‘I almost stopped playing.’ Despite knee injuries, El Capitan star achieves hoop dream
Brody Collins had time to reflect on his journey as he celebrated signing his national letter of intent on Friday afternoon in front of family, friends teammates and coaches.
There were times when the El Capitan High School senior thought about giving up basketball as he worked his way back from two knee surgeries during his high school career.
That’s what made the moment even more special because Collins didn’t give up on his dream to play college basketball. On Friday he officially accepted a scholarship to play at Concordia University in Irvine.
“Injuries happen in sports,” Collins said. “A lot of people give up. I kept fighting toward my goal.”
Collins missed his sophomore season as he suffered two knee injuries almost a year apart.
“I almost stopped playing,” he said. “But I just kept working hard. When I came to my senior year, if an opportunity came along, I’d just keep working toward my goal.”
Collins identified Concordia University as his top choice early and El Capitan boys basketball coach Adrian Hurtado did what he could to help make it happen.
Hurtado sent video, contacted the coach and helped get the ball rolling.
“This wouldn’t have happened without him,” Collins said.
The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 21 points and eight rebounds per game his senior season. He tied the school record with 40 points against Gregori on Dec. 10 this past season.
Collins was also the ASB president and compiled a 4.56 GPA. He’s leaning toward studying business administration.
“(Concordia) is getting an absolute stud,” Hurtado said. “Last night I was trying to come up with a speech and it’s tough to find the words to describe Brody in a two- to three-minute speech. You need an hour.”
Collins says Concordia University felt like the right fit during a visit to the campus in February.
“I wanted to go to a smaller Christian school and I fell in love with the campus,” Collins said. “It’s so beautiful. It’s so serene with the campus in the middle of the city.”
Collins said it meant a lot to share the moment with so many people that helped him achieve his goal along the way.
“This has been my goal since I was a little kid playing basketball,” Collins said. “It’s all I ever wanted to do. I’m more than excited. I know I’m going to get much better quickly playing against all the taller and older players.”
“I’m going to challenge myself to make a difference on the team,” Collins added.
