Marist’s Stephen Brown remains deeply attached to a basketball state of mind.
The senior forward has unfinished business given his origin story is steeped in the on-the-court sport, so his future that includes being a football recruit to NC State will definitely have to wait.
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“I never considered not coming out for basketball this year because I knew I wanted to get that state championship,” Brown said. “I know I can pass the ball well.
“I always try to make the right play.”
Brown made a bunch of plays Friday night, totaling 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots in leading the RedHawks to an 82-54 victory over the host Raptors in the Class 4A Rich Township Regional championship game in Richton Park.
Senior guard Adoni Vassilakis paced four double-figure scorers with 23 points and four steals for second-seeded Marist (28-5), which advanced to play a 7 p.m. semifinal in the Joliet West Sectional against third-seeded Lockport (27-5), a 58-30 winner over the host Tigers.
Senior forward Charles Barnes added 21 points for the RedHawks, while senior point guard TJ Tate contributed 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Senior guard Kavon Ammons led Rich Township (18-13) with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Jahmir Brown chipped in with nine points.
Stephen Brown, meanwhile, created the defining sequence in the third quarter when he jumped all over on his own missed layup and in one motion alertly passed out to Vassilakis for a 3-pointer.
“Steve was incredible and words can’t even express how happy I was for him,” Vassilakis said. “When he’s rebounding like that, finishing and playing his heart out, we are very hard to beat.”
Marist coach Brian Hynes felt a profound sense of relief after Brown’s offensive rebound.
“Stephen’s just a high-character guy like he showed on that play,” Hynes said. “Football is his future, but he came here to play basketball, and he did things out there you just can’t teach.”
At nearly 6-foot-7, Brown is agile and lanky and possesses a great wingspan. He protected the rim and challenged multiple shots as the Raptors ran out of answers.
Brown sought to be a true jack-of-all-trades.
“The main goal for me was to do the little things like rebound, dive on the ball, get blocks,” he said. “I just wanted to make an effort. I feel like those little things help everything come together.”
Brown arrived at Marist as a highly touted basketball recruit, a natural given he started playing in third grade. By contrast, his football career developed later, in part because he had to overcome his mother’s objections to him playing the sport.
His father, Eddie, played at Fenger and professionally with the Miami Dolphins. His half-brother, Jakobi Meyers, is a wide receiver with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I got my competitive mindset from my dad because he was always on me as a kid,” Brown said. “I saw how hard he worked out every day in the morning and that made a big impact on me.”
With his father and brother being professional athletes, Stephen grew up knowing he had a standard to maintain.
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“I definitely felt that pressure when I was younger,” he said. “Since I’ve gotten older, I feel like I’m starting to accomplish things. Slowly but surely, I feel like I’m going to reach those goals.”
The cruel irony is that his senior football year was limited to a handful of games due to a series of injuries. His secondary sport, however, has largely gone off without a hitch.
“It’s crazy thinking about we only have a few more games left,” Brown said. “Right now I just want to take it all in. I want to play hard every game, no matter what.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.