Top Performer: Corey Brown
PINE RIDGE, S.D. – Each year, the Lakota Nation Invitational showcases some of the best high school basketball players in the state.
Athletes that are true leaders both on and off the court including this month’s News Center 1 Top Performer.
It’s fair to say that Pine Ridge senior Corey Brown is passionate about basketball. Which is only fitting since he comes from a long line of talented basketball players.
“My brother Orie was a Gatorade Player of the Year and South Dakota Player of the Year,” Corey Brown said. “A Mr. Basketball finalist. My other brothers Jake and Jess, they’re twins. They both went to Pine Ridge High School. When I was in seventh grade, they graduated. They both went to state and my brother Jake was All-State. He was a 1,000 point scorer. So it kinds of runs in the family.”
Brown is off to a great start this year.
Four games into the season, he’s averaging 14.5 points and 7 rebounds per game and has helped the Thorpes to a 3-1 record.
“He comes to practice,” Pine Ridge boys basketball coach Casey Means said. “He works hard. He leads by example. He’s very unselfish. He’s always worried about his community and what’s going on.”
While Brown is working toward his goals on the court, he’s also a role model for younger kids in Pine Ridge. Brown recently teamed up with Alejandro Rama from Red Cloud High School to put on a basketball camp for area youth.
He’s also involved in the Thorpe to Thorpe mentor program.
“Every year when freshmen come in, once a month or one day out of every month we go in and we talk with them and talk about how their classes are,” Brown said. “What they need to do to improve their grades and attendance. Just show them that the seniors do care for them and want them to succeed as they go on.”
Brown plans to go to college and continue his basketball career.
His ultimate goal is to move back to Pine Ridge and pursue a career in elementary education.
Congratulations to Corey Brown on being named a NewsCenter 1 Top Performer.
