Sophomore guard Jose Brown compares basketball to dinner.
“It brings people together. Memories are made, friends are made, families are made,” he says.
For Brown, that started when he was only 5 or 6 years old and formed a team with a handful of childhood friends including Yaks forward D’Taye Joe.
“All those guys are my best friends now,” says Brown. “We all still hang out to this day.”
With the 2024-25 basketball season recently kicking off, he’s looking forward to making this season a memorable one for the team and its fans.
TOP: Yaks guard Jose Brown dribbles past defenders in a January 2024 game versus Walla Walla Community College. ABOVE: Brown attempts a layup versus Columbia Basin College in a January 2024 game.
Finding opportunity
Brown starred on Yakima’s Davis High School basketball team, including being named Columbia Basin/Big Nine defensive player of the year. But an ACL injury his senior year interrupted his collegiate basketball plans.
He attended Seattle Pacific University (SPU) as a freshman in 2021 with hopes of making the team as a walk-on player. But with Brown still in the recovery process from his injury, those plans didn’t work out. Returning to Yakima, however, Brown found the opportunity he was looking for to prove himself.
“I feel like community college is really overlooked in basketball,” said Brown. “Coach [London] Wilson, he really made me feel like I had a chance. Like I was wanted.”
Beyond that, the affordability of a YVC education and being able to play close to home were huge advantages.
“I realized that I did not like loans,” said Brown. “I’d much rather play here than going somewhere farther away and need to pay $200,000 over four years for the same degree.
Brown looks for a teammate on offense versus Columbia Basin.
After a redshirt season to continue his recovery and serve on the Yaks scout team, Brown took on a key role during the 2023-2024 season in helping put pressure on opponents’ top offensive threats. Brown’s efforts were recognized with the team’s award for top defensive player, the Mr. ManiYak award.
This year, Brown wants to expand his contributions on the offensive side while continuing to shine on defense.
“I do want to increase my points, wherever that comes in at, and a big thing for me is defense. I want to get deflections, get steals, that’s where I feel like I can really help our team,” he said. “I felt like we were really close last year. My goal this year individually is I want to help my team grow so we can go even further.”
And while Brown said this year’s team might be a bit younger, he feels his teammates have a level of basketball maturity that’s beyond their years.
“There’s a lot of things we still need to get together, but that’s every team at the beginning of the year,” Brown said. “We’ve got to build that chemistry and I feel like we’re ahead of where we were last year.”
Part of that is building relationships with teammates who came to YVC from across the country, with hometowns in Georgia and Texas among other states.
“It makes me feel appreciative of where I’m at,” says Brown. “We have those conversations on the bus like ‘Do you miss your family? Do you miss your hometown?’ I’m grateful that I get to play here at home. I can see my mom every game. I get to see my cousins every game. So I want to do my part with my teammates who are away from the families to help them feel at home here.”
Playing for YVC has also given Brown a new perspective on how he and his teammates can be positive role models for children just starting to play the sport. One of his standout experiences since joining the Yaks was being invited to a Halloween trunk-or-treat event held in the gym of Toppenish High School, where Brown and his teammates helped run games.
“They saw us as celebrities and wanted to take pictures with us, they wanted autographs, and that just stood out to me because it’s like, we don’t think about how important we are to others,” Brown said. “Those kids, other people wish to be in our position, so that really opened my head about that and being grateful.”
Jose Brown and teammate D'Taye Joe pose with the sister of a friend they grew up playing
basketball with following a January 2024 game.
Brown is pursuing his Bachelor of Applied Science in Business Management (BASM) with an interest in pursuing a career in project management. It’s a career that he learned about from an uncle who works as a project manager.
“That sounds fun to me because you get to work with a team and you get to work on something specific,” said Brown. “My uncle tells me sometimes you get to travel to really cool places for work if you're really good at what you do. And I feel like I'm the type of person that I really want to be good at what I do. If it's cooking, I want to make the best dish ever. That's just how I am, I'm very competitive.”
His favorite instructor in the BASM program is Kyle Ashley, who he says makes it a point to connect with students on a personal level.
“He gets us, he understands that we have lives outside of school,” Brown said. “I appreciate that lot, because it makes me want to engage in class.”
Whatever comes after his playing career at YVC, Brown will appreciate the connections that he’s been able to build with teammates, coaches and community members thanks to basketball.
“It’s a relationship thing for me [and] that’s what makes it so fun because of the opportunities to travel and experience things and meet new people,” said Brown. “I don’t want to regret anything. I want to go see the world. A big dream of mine it to play overseas basketball, whether it’s Spain, Mexico, China. I just want to go and take advantage of any experiences I can have.”
Story by Dustin Wunderlich, director of community relations. Photos by Wunderlich and Ross Courtney.
YVC 2024-2025 Basketball Seasons
Cheer on the Yaks men's and women's basketball teams this season.
The men's team officially tips off in Mount Vernon at the Skagit Valley Turkey Tournament (November 29 - December 1) before traveling to Spokane to participate in the Bigfoot Classic (December 6 - 8). YVC will host their first home game of NWAC East Region play on January 15 vs. Columbia Basin.
The women's team will tip off their season in the Harold Williams Invitational in Portland November 15 - 16 against South Puget Sound Community College and host Portland Community College. The Yaks will open their home schedule by hosting the YVC Invitational on December 6 - 7 with games against Mt. Hood and Southwestern Oregon.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and youth, and free for YVC students and employees with YVC ID.