Markieth Brown Jr. always had to exist in the shadows.
When Brown played for the Shadle Park High School boys basketball team in Spokane, he was the No. 3 option behind two teammates who were recruited by four-year colleges.
Last season as a freshman on the Everett Community College men’s hoops team Brown averaged 19 points per game, yet he took a back seat in the Trojans’ backcourt to Gio Jackson, who was the Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
But now Brown is finally getting his time in the spotlight, and he’s showing he can be every bit the shining star as those he once deferred to.
Everett CC begins the defense of its NWAC North Region title when it travels to play Skagit Valley College on Wednesday night, and when the Trojans take the court there’s no question Brown will be the one leading the way.
Brown, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, is currently leading NWAC in scoring, averaging 25.4 points through Everett’s first 15 games. He’s also posting 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.3 3-pointers per contest while shooting 45 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 82 percent from the free-throw line. He’s averaging more than 11 points more than anyone else on the Trojans’ roster.
”He has a huge role because no matter what he’s going to play 35 minutes a game,” Everett coach Mike Trautman said. “Whether he scores or assists or gets timely baskets, he’s going to be the guy. He’ll contribute best by scoring that basketball, that’s what he does best, but whatever he does he’ll be a huge factor. His play will decide how well we do in league.”
But Brown had to bide his time to reach this level of responsibility.
In high school Brown was in a class at Shadle Park with 6-foot-9 post player Tanner Groves, who’s now playing NCAA Division I at Eastern Washington University, and 6-foot-4 point guard Andreas Brown (no relation), who’s playing at NCAA Division II Central Washington University. Therefore, Brown was relegated to filling a role.
”It was really our big guy’s team,” Brown said. “Coach wanted us to pound it inside every play. I would just shoot a lot of 3s.”
But that limited role is what made Brown, who received limited interest from community colleges, available to Everett. And an assist from former Trojans player Rashad Jones helped make it happen. Jones, who is also from Spokane, tipped Trautman off about Brown. Trautman gave Brown a call and the two spent nearly an hour on the phone together, finding an instant connection.
“It was really just how confident he was in me,” Brown recalled about that initial conversation with Trautman. “I never had a coach ever in my life who was that confident in me, and it just blew up my head.”
Brown crossed the Cascades, switched from Shadle Park’s post-dominant offense to Everett’s guard-oriented scheme, and immediately found himself at home. Brown rode sidekick to Jackson last season as the Trojans embarked on a historic campaign, going 26-5, winning the North Region title and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NWAC Championships, where they were knocked out by eventual titlist North Idaho in a double-overtime thriller.
But despite leading the team in scoring and being a first-team All-North Region selection, Brown was still mainly a spot-up 3-point shooter. Knowing Everett would be his team this season, Brown dedicated the offseason to getting stronger so he could improve his ability to penetrate into the paint and finish around bigger players. That work has paid off.
“He’s surprised me this year,” Trautman said. “He’s scoring the basketball from all facets of the game, whether it’s taking the ball to the basket or shooting the 3 or getting to the free-throw line. A pure scorer can do all three, and that’s what he’s doing. We were nervous that teams were going to game plan for him, and if he was just a 3-point shooter he was going to struggle at times. But he’s decided to take the ball to the basket, he’s passing the ball well, and that’s really helping us win games.”
Brown’s improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed as Brown is starting to garner attention from four-year schools. He’s received a scholarship offer from the NAIA Montana Western, and Trautman said he’s fielding almost daily phone calls from NAIA and NCAA Division II schools about Brown.
Meanwhile, Brown and the Trojans are hoping to follow up their banner 2017-18 with another run at a North Region title. Everett enters region play at 8-7, but that record is somewhat deceptive as it includes a trip to the Treasure Valley CC Holiday Invitational, where the Trojans faced national-caliber opponents like Utah State Eastern and Snow College. Everett also figures to get better as the season progresses, considering the Trojans have just two rotation players (Brown and guard Tori Odom) returning from last season.
”Honestly, from game to game I do believe we can be as good as last year’s team, just because it’s really about how hard you work, and in the NWAC somebody could have a great night and somebody could have a terrible night,” Brown said. “I don’t know if we’re as good as them, but I think we can do as well as them for sure.”
If you have an idea for a community sports story, email Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.
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