Junction City senior Zak Brown decided to follow in the footsteps of former Dragon Jerrodney Tubbs and signed to play basketball at South Arkansas Community College recently.
Junction City coach Kendall Hutcheson said Brown’s game rose to the next level between his junior and senior seasons.
“Zak, it’s just night and day how much he’s improved between his junior and senior year,” Hutcheson said.
“He went out for football to play receiver and he ended up being a starting defensive back for us. He got out there on defense and did a great job. His confidence improved so much from going to football, which he’d never played, and ending up being a starter and doing a great job at it. You could just see the confidence carry over to basketball.”
Brown averaged 14.6 points and 3.1 steals for the Dragons, who finished second to Fordyce in the conference.
The 6-foot point guard, literally, grew into a college caliber basketball player.
“I had told Coach Davis about him and Jerrodney talked to him about him and said, ‘you’ve got to go look at him.’ He came down and looked at him and as soon as he did, he said, ‘O.K., I want him.’ He’s been such a late bloomer. He’s also grown about an inch and a half and improved his strength,” said Hutcheson.
“Last year he would get to the basket, but it seemed like he had trouble finishing shots with contact. This year, he didn’t have any trouble finishing with contact. I think he’s going to go to SouthArk and he’s going to be an excellent player for them. I see Zak playing somewhere else at some point.”
More confident. Stronger. Taller. And Brown’s basketball could still be in front of him. Hutcheson was amazed at how much improvement he showed in just one year.
“He became a leader. From start to finish, he was probably our most consistent player. He’s like the Energizer Bunny. It seems like he never gets tired,” said Hutcheson.
“He’s a hard worker, very coachable and I could not be more proud of what he’s done and how he’s grown. I think he’s got a really good future. I definitely see him being successful at the next level.”