MAURICE BRITTIAN

Maurice Brittian Was The 'Glue'
That Bonded 1988 National Champion
Blue Dragons

Shaun Vandiver remembers the smile and laugh. Steve Fritz remembers a terrific teammate. David Farrar remembers an ability to make his teammates better.

That, in a nutshell, was who the late Maurice Brittian was to his teammates and head coach. That team went on to make history in Hutchinson by winning the program’s first NJCAA men's basketball national championship in 1988.

Brittian was named the 1988 tournament Most Valuable Player.

Brittian is the fourth member of the 1988 national champions to be inducted into the Hutchinson Community College Quarterback Club Hall of Fame – Farrar, Fritz and Steve McClain are the others. Brittian was enshrined posthumously after losing his life in an auto accident on June 25, 2006 in his home state of Georgia.

“Maurice Brittian was a player who just simply made his teammates better,” said Farrar, the head coach of the 1988 national champions. “Mo wasn’t the guy who had the most points, steals or assists or rebounds, but he made everybody better. His passing improved our team to the point that we had some success. He was a “Glue” guy for that team.”

Coming to Hutch after a stellar high school career in Atlanta, Brittian was a member of two of the Blue Dragons' most successful teams in 1987 and 1988. In between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Brittian was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the Olympic Sports Festival in Chapel Hill, N.C.

At the time of his graduation in 1998 Brittian the seventh-leading scorer in team history with 800 points. He ranked third in games played (73), seventh in field-goal percentage (58.0 percent), third in rebounds (649), tied for eighth in rebound average (8.9) and fifth in blocked shots (114).

But it was the 1988 NJCAA National Tournament where Brittian gained his fame.

Brittian averaged 13 points per game and shot 67 percent (19 of 28) in Hutchinson’s four tournament wins. In the Blue Dragons’ 76-74 victory over Kankakee in the championship game, Brittian had 13 points, including a key second-half slam dunk that gave the Dragons their first lead of the game.

“Mo was a leader who didn’t say a lot of words, but let his play do his talking,” Vandiver said. “He was one of our main guys with his defensive presence, blocking shots and rebounding. His offensive skill level improved working with coach Farrar and McClain. We didn’t run a lot of plays for him, but he was in the right position at the right time.”

Away from the floor, Brittian was a mild-mannered young man who was working on his game, working in the classroom and taking care of a young lady who would later become his bride and their young son.

“He was a teddy bear,” said Fritz, who hit the game-winning shot in the 1988 championship game against Kankakee. “He was a great person and it’s sad that he’s gone.”

Added Vandiver: “I remember his smile and his dry, but sly, witty sense of humor and he had a dry, cackling laugh that echoed in the locker room.”

After Hutchinson, Brittian signed with Georgia Tech where he averaged 4.5 points and shot 61.9 percent for the Yellowjackets. Brittian decided to return to Kansas for his final year of eligibility, transferring to Kansas State before the 1989-90 season. After having to sit out in 1990, Brittian averaged eight points and six rebounds for the Wildcats in the 1990-91 season.

After graduation from K-State, Brittian was a sixth-round draft pick in the 1991 Continental Basketball Association after the Sioux Falls Sky Force selected him with the 92nd pick.

Brittian was always a Blue Dragon fan favorite. He was voted by the fans to the Blue Dragons’ all-75th Anniversary Team in 2006.