DePaul's Hrynko honed her toughness in Philly
When a fast, flashy player was taking down their pint-size sons with hit after stinging hit, all the football dads wanted to know more.
"They were going up and asking the coach, 'Who's that? Who's that?'" Mike Hrynko, the fast-and-flashy player's dad, said with a laugh. "The coach was like, 'That's Brittany.' And all the dads were like, 'What? Who?'"
From her days of playing youth football as hard as any boy, to being a quick study in karate and baseball, to effortlessly crossing up the boys on the playground with a style similar to her idol Allen Iverson, Philadelphia native Brittany Hrynko always had an edge and a toughness to her.
She looks the part, too.
Covered with more than 20 tattoos and a near-constant seriousness on her face that almost looks like a scowl, Hrynko is one of the most intriguing players in women's college basketball.
DePaul's senior point guard is a leading candidate for Big East player of the year, ranking second in scoring (19.9 ppg) and assists (5.2 apg). She's also one of the league's top defenders, with 2.7 steals per game, which ranks second.
Hrynko (pronounced Rinko) plays with an edgy flair that is showcased in no-look and behind-the-back passes, with step-back threes from beyond NBA range, and with dizzying ball-handling skills. She plays with a toughness earned in her youth.
"The best thing that I learned from playing with the boys was how tough they were," Hrynko said. "I remember one kid in basketball who would always keep fouling me and shoving me and one day, I just shoved him back. I got a technical, but it was OK because I knew I couldn't let him keep doing that. Those boys never took it easy on me because I was a girl."
Forced to become a tough athlete to survive in sports that she played almost exclusively with boys, she also was forced to become a tough daughter at a tender age.
Hrynko's dad Mike, who would drive her all over Philadelphia for so many games and practices that sometimes she'd have to change for the next one in the backseat, was shot in the neck in a horrific act of random violence.
Brittany was just 10 years old when Mike was rear-ended in traffic and got out of his truck to inspect the damage. The other driver, high on drugs, shot him.
Mike, now a quadriplegic, was lucky to survive, and his ordeal forced all three of his kids to toughen up quickly.
"It was so hard. When it first happened, I wasn't able to go to the hospital right away. I couldn't see my dad like that," Hrynko said. "But that got better. I looked at it like this: at least he was still here. At least, I could still talk to him. At least he was still around and could still come to my games. I was just happy for that.
"I knew he was going to need a lot of help, that he wouldn't be able to do as much for us as he used to. But I knew that he would still be able to help me grow as a person."
With Mike religiously cheering her from his wheelchair, Hrynko grew into a star player, one of the best in the storied history of Philadelphia girls basketball, which includes the great Dawn Staley.
Hrynko started right away as a freshman at Philadelphia Engineering and Science, and set a school record with 1,539 career points. At DePaul, she started 32 games as a freshman and has become one of the team's go-to players. A first-team all-Big East selection the last two seasons and was an honorable mention all-American last year as a junior, Hrynko already has 1,698 career points and 598 career assists. She's twice dished out 12 assists in a game.
"She is such a hard matchup," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. "She has such a diverse game. She can make long 3's and pull-up J's and she can take you off the bounce and get to the basket. And she can make her teammates better with great passes.
"She's a gamer, too. Britt gets excited for big games. There's just an edge and a toughness to her game that I think comes from her being such a tough person. She's missed one practice in four years. You don't go through what she's gone through in life and not develop an edginess and a toughness to you."
Hrynko has had some of her best games when she goes home to Philadelphia to play in front of her dad.
Travel is not easy for Mike Hrynko. He has not made it to DePaul during her career, but he makes a point of being at DePaul's games at Villanova and Georgetown, an easier drive from Philadelphia.
Earlier this month, Hrynko, who dreams of playing in the WNBA and is projected by some experts to be a first-round pick, dropped 29 points on Villanova. About 100 family and friends were there to watch. A day later, she scored a career-high 38 points and dished out 9 assists at Georgetown. Her dad was there, too.
"It's definitely on my mind when my dad is there," Hrynko said. "It means everything when he's able to come to my games."
Around dad, the often stoic Hrynko lights up and flashes a toothy smile she reserves for those closest to her.
"You know, Brittany grew up with it tough. She probably didn't trust a lot of people as a kid, so she was always to herself, which some people might take as standoffish or even mean," Mike Hrynko said. "But once you get to know her, you'll see that she's really funny and nice to be around.
"No matter what coach Brittany's ever had, they all fall in love with her. They'll always comment about how she doesn't smile, or she plays with a certain (edge) that takes people back. But Brittany always wins them over in the end."
She's certainly won over Bruno, whom she calls "Dad."
"I'm definitely not trying to take Mike's job," Bruno said. "But I call (Hrynko) my daughter. Britt's a neat person. And under that tough exterior, there's a sweet little girl in there."
Well, maybe not too sweet. Just ask all the boys she has schooled over the years.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw