Athlete of the Week: 10 Questions with Ian Brown, New Trier boys basketball

Ian Brown is a senior wing for the Trevians who was an All-Tournament First Team selection at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Brown will play for Carnegie Mellon University next year.

1. Do you have pregame rituals or superstitions?

I guess the only thing for me is, we have a walkthrough before each game and before I head to the walkthrough I like to meditate and visualize success in the game that’s about to happen. I like to see the game in my head.

2. Why Carnegie Mellon?

I chose Carnegie Mellon basically because I wanted to find school with a good combination of academics and good athletics, and I’ll be in the business school and net year. Carnegie Mellon plays in the (University Athletic Association), which is the only Division III conference that flies to conference games. So we’ll play teams in St. Louis, Georgia. That was a thing for me. And on the visit, they made me feel at home. It was great and I really like Pittsburgh — that was my first time there.

3. What is your favorite thing to do off the court?

Hanging out with my friends, and recently I’ve been spending more time with my brother and he got me back into building Legos. I forgot how fun it is building legos. It’s kind of fun. I like to cook, too — steak and stuff like that.

4. Who is your favorite athlete?

For sure I would say Derrick Rose (NBA). The first time I watched a Bulls game was in 2011, when he was at his peak. I was really captivated with his athleticism with the Bulls in the 2010s. He’s not the player he once was, but the way he’s battled against injuries has been really inspiring to me.

5. What is your dream job?

I’m going into business school. I’m not 100 percent sure what I want to do. Something entrepreneurial or finance-focused would be cool. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like yet.

6. Last season, you sank 12 three-pointers in a game. How often do you think about that game or rewatch it?

Rarely, but if my confidence is down, I watch that game and see that I’m a pretty good player. That’s how I can get myself the confidence back. It was a great game for sure.

7. If you could play another sport, what would it be?

I would say football. I used to play before high school. It was a lot of fun to hit people. That’s why I liked it. I decided to stop for basketball, so it would be football.

8. If you’re in Walgreens with a couple bucks, what are you buying?

One of those Fairlife chocolate milks with protein and maybe a Rice Krispies Treat or one of the mango Arizona drinks.

9. What is something people don’t know about you?

I have dual citizenship in Luxembourg. I have a Luxembourg passport. When I’m older I can live in any country in the European Union, and one thing I’ve thought of is playing basketball overseas for a year or two after college and dual citizenship would help with that if do have the opportunity.

10. What is going to be key for you guys to get to where you want to go this season?

When we move our ball and run our sets and play super unselfish, we are really, really good. There are still times we get sped up. For example in GBN game (38-34 loss on Friday, Jan. 5), we got sped up and played their pace and started forcing shots. For us to make a run to Champaign, we need to improve dealing with pressure. We’ll be playing teams that are really athletic and fast. That can’t be what makes us crumble. So dealing with pressure and playing as a team.

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