Bryant steps down at Heritage

After 12 seasons at Heritage High School, girls’ head basketball coach Eddie Bryant stepped down from his post last Monday.

Bryant had been the only head coach in the program’s history as he started the team from scratch when the doors of the school first opened in 2008.

During his time at Heritage, the Lady Generals went 171-131 with six state playoff appearances, Region 6-AAAA championships in the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons and a region runner-up finish in 2016-17 when the team set a program record with 25 victories. The 2018-19 team also advanced to the Elite Eight of the Class AAAA state tournament.

“I greatly appreciate everything that Coach Bryant has done to build the girls’ basketball program and support the student-athletes at Heritage High,” Heritage Principal Ronnie Bradford said in a press release. “His commitment to the girls’ basketball team goes well beyond the season and he has organized annual summer camps and developmental camps. Coach Bryant remains a strong pillar of the Heritage community and dedicates countless hours to support our students and school.”

According to the press release, Bryant will remain in his post as a teacher at Heritage and will continue to organize summer middle school and high school basketball tournaments, which have become a staple for many schools in the North Georgia and Chattanooga area.

“I would also like to thank Mr. Bradford for the opportunity to start this program from the ground up,” Bryant said. “I also want to thank him for his support for me and for the girls’ basketball program over the past 12 years and thanks also goes to all the assistant coaches that have been here over the years.”

A graduate of LFO, Bryant was an All-North Georgia selection and a second team All-City selection after leading the Warriors in scoring as a senior.

The Chattanooga native has coached at several different levels of the sport, from middle school to college and even in an AAU national tournament. He was 71-23 in three years at Chattanooga State where his Lady Tiger teams were twice ranked in the top 20 nationally.

Also according to the release, Heritage assistant coach Megan Crawford will take over the program as interim head coach during this off-season and will continue to work with assistant coach Mark Gamble.