Following Dad's Footsteps: In More Ways Than One
 
Courtney Brown Jr. arrived on campus this past fall following a very successful high school career, earning Minnesota Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors and a spot on the Minnesota "Mr. Basketball" Watch list as a senior. He played a major role in leading East Ridge High School to new heights, finishing 28-4 as the Raptors claimed their first-ever sectional championship and made their first appearance in the state tournament.
 
He finished his career with over 1,000 points and as East Ridge's all-time leading scorer, averaging 15.6 points per game as a senior and 21.5 ppg as a junior.
 
Up next? Facing the challenges of basketball at the NCAA Division I level.
 
He hit a three-pointer and grabbed four rebounds in his Panther debut and, two games later, scored in double-figures for the first time with 10 points in the win over Wisconsin Lutheran.
 
Welcome to the show …
 
It was all part of the plan for Courtney, who grew up with a basketball in his hands after his dad – Courtney Brown, Sr. – paved the way.
 
"I was two or three," Courtney Brown, Jr., said about when he first picked up his love for the game. "We have family pictures of us in our first uniforms and stuff. I started playing organized basketball around first grade. My Dad was a huge role model for me and taught me everything I know."
 
Having just completed his freshman year on the court for the Panthers, Courtney will always be a "junior". Carrying on your Dad's name is just fine in his eyes.
 
"You're definitely carrying around your family's name," said Brown Jr. "Everyone knows your name because you're a junior, so everyone knows who he is, but he left a good mark."
 
Junior continued to work hard in 2019-20, eventually finding his way into the starting lineup in a mid-season game against IUPUI. He scored eight points that night in the win over the Jaguars and went from there – starting 14 of the final 15 games of the season (all but "Senior Night").
 
There were some very good outings – 12 points and four rebounds against Oakland; 11 points in the overtime victory at IUPUI … as well as the struggles a typical freshman faces in his first season at a whole new level.
 
"My freshman season, I expected to take a little while to adjust to the pace and physicality of it," Brown Jr., said. "It was a pretty good season. The physicality of it is so different – the guys are a lot bigger and quicker than in high school."
 
The final result looked like this – 4.6 ppg and 2.9 rpg playing all 31 games, making 16 starts. He shot 78.9 percent from the line while playing an average of 20.5 minutes per game. That was the on-court side. The off-court side included memorable road trips to the Bahamas and playing at places like the Kohl Center against the Badgers and battling No. 2 Kansas in Lawrence.
 
"I don't have a specific moment that sticks out as my favorite memory," Brown Jr., said. "For me it was traveling and hanging out with the guys on the road. A lot of memories are built on the road."
 
Back to Senior, who garnered the nickname "The Iceman" on the hardwood. He was an all-league player as a senior at Highland Park High School before continuing at the college level. He finished out his career at Southwest State University in 1993 and then started a professional career.
 
His travels included stops from coast-to-coast before going international, playing as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters from 1990-94 and then overseas with clubs in South America, Switzerland and England from 1995-98.
 
"It was before I was born," Brown Jr., said. "I didn't get to experience it as it happened, but he had the jerseys, uniforms and pictures up in the house … him with the basketballs and stuff like that. He would travel all over the place and perform shows. He always told us how much fun that was to entertain people."
 
So after his playing days, Brown Sr., did what any good basketball-loving dad would do – he became Courtney's coach.
 
Brown has a younger brother, Kendall, who is also highly-recruited in the land of college hoops, so father and sons have spent a lot of time together in the world of basketball over the past decade.
 
"He was my coach up until middle school," Brown Jr., said "That was when we switched to a different program and their coaches took over."
 
Courtney got a fast start in high school, playing on varsity as a freshman – nearly averaging 10 points a game. He continued to grow as a player, quickly reaching the level he did as a senior. Following a solid start to his collegiate career this past winter, he will look to follow that same path in his time on the court with the Panthers.