O’Dea running back Jason Brown Jr. is TNT’s 2023 state player of the year

Signing Day Wednesday of the early signing period, just five days before Christmas at the beginning of the winter “break,” proved anything but for the News Tribune’s all-state player of the year. For O’Dea senior Jason Brown Jr., Wednesday was just another work day.

After all, Brown has just nine months or so until he’ll be in the midst of training camp prior to his freshman year at Arizona State University, getting ready for the Sun Devils first season foray into the Big 12 Conference.

“I still have games to play,” Brown said. “I’m playing in an all-American game. It’s preferred this way. If you’re not getting better you’re getting worse. You’ve got to get one percent better every day so you’re not falling behind.”

The 247Sports four-star rated recruit boasted offers from colleges from coast to coast, including all four of the programs that will vie for the National Championship over the first eight days of January. He was the first 2024 scholarship that Steve Sarkisian offered more than a year ago at Texas and also held offers from Alabama, Michigan and the Longhorns semifinal opponent in the hometown Washington Huskies.

But Brown will take his 6,281 career rushing yards and 89 rushing touchdowns at O’Dea, including 1,897 and 34 touchdowns from his senior year that recently concluded with a 21-17 state 3A semifinal loss to eventual champion Bellevue on Nov. 25, to the warmth of the Arizona desert to play his college ball.

“The big thing for me was finding a situation that was best,” Brown said of his choice, which was a place he didn’t even originally have on his list when his junior season ended. “I wanted a place where I can have a fair shot to compete for playing time.”

Despite the loss to conclude his high school career, Brown posted a remarkable senior campaign. Along with the rushing yards, he enjoyed his most productive year in high school as he carried the ball just 159 times overall, and generally set the tone for the Irish.

“It’s the first year I didn’t carry the ball at least 200 times,” Brown said. And those numbers allowed the O’Dea back to accomplish the only real goal he set for himself for the season.

“I play better when I play free,” Brown said. “I didn’t want to be constantly watching the stat book and worrying about how many yards or touchdowns I had. I did want to average 12 yards a carry.”

He averaged over 11.9 yards every time he touched the ball in 2023. It was an improvement from a junior year in which he dealt most of the season with a sprained ankle and lost, he said, his big-play edge.

‘Brown has redefined his body for his senior year,’ 247Sports National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman wrote for the website. ‘He looks faster and more explosive while still flashing his usual vision and balance that allows him to churn out more yards after initial contact. He’s also seen some time in the secondary, but make no mistake, he’s a running back.’

Brown has been a running back almost from the first day he stepped foot on campus at O’Dea four years ago as a guy who wanted to follow in the footsteps of another Irish legend – current Minnesota Viking Myles Gaskin.

“It was pretty simple, really,” O’Dea coach Monte Kohler said. “With what we do at O’Dea, tailback is pretty important, and we knew he could be pretty special.”

All Brown did was reward the Irish with a work ethic that never allowed the 5-foot-10, 200-pound runner to stop improving, even to the point of “redefining” himself going into his senior year to become more successful and prepare for the next step.

“It’s my mindset,” Brown said. “My approach to the season and attention to detail in my training. Taking care of my body. And even developing a better rapport with my teammates. We’re all just so grateful for the experience of playing together since the fourth, the fifth grades.”

Part of that training, especially over last summer, was building his speed. Brown said he wasn’t hitting the home runs he expected as a junior. He did that as a senior. He had two games this fall where he carried the ball four times – and scored four touchdowns on those totes.

It’s all culminated in postseason accolades, including being named the TNT’s state player of the year – something he called “an honor, and not even something I put in my mind frame growing up.”

“It’s been a rewarding chapter of my life,” Brown said. “So extremely special. I didn’t get the state championship, which is a memory we don’t have. But I got to play with all my best friends one more time. And that’s better than a state ring or even being all-state.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2023 at 7:47 PM.