This time last year, Mike Brown was admittedly lost, as if he had stumbled into some dreadful version of basketball purgatory.
Brown was a player without a team, walking past the gym at MiraCosta College on his way to and from classes like a scorned lover but never looking the place in the eyes and walking through its doors. He fed his thrust for hoops by playing pickup games with the roommates he shared a Vista condo with, but it still wasn't the same as slipping a team jersey on and playing for more than just himself.
Thankfully for Brown, that difficult period is over, and he has found new life with the men's basketball team at Palomar College. The Comets couldn't be happier to have him.
"Mike's done a really good job for us scoring, and he can play good defense," Palomar coach John O'Neill said. "He's been a big plus for us. He's so competitive ---- he does anything to win. He's been working his butt off lately."
Brown, a 6-foot-1 sophomore wing from Palm Springs, leads Palomar with 19.4 points per game through the team's first 11 games, and has also contributed averages of 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He has quickly established himself as a steadying force on a team that boasts little in the way of experience.
Brown graduated from Palm Springs High in 2007, and helped the Indians improve from a dismal two-win season during his sophomore year to posting 18 wins during his senior campaign. He decided to play at MiraCosta College with the intent of putting in two good seasons before moving on to a four-year school, but his plan was derailed when he and Spartans coach Patrick Conahan didn't see eye to eye, Brown said.
He played the 2007-08 season at MiraCosta, and then spent the next year focusing on academics while trying to figure out his next step. Brown discovered an opportunity for a second chance with Palomar, and so far, he has made the most of it.
"I'm being more mature; I'm growing up," Brown said. "In high school, I kind of had my way because of my athleticism. When you first come to junior college, everybody is just as athletic as you, so you have to change your game a little bit.
"I didn't think it was a good fit for me (at MiraCosta). When I came to Palomar, I wanted to start off fresh and give it another go. I'm happy having good teammates and coaches and just playing basketball."
Brown is dangerous slashing to the basket, and has combined with sophomore guard Kevin Deeb, who is shooting 52.5 percent on 3-pointers and averaging 16.7 points per game, to give Palomar an effective inside-outside game despite lacking experienced big men. Brown has also gone to the free-throw line nearly twice as often as any of his teammates, and is shooting 75 percent from the stripe.
He said he was disappointed in the Comets' 65-42 loss to MiraCosta earlier this month ---- he had hoped to impress his old coach and teammates, but even his 20 points in 27 minutes weren't enough. O'Neill believes Brown was pressing in that game, and hopes the same won't happen this week when Palomar visits College of the Desert for games today, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Desert Classic.
The tournament will offer Brown his first chance to play in front of family and friends since his high school days. While he wants to show them how much he has improved as a player and matured as a person, he said he will also try to treat the games just like any other and let his skills speak for themselves.
"I did think about going to College of the Desert after high school, but I wanted to leave the desert and see how my skills would hold up against other competition," Brown said.
"I just want to go out there and do what I do well, get some wins and just have fun playing in front of my friends and family."
