by Analisa Novak
Brandon Peel came to Central Connecticut almost four years ago from Forestville, Maryland ready to take to the courts on through a new perspective.
In the recent years, CCSU had major offensive player departures, leaving a huge whole on the roster. Peel, coming from a defensive background his whole life, stepped into the offensive role as forward and has continuously excelled in it.
You would have never figured by watching him play that he just recently became a forward. “I really like it, anything to help the team win. I do want to leave with a thousand point score,” said Peel.
At the rate Peel is playing he will beat that thousand point goal, he is currently sitting at 800.
Peel has been playing league basketball since he was five and said he hasn’t stopped since then, “I started young, during kindergarten playing for a little league for my elementary school and fell in love with it ever since.”
When it comes to training, he relies on his speed as an advantage during games. “I do a lot of running because I know I can beat a lot of people my size on the floor and I do a lot of midrange shooting which has become my forte on the court,” said Peel.
Peel has become a mentor to many of new faces putting on the blue and white CCSU jersey. “At times it can become kind of nerve racking knowing I’m one of the only ones with real experience on the team but at this point they are physically ready, it’s just learning the game and learning to play the game with their heads and not their body.”
Peel, who is team captain, stated he sees a lot of hope for the upcoming future, “Although we have a very young team this year, I am very confident that the team will start pulling away wins, they are still learning how to play the game at the division one level but I’m really confident about the upcoming season.”
In a short four years, Peel accomplished a lot and with five days of practice and a full-time school schedule. It’s amazing how he keeps himself centered, “I’ve always lived by, if you work hard, great things will come,” said Peel.
Peel, an English major has also maintained a 3.0 GPA throughout his four years and plans to graduate with it. “People always say that being an athlete and balancing school is all about time management and finding the time to get my work done.”
As an English major, Peel wants a career in writing after he tries to peruse a professional career in basketball overseas. “Right now going overseas to play basketball is my primary goal. But at the same time, getting my education is also on the top of the list. I wouldn’t put them on top of each other, I would say these two goals are side-by-side.”
Catch number 34, Brandon Peel play his last season as a Blue Devil at their next home game Friday, Dec. 18th against UMass Lowell.