‘You are you’: McDonald’s All-American Addy Brown leaves own basketball legacy at Derby
Addy Brown wasn’t even in high school yet when she watched her older sister, Kennedy, become the first female high school player from Kansas to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2019.
Once she saw the competition level — the game features 24 of the best high school players in the country — she was determined to earn an invitation of her own one day.
“Seeing my sister play in the game, I realized just how big of a deal it was,” Addy Brown said. “From then on, it was in my head that I knew I wanted to be in it.”
Brown realized her dream on Tuesday when the Derby senior played in her own McDonald’s All-American Game, finishing with five points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal for the West team in a 110-102 victory over the East team at the Toyota Center in Houston.
There have only been three Kansas natives to play in the 21-year history of the girls’ all-star game and two of them come from the same family.
Because Addy followed Kennedy with a stellar career of her own, it’s an easy comparison to make between the sisters. But it’s a comparison that’s never made within the family.
Following in the footsteps of a McDonald’s All-American, Addy had to quickly learn to be comfortable in her own skin. Former Derby high school girls basketball coach Jodie Karsak helped with that journey before Addy ever played a high school game.
“You’re your own player,” Brown said, reciting her former coach’s words. “You’re going to have your own path. You are you. Only you get to decide what you want to do with that.”
“When I was growing up, there were so many comparisons and questions brought up about how I was going to be like my sister,” Brown added. “I think (Karsak’s words) helped me navigate through my high school career. People still ask me about it, but I just tell them that we’re two completely different players and we each have our own accomplishments and our own achievements.”
Addy has left her own legacy at Derby, where she just wrapped up her senior season when she led the Panthers to a 22-3 record and a third-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
The 6-foot-3 point-forward averaged 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.2 blocks this past season, which earned her the Gatorade Kansas Girls Basketball Player of the Year award along with her weighted 4.43 GPA. The Iowa State commit is a three-time first team all-state selection, a top-five all-state, all-class selection and the Class 6A Player of the Year.
The cherry on top was playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
“I was pretty happy with how I played,” Brown said. “I wasn’t expecting the ball too many times because it’s an all-star type game. I was just focused on being patient and not forcing anything. Let the game come to me and I think I did a good job of that. I always just try to control the controllables.”
But the game itself was not the only highlight from Brown’s trip to Houston. The players also paid a visit to the local Ronald McDonald House, where Brown said she was able to color, bake cupcakes and shoot baskets with children who are facing serious illnesses.
It marked the final high school basketball experience in the career of Brown, who will now turn her focus to finishing up her schoolwork and preparing for the Division 1 basketball grind. She is scheduled to leave for Ames in early June.
“I really picked Iowa State because of their style of play,” Brown said. “They have done great things with versatile players and I feel like that’s what I am. That’s my biggest strength is just being versatile and I can play the three, the four, the five, whatever they need me to play.”
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