When the basketball season kicks off for the Hugo Buffaloes, senior Jamarian Brown will be The Man.

“He was a big part of our team that went to the state semifinals two years ago and he started and led a team that was pretty inexperienced last year,” said veteran head coach Darnell Shanklin. “He was the guy with the target on his back last year and still averaged around 16 points a game. He has great potential and has the ability to put the ball in the hole.”

Although he comes from a tradition-rich basketball family, Jamarian actually started out playing baseball.

“Baseball was my first sport when I way young but with all the basketball in my family I finally came around to that sport when I was around 12.”

His brother Trevon Brown was an All-State player as was his uncle Nick who Jamarian considers one of his role models.

“I was living in Idabel when I was young and when my Uncle Nick used to come to play when he was at Hugo, I went to watch him, and he really inspired me because that team he was on had so many talented players.”

Another important person in Brown’s life has been Shanklin.

“When I first got here, I had a bad temper and coach sat me down and told me I needed to change that if I wanted to play college ball and so I’ve learned to play more controlled.”

Now as a senior Jamarian steps into a role as a team leader and says he learned a lot in that regard from his earlier years.

“When I was young, I thought I could do it all, but the older players said, ‘listen to us and the coaches and work the system and good things will come to you’ and by the time that season was over I saw that they were right and that’s what I want to pass along to our younger players.”

That trip to state tournament his sophomore year has been the highlight of his time at Hugo so far.

“Playing in the Big House was just so awesome. I had never been in a place like that, and it really opened my eyes.”