Andrews senior Donovan Bateman and Murphy senior Dillian Brown have been on opposite sides of the court when playing for their respective schools, but they have grown close while playing on the same travel team for years.
The two decided to continue that relationship in college, as both signed to play basketball at Montreat College. Brown signed to play for the Cavaliers on May 12, while Bateman did the same on May 22.
Brown was a two-time All-Smoky Mountain Conference selection for the Bulldogs, averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game along with 3.3 rebounds, three assists and two steals per game. He was the point guard for Murphy’s best team in over a decade, as its 17 wins were the most since the 2010-11 season. The Bulldogs also hosted and won a playoff game this year for the first time since that season as well.
Brown credits his love for the game to his older brother, Darius, who he played up with on recreation league teams when he was younger. Since then, he’s been working hard to try to find an opportunity to play at the next level.
“It means the world to me,” Brown said of being able to play at Montreat. “I’m glad God gave me the opportunity to play basketball, because some people don’t get it.”
Bateman was also an All-Conference selection, averaging a team-high 11.8 points per game as well five rebounds, two assists and 1.3 steals per game. He was a combo guard for the Wildcats, comfortable running the offense as a point guard as well as playing offball. He also served as the quarterback of Andrews’ Smoky Mountain Conference championship football team in the fall, though he’s always had a greater passion for basketball.
He started thinking about playing in college in eighth grade, and began to dedicate himself to getting better during his freshman and sophomore years. The conversations with Montreat began after his senior season, and picked up an offer after training with one of their assistant coaches.
While Bateman is looking forward to the opportunity and seeing if he can grow as a player, he’s also excited to have someone like Brown on the journey with him.
“That’s one of my brothers, for sure,” Bateman said of Brown. “I like playing ball, we always played on the same travel team together. So ever since then we’ve gotten pretty close. It’s pretty cool to play with him in college ball.”