detrek browning stayed true to fmu and became the school’s all-time leading scorer
In an early January game against Clayton State, Detrek Browning calmly waited behind the 3-point line while teammate Brandon Parker fought for a fumble in the lane. Eventually, Parker hit the ball to Browning, who scooped it up, stopped for position and casually hit a 3-pointer that etched his name prominently in the FMU record books. With that relatively normal basket, Browning became something quite remarkable: the leading career scorer for him in the nearly 50-year history of the school.
no wonder the record breaker came in a routine play. Browning’s calling card as a player is his ability to score, seemingly effortlessly; to make a unique ability to find ways to put the basket of balls seem quite common.
what was remarkable about the work is that browning was present to make it.
The dynamic of college basketball at all levels has changed dramatically in the last decade. players move regularly and easily from one school to another, looking for the next slightly greener piece of grass; and there’s not a lot of hard work that coaches and schools can do about it. his path is fraught with danger.
Bring in a player too slow and you’ll go into a situation where you can play/shoot/start more often. But, bring them in too quickly, develop them too well, and this is especially true for programs in Division II schools like FMU, and the larger schools will come calling. they can’t draft a player, per se, until he puts his name on the ncaa’s official transfer list (which number in the thousands every year), but word gets out. pssst. if his name is on that list. …
After averaging 20.1 points per game for FMU in 2015-16, officially his second season, word of Browning spread. there were schools out there, division i schools, that were interested. and browning knew the drill. friends, enemies, even some of his teammates, had gone that way.
“I heard from some people,” says Browning, “and people were in my ear, telling me to get out, that this was my big break. but…”
but?
browning shakes his head and shrugs. The big decision, she says, really wasn’t a decision at all.
“man, after all that (fmu) has done for me… I mean, they were there for me when no one else was,” says browning. “and the people here have always been great. This is where I belong. he wasn’t going anywhere. I guess maybe the coach was worried, but I wouldn’t go. “
gary edwards, browning’s coach at fmu, admits to some nervousness during the spring in question. But those days are long gone and remembering them now brings a smile to Edwards face.
“detrek has done a lot of great things here, made a lot of big plays and will always be one of my favorites,” says edwards, “but if you ask me what i’ll remember the most, that’s it. it’s that loyalty he showed detrek. that’s a rare quality. it’s better than all those points he scored.”
things happen
maybe detrek browning should never have ended up at fmu in the first place.
He wasn’t exactly a secret coming out of irmo (s.c.) high school, just north of columbia. irmo, led by legendary coach tim whipple, is one of the premier high school basketball programs in south carolina and detrek browning did nothing during his time with the yellowjackets to lessen that.
browning played three college seasons at irmo and helped the team win two state championships. in his senior year irmo went 29-0 (whipple’s only undefeated team in 37 years in charge) and captured whipple’s fifth state title.
browning may not have been (may being the keyword) the best player on a team that also included college of south carolina recruit justin mckie. but it was not a secret. He was receiving significant recruiting attention in his junior year and had several Division I programs eyeing him closely.
but… things happened. A program that seemed safe hired another guard and never called Browning again. another changed coach. and so on.
whipple says it was clear to him, then and now, that browning belonged to a division i list.
“oh no question they could play at that level,” says whipple. “But you know, coaches look at things…it’s tough. he (browning) was a little bit small maybe, like he got into that middle position wise. Was he point guard or shooting guard? he didn’t play much for us until his senior year. but he maybe he’s a little small for a di-i shooting guard, maybe he’s not that fast… so… “
so, earlier that year, one of edwards’ assistants at fmu saw browning play and suggested that the patriots attack him. Edwards saw it and quickly agreed: “The best point guard I’ve seen all year,” Edwards said.
Edwards learned that Browning’s recruitment had taken a funny turn and contacted the entire court press. When Browning came for his official visit, Edwards offered him a full scholarship on the spot.
browning hung on for a while, waiting for the “better” offer that never came. Eventually, his own common sense (everyone who knows him sees him as a very well-grounded person) and a little bullying from his mother made him a patriot.
“I kept thinking, ‘maybe a bigger school will offer me something,'” says browning. “Meanwhile, mom is saying, ‘Are you crazy? They are offering you a full scholarship. they really love you. did you know? she was right.”
red shirt tears
There was one more test left.
despite being a polished player for a freshman, browning arrived on the fmu campus and met evrik gary, the number three scorer in school history, already installed in the role of owner. Edwards and the Patriot staff persuaded Browning that what he should do was sit out (redshirt is the term) his freshman season, just as Gary had.
