Import Brown back stronger for Bobcats

Malik Brown showed all the right signs during his first semester with the Brandon University Bobcats men’s basketball team, until one bad ankle injury derailed his season.

The Portland, Ore., native averaged 10 points per game before spraining the ankle in practice. He came back nearly two months later, but simply wasn’t the same in his last seven games.

Brown said he had a great off-season, though, and feels more ready than ever to get back to work. The Bobcats are in Regina today to start a stretch of three games in three days against the Regina Cougars, Lethbridge Pronghorns and University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.

“I never got back to 100 (per cent),” Brown said. “It really messed with my confidence in some ways. I didn’t feel like finishing the ball because I had that mental block with the ankle. I’m really excited this year to get back to it. I feel healthy and I’m just excited.”

The six-foot-one guard immediately averaged more than 30 minutes per game to start the 2025-26 Canada West season.

He was remarkably consistent, scoring between eight and 13 points every game after a 10-point, 11-assist debut as Brandon upset Manitoba 101-90 at home.

Now with fifth-years Travis Hamberger and Sultan Bhatti gone, Brown has a chance to step into an even bigger role.

That’s not to say someone’s going to simply replace Bhatti, the program’s first two-time all-Canadian since Earnest Bell in 1999 to 2001. It’ll take a committee to account for the loss of a top-five points, rebounds, assists and steals producer.

Brown said all the returning guys who played big minutes last year have taken a step forward, including Max Winters, Youri Cange, Arjun Hehar and Canada West rookie of the year Munroop Gill.

“You can really see it in the practices,” Brown said. “It’s up to the returners to step up and be the leaders these new guys need. We’ve been doing that and we’ve been making sure we’re all one team.”

Brown’s growth came in a few stages.

While he was injured, he took extra time to break down game film and noticed a few areas of his game that could improve through self-assessment and from watching and rewatching Bhatti torch defences.

“Watching Sully, the way his game unfolds and how he’s super efficient with everything he does opens your mind, like, why can’t I do this?” Brown said.

“I can be more aggressive coming off those ball screens, getting two feet in the paint, stuff like that.”

When Brown went home for the summer, he trained with Oregon State Beavers brothers Josiah and Jemai Lake, which was big for his game as well.

Bobcats head coach Gil Cheung likes what he has seen this month.

“He’s been good. This time of year it’s hard to tell because guys who have been around always look way better than some of the new guys but he looks like he’s fully healthy and we look for him to have a good year,” Cheung said.

“Having that leadership, that work ethic around — we talked about it as a staff — we love how the guys have competed and are super coachable this time of year. That’s all we’re looking for.”

Cheung said it feels too early to play games, but this week will still be valuable to see what the group looks like.

It’s also a chance for a team that historically hasn’t gone that deep into the bench during regular-season games to get more players on the floor.

FREE THROWS: The BU women’s volleyball team is also in action this weekend, heading to Thunder Bay, Ont., from Thursday to Saturday to face the Winnipeg Wesmen and Lakehead Thunderwolves … Tonight, the Brandon University soccer teams visit the Assiniboine College Cougars. The men’s game begins at 6 p.m., with the women following at 8:15.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com