By Tom Haley
RUTLAND HERALD
Mike Brown scored more than 1,000 points in basketball before graduating from Springfield High School in 1998 but it his junior year that he remembers as a magical season.
He transferred from nearby Green Mountain Union High School after his sophomore year. He wanted to play at a bigger school and he had grown up in Springfield.
“I was coming back home,” he said.
That first season wearing the Cosmos green and white more than measured up to his expectations. Playing for coach Mike Hatt, everything clicked.
“I was averaging like six 3-pointers a game,” Brown said. “It was such a whirlwind year.”
Playing for Hatt and with teammates like Adam Husband and Matt Rushford, he had a season that is a joy to reflect upon.
Everything turned sour the next year, Brown said. There were injuries to teammates that enabled opposing defenses to key on him. All of that magic of the junior season evaporated.
“I had a tough senior year,” Brown said.
College coaches who had been wooing him stopped recruiting him.
“I was not in a real good place mentally,” said Brown this week from his home in Florida.
His plans to go to Endicott College were scrapped. He headed north for Lyndon State but did not stay long.
He wound up at Southern Maine Community College where his life took a turn for the better.
There, he was the recipient of the IBM Business Award. A professor told him that he had earned the honor because he applied the same work ethic on the basketball floor to his time in the classroom.
“I had a good time and I got my confidence back,” Brown said of the experience in Maine.
After his time at the Maine school, he completed his education at Green Mountain College where he also played basketball.
“He was a very good point guard,” Green Mountain College coach Matt Dempsey said. “He could really shoot the 3-pointer but he was also very good at finding the open man.
“He was a great person and a great teammate.”
Playing at GMC, the Eagles took a trip to Jacksonville to play against the University of North Florida team coached by former Castleton coach Matt Kilcullen.
That opened Brown’s eyes.
“I saw that there was a lot more to the world out there,” Brown said.
“Business is much different. It’s very humbling,” Brown said.
Yes, business humbles you. It is a tough road as you try to succeed in the business world but Brown is doing it.
He is President of Hoop Culture Inc., a business that sells basketball apparel including team uniforms.
The company bills itself as one that is “a worldwide basketball brand focused on motivating and inspiring hoopers and fans through our designs and dedication to the game.”
The company sells everything basketball from sweatshirts and T-shirts to wristbands and everything in between. The items are emblazoned with logos and motivational sayings.
“I moved to Florida for the warm weather,” Brown said.
His runs Hoop Culture Inc. from Orlando.
He has steadily built the business to the point where “we now have 14 trademarks selling around the world.”
That same drive that he brought to the basketball floor, motivates him in business.
“That sports mentality of never being satisfied and always wanting to be the best can be both good and bad,” Brown said.
It is a mindset that is rewarding when you reach goals but to a driven businessman like Brown, there is never complete satisfaction — there is always that next goal, the next big thing.
“I have very high expectations of being a global company with a brand recognized by everybody,” Brown said.
He would love to have his business grow to the point where he can concentrate on helping other young aspiring basketball players to more successfully navigate the recruiting game and land at the place most beneficial to them.
“If you aren’t a success yourself, you can’t help anybody,” he said.
It has been 24 years since Brown wore the Cosmos uniform and much longer ago than that since he was a little kid finding his way to the Springfield Community Center.
Like many in town, he was introduced to basketball there.
“That opened doors. It was a sanctuary for me,” Brown said. “It was life changing.”
Brown is loving the business world.
“I know how lucky I am to have a business,” he said.
He also knows that every road starts someplace and he is thankful for all the family members and teachers back in Vermont. He relishes the memories of his “sanctuary,” the Springfield Community Center and his introduction to basketball.
The round ball is still part of his life and livelihood.
tom.haley @rutlandherald.com
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