Charlie Bryant and Marcus Freeman were excited about their future coach and reminiscent about their former one Wednesday at a ceremony to announce their intentions to play basketball at Illinois Central College.

The two Peoria Notre Dame players, who signed letters-of-intent to play for ICC Wednesday, said they cannot wait to play for ICC coach Tony Wysinger, but they will also miss their high school coach, Eddie Mathews.

“Coach Wysinger played at U of I. He knows what it takes to play at a high level, and I’m looking forward to taking my game to the next level,” Bryant said. “But, I wouldn’t have been here without Coach Mathews. He is a good man. He is like a father to me. He helped me so much.”

Freeman said he jumped at the chance to play for Wysinger, and he hopes to contribute to the Cougars right away.

“Coach Wysinger has a real good background, and he’s a great coach. I want to work hard and help this team win. I will miss coach Mathews, too. He brought so much energy to the game and taught us to always play with 100-percent effort.”

Bryant, a 5’9” guard, and Freeman, a 6’4” forward, helped lead the Irish to a 17-11 record that included two regular season wins over Richwoods.

“We had a good run at Notre Dame,” Bryant said. “I wish we could have gone further in the postseason, but overall, I’m proud of what we accomplished.”