Bobcats sign shifty import guard Brown
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2025 (239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Gil Cheung is hoping he pulled off another late-summer steal in the recruiting game.
The Brandon University Bobcats head coach has added import Malik Brown from Portland, Ore., for the 2025-26 Canada West men’s basketball season.
The six-foot-one guard is transferring from Lower Columbia College after two years of junior college ball in Longview, Wash.
Malik Brown of Portland has committed to the Brandon University Bobcats for the 2025-26 Canada West men’s basketball season. (Submitted)
The hope, and possibly the necessity, is that he rapidly adjusts to the Canadian game and makes an immediate impact.
“We really like him. He’s skilled, he can kind of play two spots. He’s about 6-1, can guard it, can push tempo too. We’re excited and lucky to get him late in the recruiting season,” Cheung said. “He makes other guys better. He moves the ball really well, he competes, he’s a winner.
“They didn’t play the fastest tempo but just watching him and talking to his coaches, we can let him go more. He can play at a higher clip, he can get out more but we like how he defends. He rebounds for his position and makes other guys better.
“That’s an upgrade for us.”
Brown helped Lower Columbia to a 28-4 record, claiming the Northwest Athletic Conference title in March.
A full-time starter, he averaged 10.8 points per game while shooting 42 per cent from the field and 36 per cent from three-point range, nearly doubling that mark from his freshman year.
Brown feels he’s ready for a jump.
“I’m super excited. Obviously, it’s super far but it’s going to be a new experience, new rules and I’m super excited for a new adventure,” Brown said.
“I really wanted to experience something new, so I thought it would be good for me to get out of my comfort zone and go somewhere I would fit in. The way coach Gil was explaining the whole system, it’s something I’ve always wanted to play in.
“Once I’m adapted to it, I’m going to love it.”
Brown has been playing basketball since kindergarten. His father, Markee Brown, played NCAA Division I hoops for Oregon State in 1995-96 and instilled a love for the game from the start.
Malik played football for a year but otherwise has solely focused on basketball and dreamt of playing at the next level. His last few years of high school, he said he did it all for his team, averaging about 18 points while facilitating the offence.
“The last part of it is what really helped us. I found my guys in their spots and also shooting the ball from three,” Brown said.
Malik Brown averaged 10.8 points per game at Lower Columbia College in Washington last year. (Submitted)
“I feel my best when I’m getting downhill. I feel like my speed, my change of pace, nobody can really guard that. It’s something I’ve always had. I’ve had multiple bring that up, just like, I’m really fast with the ball in my hand.
“My ability to find others, I can always find other people in their spots and I feel like that’s a really good attribute to have.”
The Bobcats are in a strange off-season, coming off a 7-13 Canada West campaign in which they snuck into the last playoff spot and snapped a string of three years with at least one post-season victory in a loss to Trinity Western.
They lost two big men in Blake Magnusson and Australian Jack McDonald, and have since had guards Nathan Saldo, John Dayo and American Jakarri Lindsey leave the program.
Cheung added Montreal guard Pablo Carvajal and British Columbia forwards Arjun Hehar and Khan Daklat, but Daklat has decided not to move to the Wheat City.
The status of starting import guard Dewayne Thompson is still unknown, but if he doesn’t return, Brown could suddenly be in line for heavy minutes as one of just three true point guard-type players alongside Carvajal and second-year Darko Karac.
The core pieces, including all-Canadian Sultan Bhatti, Travis Hamberger and lockdown perimeter defender Youri Cange, are back. And Bhatti could play the point-forward role that helped him finish near the top of the conference in points, rebounds and assists last year, but as one of the best shooters in the nation, he’s at his best when a true guard can run the offence and help create some open looks.
Cheung still plans to add a few more players before September to round out the roster amid massive turnover.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com
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