Big man Roland Brown is coming off of a tough time in his life.
During the Kingwood Classic in Houston, Texas last April, the rising senior went up for a rebound and when he came down he “heard a pop” in his left knee. Brown immediately knew that he would have his work cut out for him to get back onto the court.
“Rehab felt like torture because I wanted to play so badly but then after the (junior) season I took it serious and worked real hard to get my knee stronger and now it feels so much better from last year and I don’t have problems with it anymore,” Brown stated.
The torture is over now for the 6 foot 8 235 pound power forward. The Christ the King senior is now in the best shape of his life and his fitness was on display at the heralded IS8 tournament this fall. By all accounts Brown was running the floor well for a man-child his size, finishing plays around the basket with both hands, and hitting the 10-15 foot mid-range jump shot.
“I feel I could have played a little better like helping (CTK teammate) Maurice Barrow and the rest of my team a little more offensively, but defensive wise I played good.”
This is the type of attitude that it takes to come back from a devastating knee injury and be successful again on the court; perseverance and the humility to look at yourself and be honest with how you played.
This upcoming season, which is just around the bend, the Royals are one of the top teams in the CHSAA. With lead guard Corey Edwards, super soph Omar Calhoun and Barrow all healthy and ready to go, the Royals boast one of the most talented and experienced rosters in the city.
But they aren’t just talented and experienced. They are hungry to win, too.
“Our goal is to win everything and get every senior a good college and every junior good looks for next year,” said the big man. “Personally my goals are to get better looks and just be a leader on and off the court for my team.”
With the attitude that he shows and some hard work there is no reason that Brown cannot will himself to be looked at by bigger schools, which is his goal.
Currently Brown has offers from “LIU, Manhattan, and Stony Brook,” and he has received interest from “St. Johns, Hofstra, and Rutgers.”
Some of the schools that he would love to have come after him are “Georgetown, Villanova, Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia, and Clemson.”
With the mindset that he can play anywhere, Brown has been working on his skill-set in order to prove to scouts and coaches that he can play anywhere after high school.
“I’ve been working on extending my range on my jump shot, my ball handling and my post moves. My weakness is creating a lot off the dribble which I’ve been working on.”
Right now Brown plays the power forward and center position for the Royals, but in college he believes that he can do more than just play big.
“In college I think I can play small forward/power forward/center because I have a good mid-range game and my ball handling is getting much better and I can battle on the inside with bigs and I’m getting faster so I can defend smaller and quicker players.”
The Road to Redemption has winded its way to this point and it’s certainly not a coincidence. Roland Brown is a hard worker and he is determined to prove that he is one of the best big men in NYC this year, so watch out CHSAA…
*Photo courtesy of nydailynews.com