The move made sense, but it’s easier said than done. redshirts spend as much practice time as regular players but can’t play in games, can’t even travel with the team to road contests.
“You’re really alone a lot of times and you have to stay focused to keep working on things, getting better, on your own,” says Browning. “That’s good. There’s a lot to get used to going from high school to college. It helped with basketball, with school, with everything. I tell everyone now ‘red shirt.’ That’s the way to do it. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done’ but it’s not easy. I’ll have to say there were a few nights where a few tears were shed.”
energy saving
a point, not the first point, but a point anyway, that browning would make about his game, about the way he plays basketball is that he can shoot the ball.
>
“Definitely,” says Browning. “I actually have two dunks in games (at fmu). I guess there could have been more, the fans would like it, but it’s not something I’m that excited about. a bucket is a bucket. I prefer to conserve my energy.”
good at conserving energy. there is now a line that does not appear in many scan reports. But that aspect of Detrek Browning, a basketball player, says as much about his game as any other. he glides down the pitch, under control, moving from place to place, moving from right place to right place, with a studied nonchalance that lulls opponents, fans and opponents to sleep. even his own trainer in a state of disinterest.
“He’s one of those guys,” says fmu’s edwards, “where you then take the stat sheet and say, ‘twenty-five points? How did that? I did not see that’. he is very, very smooth.”
Browning’s main ability is absolutely intangible. he has an innate understanding of the game that allows him to see plays before they happen.
“It doesn’t happen like that,” explains Browning. “I have had very good coaches. and I think of all the works. I only think about them five or 10 seconds before they happen.”
that is five or 10 (or more) seconds ahead of the majority.
speed, shoot kill
Awards and honors add up fast in the latest season of browning. He’s been the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week four times (through January), set the FMU single-game scoring mark (41 points) in early January, and is clearly primed for postseason accolades. too.
It’s all well deserved, but it’s still surprising because Browning rarely looks like the best athlete on the court. the 6-0, 180-pounder is a bit stocky for basketball players, and he doesn’t have the chiseled muscularity of some. His two dunks aside, he’s not much of a jumper, and he’s probably not the fastest guy either, though as dozens of oft-burnt peach belt conference foes attest, he’s fast enough.
browning comes from a very athletic family. her mother (carlissa), several uncles, aunts, and cousins played college sports. his brother is a bit heavier than detrek, “but he can still beat me in a race. he can fly.
“my uncle (milton kershaw), who played football in college and is incredibly fast, taught me early on that speed kills,” says browning. “It is the most important part of most sports. but it is not necessarily who is faster. is who can be quick when he needs it.”
Browning is a good defender (he will also end his career among fmu’s all-time steal leaders), but what sets him apart is his offensive skills. In Browning’s mind, a good place to start when discussing basketball, the key skill is shooting. he has simple mechanics and a feel for the shot that came to him almost from the moment he started playing: he hit a long buzzer to win the championship game his first year of organized basketball at age 12. p>
“If you can shoot the basketball, I mean you actually shoot it, you’re basically indefensible,” Browning says. “Try to stop the shot and it’s fake and I’m next to him for a pull up (jumper) or a layup. try to stop that and…. “
His voice trails off. another basketball thought has popped into a mind that processes such information at an astonishing rate.
“It always amazes me how many basketball players (Division I players) can’t really shoot,” Browning says. “That’s the point of the game, isn’t it?”
gary’s plan
Browning plans to follow in his former teammate Gary’s footsteps and play professional basketball for as long as he can. Gary’s been on a wacky world tour since he left FMU (Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Dubuque, Iowa and now Cyprus), but he’s got a suitcase full of memorable experiences and… he’s still rocking. the dream lives on.
browning understands. he knows he can play at a very high level and he’s eager to prove it, even if it means going down strange paths and learning even more patience.
Each time that’s done, Browning suspects his long-term future lies…in training. She is a dean’s list student who will graduate in May with a degree in psychology and a reservoir of knowledge that she believes will translate very well to that field.
“I seem to understand basketball pretty well,” Browning says. “I think (training) could work.”
in fact.