On his right thigh, just below the football-like pads he wears to play basketball, Hayden Brown has a tattoo.
In Roman numerals, the ink reads, "II-IX-MMXX."
Feb. 9, 2020.
That's the day that Brown, a 6-5 redshirt junior on The Citadel's basketball team, was baptized in the chilly Atlantic Ocean waters off Folly Beach. He was dipped in the water by Ra'Shaud Graham, the head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at The Citadel and team chaplain for Bulldog athletics.
Less than three months later, Graham was dead, victim of a tragic kayaking accident at age 26.
"I met Ra'Shaud in August of 2019, and he passed away on April 28, 2020," Brown said. "I didn't even know him a whole calendar year. But I've never trusted or related to or been poured into the way he did for me.
"We had a very special relationship, and he taught me a lot. More than that, I think we grew together in our faith. I like to say that Jesus saved my life, and Ra'shaud helped change it. He had a gift, and I miss him every day."
Graham's gift is one of the reasons that Brown has played the best basketball of his career this season for the 7-0 Bulldogs, who are off to their best start in 100 years and play host to Chattanooga on Saturday. He's averaging 21.1 points and 10.3 rebounds, and already has four double-doubles with a 31-point game and a 21-rebound game.
It's also a reason he survived an injury-plagued season last year and emerged as a campus leader at the military school, helping to organize a unity event last fall during the midst of racial turmoil across the country.
"I think Ra'Shaud saw something in me that no one else did, not even myself," said Brown, who played in just six games last year before a hamstring injury ended his season. "I realized that I had so much more potential in this thing called life off the court. I had found so much of my identity on the court, and I think it corelated to how I played.
"Now, I feel like I play with a new sense of freedom, and a lot of that has to do with my relationship with Jesus. And Ra'Shaud was one of the people who was able to point me in that right direction."
Tough season
Brown came to The Citadel in 2017 with a strong identity as a basketball player. He drew attention with his game, leading Byrnes High School in Spartanburg to a state title while also earning letters in lacrosse and swimming. And he did it in style, with long blond hair that made him look like an outsized surfer.
At The Citadel, he had to get that hair cut. But in his second college game, against Virginia Tech of the ACC, he hit 9 of 10 shots and scored a team-high 22 points.
"I was riding such a high," Brown recalled. "I thought, okay, I can actually play well at this college level."
Citadel basketball player Hayden Brown during his days at Byrnes High School. Provided
Brown scored in double figures only twice more that season as The Citadel went 11-21, averaging just 13.4 minutes and 5.2 points. After the season, he fell into a funk.
"It got to the point during the season that I wasn't doing things I was supposed to," he said. "Missed assignments, a lack of focus. I gained a lot of weight, and then some off-court stuff happened. It was a tough season of life, and sometimes you have to go super deep into the valley in order to be brought back up."
That's when Brown, who had been raised in the Lutheran church — "I went to church so I wouldn't get in trouble" — found his way to deeper faith with the help of former teammate Connor Kern. The pair made a trip to China in 2019 to play for the USA Eagles team.
"Connor was the guy who was there for me during the ups and downs of that first season," Brown said. "And then I met Ra'Shaud."
The struggles continued last season, however, when Brown strained a hamstring during a Nov. 19 game at Southeast Missouri. He would play only two games and 19 minutes the rest of the season as The Citadel lost its final 19 games in a row.
"Frustrating is definitely the word," he said. "I'd always had nagging injuries, but nothing that kept me out for a whole season. I typically try to lead by example, but I think that built into me that I had to be more of a vocal leader."
Unity and respect
That showed last summer, when social justice protests were happening on campuses across the country. Brown was being interviewed on a podcast when he was asked, What is your school doing to achieve social justice?
"I honestly felt I didn't have a good answer," he said. "At that point, I knew in my heart I had to do something."
Brown became the driving force behind a "unity and respect" event on campus that drew 250 cadets, coaches and staffers last October. He hopes it becomes an annual event on campus.
"One hundred percent, I percent plan on having it continue," he said. "Ten years from now, I hope there is a unity day at The Citadel."
Though he's already graduated, Brown might be able to stick around a couple of years to see that happen. After a medical redshirt last year, he's got a free season this year due to COVID-19. He could play college basketball for two more seasons.
"He'd look great with a Citadel graduate degree," coach Duggar Baucom said. "He's a remarkable young man, really grounded in his faith. We'd love to have him back here for one or two more years."
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