The Sojourn Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Luke Brown, guard for the IWU men’s basketball team.
Brown is a redshirt junior from Hartford City, Indiana. He attended Blackford High School, where he scored 3,011 points in his four years there. That mark is good enough for fourth on the all-time Indiana high school basketball scoring list.
Brown’s journey to IWU was unique to the average recruit. Despite the program keeping an eye on him since middle school, he ended up committing to Stetson for the first semester of his college career.
The distance from home took a toll on Brown, so he ended up transferring to Ball State for the spring semester of his freshman campaign.
“I had some struggles with some anxiety and depression, and I’ve struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder my whole life, so that brought me back home to Ball State,” Brown said.
After playing in 18 games and averaging just 3.3 points per game, Brown decided it was time for a change of scenery.
“The entire coaching staff got fired, so that led me back to Stetson,” Brown said.
In his sophomore year at Stetson, Brown averaged 10.2 points per game, but something was still missing.
“I just lost the love of the game while I was there. Far away from home, it was just different. I wasn’t enjoying the game,” Brown said.
Brown ultimately ended up coming back home and committing to Indiana Wesleyan. Expectations for Brown and the team were high coming into the season, but the challenges didn’t stop there.
Just a few practices into the preseason, Brown injured his knee. He would miss the entire 2023-24 season, medically redshirting the year. The year on the sidelines became a year of growth for Brown off the court.
“My relationship with God grew a ton. I grew as a leader, and that kept me level-headed,” Brown said.
Sophomore guard Marcus Ankney has seen how Brown has changed in his time at IWU.
“Last year, I would’ve never thought he would’ve led devotionals, and this year he’s led a few. He’s taken that leap,” Ankney said. “It’s cool to see for younger guys like myself that there can be that spiritual formation and growth. I think it’s inspiring.”
Despite dealing with lingering effects from the injury this season, Brown is averaging 16.3 points per game. He said his teammates are the reason he plays.
“If I had these knee injuries at any other program, I would not be playing right now. That’s how bad I hurt,” Brown said. “But I love the coaches so much and I love my teammates so much, that’s why I want to play.”
The Wildcats are in unprecedented territory in the Tonagel era. They are 6th in conference play with just four games to go on the schedule after being the preseason pick to win the conference. Consistency has been a struggle for the Wildcats, who are 10-8 since starting off the season 6-0. The team is 10-1 when they play in Luckey Arena but 4-7 in road games.
“We’ve been up and down,” Brown said. “I really think it comes down to being competitive. Coach (Tonagel) talks about competitive stamina, having that drive and will to want to win, and I think that’s really what it’s going to take on the road.”
Brown led the team with 22 points in the Wildcats’ loss at Spring Arbor on Wednesday and had 18 points with three 3-pointers in the Wildcats’ win against Saint Francis on Saturday.
The team now prepares for the cross-county rival Taylor University on Wednesday, who narrowly defeated the Wildcats 79-76 on Jan. 8.
