Broncbusters’ New Receiving Group Feeling Welcome Ahead of Preseason Exhibition

Freshman wide receiver Keyon Brown is facing a brand new football challenge; he’s no longer the focal point of his team.

In his high school career at James Rickards High School in the capital city of Tallahassee, Florida, Brown was meant to be the focus for every team to stop, while the motor for the Raiders’ offense and defense to make the 3A State Playoffs.

Now, an underclassmen in a potentially lethal Garden City Broncbusters offense, Brown has had the opportunity to learn, something he couldn’t focus on in Florida.

Head coach Tom Minnick addressed last season’s underwhelming 4-6 finish by hitting the transfer portal hard. The Broncbusters brought in one of the top transfer classes of any NJCAA program, including former five stars and countless power five transfers.

Brown, a former Oklahoma commit, has had the chance to learn from plenty of other wide receivers who have been in some of the top programs across America.

“They’ve helped me with my own development,” Brown said. “Shout out to Demond [Demas]… he’s helped me with my releases and stuff. He’s got me to get past two people, three people, take them deep, and Terence [Fall] has helped me with my arm, and with my routes.”

Garden City has brought in five receivers from division one programs, including Demas from Texas A&M, Isaiah Brevard from Oregon, and Khamran Laborn from Buffalo. 

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience from D1,” Fall said. “So, we’re able to help each other, and communicate with each other a lot. We’ve got a good group, good in terms of relationships.”

The wide receivers have become extremely tight over the course of August practice, putting aside hundreds of miles from different locations.

Their bond has them learning from each other each and every day, with Cal transfer Aidan Lee mentioning that he takes a little bit from each receiver every day. The combined sense of competitiveness between the group has another receiver believing that there’s something more than just a good group off the field forming.

“This receiver group is very special,” Lee told me. “I take a little bit of tips and tricks from their releases, their route running. I enjoy being with this group every day.”

Leading the receiver group is new strength coach Vaughn Van Dame, who works individually with the pass catchers every practice. Van Dame is focused on seeing these student athletes grow, not just in terms of physicality on the field, but responsibility and maturity off of it.

“Vaughn really pushes us. I’ve been here since Spring, and our bodies have transformed,” Fall said. “The way I feel on the field is transforming too, we learn a lot from him.”

Garden City lost their leading receivers from last season as Torey Morrison, Martiel Singleton, and Jaylin Young all departed the program. Fixing this hole was a huge point of emphasis for Minnick this offseason.

“We feel like we addressed some areas of need at receiver with this class,” Minnick said in an article back in February. “We got more physical, and we added more speed.”

Garden City opens their season on Thursday with a preseason exhibition in Texas against New Mexico Military Institute. The Broncbusters open the regular season next Thursday, August 24th, as they host the Butler Grizzlies at Broncbuster Stadium.