Houston native Zach Brown motivated vs. former favorite team

Zach Brown’s recruiting story is a familiar one to many athletes growing up in heavily-populated cities in Texas: his hometown team didn’t make him a recruiting priority, so he went elsewhere to make his name.

But Houston overlooking Brown for its 2014 recruiting class had its own twist: Brown’s mother, Latisha, was one of the most successful volleyball players in Houston history. The family grew up around the Cougars, attended games, and Zach was a fan all the way through high school, where he played at Klein Collins in Spring Texas, a Houston suburb, his first three years.

“I actually really wanted to go to U of H,” Brown said. “But when I was trying to get recruited by U of H, they said I wasn’t skilled enough, I couldn’t shoot the ball. They were just looking for somebody else, so I just made my way.”

The rest is history: Brown committed to Wichita State and has been a fixture in coach Gregg Marshall’s lineup the last three seasons. On Thursday, Brown will have some motivation as No. 9 Wichita State (11-2) will host Houston (12-2) in its first American Athletic Conference game at Koch Arena with ESPN broadcasting the 6 p.m. tip-off to a national audience.

Latisha Brown will be in attendance, along with her husband, Gary, and daughter, Tabitha, a WSU volleyball player. The Brown family has already printed their own WSU shirts — H-town Shockers on the front — and Latisha said the family is putting their ties to Houston on hold for a night.

“Usually I’m a Houston fan when I come to a game, but I’m a 100-percent Shocker fan on Thursday,” Latisha Brown said. “We’ve got our shirts already made and we’re all going to be all-Shockers on Thursday. I think everybody is real stoked for the first game in the AAC in Wichita.”

Zach Brown’s only wish? That his ankle, which he said he badly sprained a week ago, was fully healthy.

“It kind of hurts, I know I probably ain’t going to go out there and drop 40 on them, not even 30,” Brown said. “I’ll still go out there and still play hard, treat it like any other game. Ain’t nothing new to me.”

Injuries have complicated this season for Brown, who tweaked his knee following the Maui Invitational and sat out the first game back on Nov. 28 against Savannah State. Brown said his knee finally felt 100 percent last week when he sprained his ankle — another practice injury.

For a perimeter defender who spends most of his time fighting through screens and chasing the opposition’s star player over the floor, being less than 100 percent healthy is a challenge. But Brown has never shied away from the assignment. The senior is averaging 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds this season.

“It’s actually really tough, to be honest with you,” Brown said. “People, they don’t see it because I’m out there and I don’t really complain a lot about anything. Everybody looks at you out there and they expect you to do everything you do 100 percent. If I don’t do it 100 percent, hurt leg or not, they’re still going to be on me. It’s something you got to eat up and be tough. That’s why you’re out here.”

On Thursday, Brown is likely going to spend most of his time on 6-foot-1 guard Rob Gray, who led the AAC in scoring last season at 20.6 points. Gray is averaging 19.0 points this season on 47-percent shooting from the field, 38-percent shooting beyond the arc, and 85-percent shooting from the foul line.

Houston doesn’t have a rotation player taller than 6-8, yet the Cougars are one of the top rebounding teams in the country. Houston is just one of four teams in the country — WSU is another one — that rank in the top-40 nationally in offensive rebound percentage for offense and defense. Like many teams coached by Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars love to run and score in transition.

They also feel like they’ve been overlooked, despite their 12-2 record.

“We haven’t been mentioned,” Houston junior Breaon Brady said after Houston’s 76-73 win over Temple on Dec. 30. “Nobody has mentioned Houston. Coming into this game, we’re going to have to let everybody know we’re here.”

Brady, Houston’s top rebounder, sprained his ankle against Temple and will be a game-time decision for Thursday’s game at WSU. Regardless if Brady plays, Marshall knows Houston will be one of the most talented teams WSU has played this season.

“We’ll have our hands full,” Marshall said. “They’re well-coached. They’re tough. They don’t beat themselves. They’re a good team.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Houston native Zach Brown motivated vs. former favorite team."