Brown Taking the Lead for Young, Talented Eagles

At a bulky six-foot-two, guard Isaac Brown is capable of a whole lot when he takes the floor.

In addition to his responsibilities ball-handling and rebounding, Brown is a matchup nightmare for the opposing team. On top of possessing a solid jump shot, he’s bigger and stronger than guards who defend him down low, while quicker and craftier than forwards forced to cover him on the wing.

However, the senior’s worth to his team extends even farther than his skill-set on the court.

To a man, his teammates will tell you, Brown is unquestionably their leader—and this comes as no accident, as head coach Richard Epps found out this offseason.

"He told me at the beginning of the year, ‘I’m going to be a better captain than any captain you’ve ever had,’” Epps said. “Right now, he’s proving that.”

On the way to a 15-2 record so far this year, Brown has been a calming influence for a very excitable team that—aside from junior Carjahn Jenkins—had very little varsity experience coming into the year.

Having been on varsity since his sophomore season and because he played an integral role in the Eagles’ run to the Comcast Center a year ago, his teammates respect that he’s been down this road before and they concentrate on and soak up his messages in the locker room and during team huddles as a result.

The fact that he is hardly a big talker—or as Epps put it “he doesn’t waste breathes”—allows his words to carry an even stronger significance.

 “Isaac is quiet but when he talks everybody does listen and all eyes go on him,” junior guard Tyson Smith said.  

Smith recalled a game earlier this season, a double-overtime win at Northwestern, where Brown’s presence as a leader directly impacted the Eagles’ ability to respond when faced with adversity and come back.

“When we’re losing in a clutch moment he always brings us back,” Smith said. “We’re down nine in the first overtime and he was like ‘everybody just calm down we are still in the game’. And everyone was like alright we’re good. We came back fresh and pushed it to another overtime.”  

Owings Mills went on to take the contest in the second OT, and then for good measure knocked off then-ranked Digital Harbor the following day.  

Despite the current success (the Eagles have yet to lose a county game), Brown’s experience allows him to put everything in perspective. Last year, just missing out on the state title, he was there for the high moments. But, having been on a team that started 4-11 his sophomore year, he knows that the good fortune should not be taken for granted.   

He’s tasted both ends of the spectrum and having come so close, he’s feverishly scratching that itch to snag a championship. And, he isn’t about to let his teammates lose sight of that goal.

“I told our guys we haven’t done anything yet, even this season. I don’t feel as though we have a target on our back,” Brown said referring to the Eagles flying a bit under the radar in terms of respect.

“I do like how we’ve been able to pick up quality wins because we’ve struggled with out of conference opponents in the past. But I told [the team] we haven’t done anything yet, so don’t walk around like teams are looking to take us out. We’re still overlooked and that’s where most of our hunger comes from. I tell the guys all the time, humility is the best thing to have right now.”   

Talking to his teammates, you can tell that Brown’s message has clearly resonated in their outlooks for this season’s objectives, and they appreciate him for it.

“Sometimes with us being a young team we feel like we’re in the spotlight doing big things. He calms us down and brings us back to earth,” Smith said. He’ll tell us we ain’t done nothing yet until we win the state championship. That always humbles us.”

Brown also stresses that no game, regardless of the opponent, should be taken for granted.

“If we’re playing against another team, he always tells us don’t look them off because this team is trying to win too,” junior forward Kyle Thomas said. “He’s a great leader for our team, a great captain.”  

In addition to excelling at the verbal aspect of being a leader, Brown is taking care of the second, and most important, part of being a captain—his actions back up his words.

With the thoughts of basketball admittedly occupying his head all day, he strives to be the hardest worker on the team, putting in hours at the gym after practice and before games, working on his outside shot, his post moves, his ball handling.

“Anything I can do to get better, it’s a step I’m willing to take,” Brown said. “We do have some hard workers on this team but if someone is outworking me, I don’t like that feeling. I will try and outwork this person and push that guy so he’s better.”  

True to his words, Brown is ready to provide that physical and emotional boost to a squad poised to make another deep run come the post season.

His coach is more than happy to have that kind of force working to his advantage.

“He knew there was so much potential [with this team], but he knew he’d have to tell them from the beginning, this is what we have to do to win,” Epps said.” JV is over; this is what we need to do on varsity. So far these young guys have been listening to him.”