Aug. 21, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - The injury bug can strike anyone at any time. Sometimes injuries creep up on athletes during preseason workouts or in the middle of a game, but for senior forward Marshall Brown, the injury bug struck just after the completion of his junior season, when the Austin, Texas, native was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his pelvis.
Following a much-improved Big 12 campaign where he averaged career highs of 12.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in league play, Brown was forced to the sideline to rest the stress fracture while the remainder of his teammates began preparation for the 2007-08 campaign.
"It was tough being out," Brown said. "You see your teammates out there working, preparing for the year and you can't help but feel guilty because you're not out there with them. You want to be out there working, but I had to take care of the injury first and I was told the best medicine for that injury was rest."
Once cleared to play by team doctors, Brown hit the ground running ... or should we say hit the stairs running. Each day Brown worked on his conditioning, looking not only to prepare for his fourth and final season with the Tigers, but quickly catch-up with teammates who had began off-season workouts weeks prior. Even during a trip home to Austin, Brown continued his training. While many athletes enjoy all the comforts of home in between summer sessions, Brown played pick-up games, ran lines and ran stadium stairs. The work was paying off as well. The 6-foot-6 forward was quickly making up ground through his increased conditioning efforts, until the injury bug suddenly struck again, this time by a broken foot (metatarsal in his foot).
Despite the added layoff to Brown's workout schedule, the 6-foot-6 forward quickly returned to the court and enjoyed a strong finish to his final summer in Columbia. In addition to finishing summer workouts at full strength, Brown spent a week traveling from Austin to San Antonio to work out with former New York, Indiana, San Antonio and Seattle head coach Bob Hill. Head Coach of the Seattle Supersonics last season, Hill ran an off-season individual camp at Trinity University in San Antonio for local college and professional standouts.
"It was a beneficial week," Brown said. "I planned on working out for a couple of weeks, but the guy I traveled with had to cut it short, but overall, it was good.
"There were some familiar guys there as well," Brown continued. "Some guys who play professionally overseas and some college players like Chris Daniels from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Xavier Silas from Colorado. It was a great group of guys to work with."
Back at full-strength after a trying summer, Brown is ready to return to the normalcy of class and workouts with his teammates.
"I'm definitely excited to be back," Brown said. "This is my senior year and this is a fun group of guys to be around and compete with. We have high expectations for the upcoming year and the work we put in over the summer and the work we are putting in now will go a long way in helping us reach those expectations."