Interest from South Dakota State wins over Queen Creek OL Brown
This is No. 4 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 247) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.
SPOTLIGHT: 2/9/21
At the midway point of the abbreviated 2020 season, Queen Creek dropped a game to Liberty. It was the Bulldogs' second straight defeat by a touchdown or less and they stood at 2-2 with the rest of their 6A schedule ahead of them.
Queen Creek picked themselves up and ran the table for the rest of the regular season led by an offense that averaged 36 points per game in the winning streak. One of the guys in the trenches for the Dawgs was offensive tackle Derrick Brown. The 6-5, 295-pound lineman signed with South Dakota State, which he chose over four other Division I schools (Idaho, Northern Arizona, Tarleton State, and Incarnate Word). Among the FBS colleges that showed activity were Kansas State, Arizona State, and Duke.
"What made me commit to SDSU was just the amount of interest the coaches showed me," Brown said in an e-mail interview. "As soon as I had my first Zoom with them, they offered me within 10 minutes of it ending. The biggest thing was when (Offensive line) Coach (Jason) Eck would FaceTime and tell me the plans he has for me and how I'm going to fit in at SDSU as a big part to their O-Line. I also like the atmosphere and the competitiveness with playing Power Five schools."
South Dakota State, an FCS school, is slated to open the 2021 fall season at Colorado State and then the 2022 campaign at Iowa. In the 2019 season, the Jackrabbits put up quite a fight in a 28-21 loss at Minnesota.
Brown committed to SDSU on Dec. 10 and made it official a week later during the first of the two signing periods for Division I schools.
Brown received his offer from South Dakota State after the Bulldogs' third game of the season. Due to COVID-19 and the NCAA rules on maintaining the Dead Period (no in-person recruiting), he hasn't had the chance to visit the campus in Brookings. He did get virtual tours from different members of the coaching staff. His academic plans are to study Engineering with the aspiration to be an aerospace engineer.
As anyone who follows football knows, life on the O-Line is nasty and hard. The chances for individual glory aren't there, but what you do (or don't do) can make the difference on Game Day.
"It's an important role," Brown said. "The team wins or loses based on the line's importance. I also love the chemistry you form with the other four guys on the line. All five guys go through the same level of endurance and it becomes unbreakable."
Queen Creek played in the 6A semifinals in 2019 and expectations were certainly higher than that when the team was 2-2. Brown said the team kept its cool and focused on finding things in each area of the team that worked.
"It was the realization that, if we don't start winning again, we probably won't make the playoffs," Brown said. "We started looking at every game as a win or go home type of idea. Head Coach (Joe) Germaine believed in us along with my O-Line coaches (Travis) Schureman and (Mark) Swartz. So, there was no reason to psych ourselves out and believe in ourselves to go out there and win."
And that's what happened as QCHS won on the road at Highland (24-14) and followed that up with a revenge victory over Red Mountain (36-29). The final home game was an easy victory over Mountain Pointe (57-15) and the finale was a (27-17) road win at Desert Ridge. The Bulldogs (6-2) were the No. 2 seed in the 6A playoffs, but were upset in the quarterfinals by Chaparral.
To get ready for the season when not able to do the normal things like spending time in the team weight room and competing in big man competitions, Brown worked out at Vydl Performance, which teaches offensive lineman not just the how, but also the mental part of the game. He also trained with Austin Kartchner, who played at Highland and now is an assistant at Coffeyville CC in Kansas.
"My junior year, I really didn't use my hands at all, or not as aggressive, and my stance was terrible," Brown said. "Those were probably the biggest factors I changed in the off-season due to those trainers that helped my game a lot. I was constantly working and doing anything I could to get stronger and faster."
It also helped Brown become the team's Most Improved Player and a First Team selection by the 6A Fiesta Region coaches.
South Dakota State has recruited Arizona very well over the last several years. In all, eight players from State 48 will be heading to the Jackrabbits, including Queen Creek linebacker Colby Littleton. What's the secret formula?
"I think what the coaches do is explain the program well and set high standards while also having high interest that some other programs didn't have in us," Brown said. "The competitiveness of trying to win a National Championship is also what I feel is driving us all."
South Dakota State has reached the FCS Playoffs nine times in the past 11 seasons. The Jackrabbits played in the semifinals in both 2017 & 2018. In 2019, SDSU finished 8-5. There will be a spring season starting up on Feb. 19 at Northern Iowa. All eight scheduled games for South Dakota State will be Missouri Valley Football Conference games and there are plans to hold a 16-team postseason bracket and crown a champion.
Brown is appreciative for the opportunities he's had in what became a tough market for senior high school recruits. College coaches didn't get to visit campuses in the spring to see the juniors close up. They couldn't come out during the season on Friday nights to see players live instead of on film. In addition, the NCAA has granted college seniors another year of eligibility, which lessens the amount of scholarship spots. And then, there's the (no-penalty) transfer portal.
"I'm going up to SDSU in the coming months to help earn a 'Natty and make big strides in the program," Brown said. "I'm a hard worker and I'll do whatever it takes to keep improving and keep getting better. I'm thankful to my parents and all the coaches that have helped to get me in the position I'm at right now."
