in the N.C. State locker room, packing for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Connecticut, when she saw the news. Green, who had recruited Bryant at Dayton before she picked N.C. State, was going to be the new coach at Illinois.
“When I found that out,” Bryant said, “I was just like: ‘Hmm, I did just pray this prayer. Is this the answer? Like, is this where I’m supposed to be?’”
The Georgia native knew little about the Midwest besides one trip to Chicago. But she believed in Green’s vision and desire to win. She thought it spoke highly of the coach that she planned to bring much of her staff with her from Dayton.
Bryant finished out an Elite Eight run with the Wolfpack and then decided to transfer to Illinois.
“All the dots pretty much connected to me not giving up on my dream,” she said. “And I’m so thankful that I didn’t because of the success that I’ve had — and we’ve had — at this school. It just goes to show that you just stick in it and stay a little longer and just be focused on what’s important, the odds are that it will work in your favor.”
It didn’t matter to Green that Bryant averaged only 2.1 points in 5.4 minutes as a sophomore at N.C. State. Green knew Bryant as a person, and she remembered her as a player in high school and on the AAU circuit. She welcomed her to the program.
But it did take a bit for Bryant to get back on track.
“I wanted her and believed in her and didn’t care what the heck she did at N.C. State,” Green said.
“She came here and she struggled. She was a shell of herself. She didn’t have that confidence. She hadn’t played.
“Credit her, she worked her butt off every single day and slowly but surely continued to get better and better and kind of get her groove back, her mojo back, the confidence and the swag back.”
Bryant said it took a good six months after she arrived in Champaign to regain her confidence. She started taking better care of her body. She traded in her favorite snacks — Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and candy — for apples and peanut butter. She saw a therapist to get back on track mentally. And she put her faith in the work she put in on the court with her coaches.
By the time she got into Big Ten play in December of her junior season, her confidence had returned — and on Dec. 21 of that year, she made program history. Against Florida Atlantic she became just the third Illinois women’s player to record a triple-double: 22 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
In the 2½ seasons since that turnaround, Bryant has become an integral part of a group that has collected big moments to initiate a program about-face. Her favorites included topping then-No. 10 Iowa on Jan. 1, 2023, for their first win against a ranked team; displaying their defensive prowess against Villanova in the WBIT championship game in 2024; and earning the program’s first win against then-No. 14 Maryland in February as part of an eight-game winning streak.
This season Bryant is averaging 15.1 points, four assists and 3.5 rebounds. More of a 3-point shooter when she first arrived, she believes she has developed into a scorer at all three levels. She pointed to her improved free-throw numbers — 133 of 148 (90%) — as proof she is more aggressive getting to the basket.
“To see what she’s done this year in her fifth year, how she’s leading our team, playing 40 minutes a game, it’s just amazing,” Green said. “Her story is just a really cool story. She was emotional about it. She had no confidence and almost quit the game.
“To see someone like that, that we — the school and the people here — were able to give her that second chance (was great), but it was on her to capitalize on the second chance. And, boy, did she do that.”
Bryant also believes she grew in her leadership. Upon arrival in Champaign, she was quiet, content to take a back seat to more vocal leaders. But she began to understand she can help other players because of her unique background.
“From a leadership perspective, just knowing how to talk to different people, really caring about how other people feel and knowing what it was like to be on the other end too,” she said. “Because I was a person that was on the bench for two years and I did not play, and now I got into the starting lineup and I’m playing a big role, but I never lost my memory.
“Because of that I was able to relate to everyone on my team, because I knew what it was like to be in every position.”
Bryant also found value in the postseason experience she gained at N.C. State — even if it was mostly watching Sweet 16 and Elite Eight runs from the sideline. Now she leads a veteran group of players into what they hope will be a long last run together.
The eighth-seeded Illini (21-9) had nearly a week to prepare for their first-round game against No. 9 seed Creighton (26-6). Bryant said the Bluejays are a team full of shooters, led by Lauren Jensen, an honorable-mention All-American who averages 17.8 points and 3.8 assists.
“It’s definitely a challenge when you’re guarding all shooters because you’ve got to really guard the 3-point line,” Bryant said. “But also I feel like on the offensive end, we have to attack them and be aggressive and try to visit the free-throw line. Because just like we don’t really play a lot of people, they don’t either. So if we get some people in foul trouble early, that can really benefit us.”
Beyond Bryant, the Illini are led by first-team All-Big Ten forward Kendall Bostic, also in her fifth year, and senior guard Adalia McKenzie, an honorable-mention all-conference selection.
Bryant thinks the championship run in the WBIT last season will help the Illini understand how they need to proceed this month. The knowledge that this is the veterans’ final run at Illinois should be a motivating force too.
“Just with us seniors and fifth years, this is our last go-around,” Bryant said. “It’s survive and advance or lose and go home. And the magnitude of that, being this is your last year, we just play with a different level of desire and passion and we’re just trying to not let this be our last game.”
