KU Scholar Athlete of the Month: Keaston Brown
Keaston Is Making a Name for Himself
- School: Henry Clay High
- GRADE: 12
- Sport: Basketball
- Academics: Keaston has a 4.14 GPA in advanced classes and is active as a volunteer.
- Parents: Katherine & Daniel
It’s not surprising that the story behind Keaston Brown’s first name has a sports connection.
Keaston is a captain and three-year starter on the Henry Clay High basketball team that won 20 of its first 24 games this season and was ranked as high as No. 5 in the state.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior point guard has been an All-Region and All-City player two years running, and is the floor leader for the Blue Devils.
A model of consistency, he averages 12 points, four rebounds and a team-high six assists.
He converts 80% of his free throws, 35% of his three-point shots and has a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.
But what about that first name of the family’s oldest of three sons?
Mom (Katherine) wanted a name that began with a K. When her husband Daniel walked into the delivery room wearing an Easton baseball bat t-shirt, the family invented a name.
Keaston’s brothers are Konlin, 14, and Kayson, 13.
Dad wearing a sports t-shirt was no surprise either. Daniel starred in baseball and basketball at Nicholas County High and then at Berea College.
He joined the Henry Clay basketball staff as an assistant in 1999 before serving as head coach at North Laurel and Bourbon County for one season each.
He started his tenure as Henry Clay’s head coach in 2006.
Keaston took his first steps at the Henry Clay gym and is the only person who has seen as many Blue Devil basketball games as his father, who calls his son a coach’s dream.
“He’s unselfish and a big-time playmaker,” Daniel said. “He’s smart and tough, and he makes everybody on the team better.”
Keaston is on pace to become the first Henry Clay player in 15 years to score 1,000 points and have 300 assists.
During the AAU season, Keaston played on the Adidas Gold Circuit, which draws the top players – and the top college coaches.
Keaston has played in front of Roy Williams (North Carolina) and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), both of whom have won national titles.
Still, one of Keaston’s proudest moments came this season when the Blue Devils upset second-ranked Trinity of Louisville, 52-50, and the crowd stormed the court afterward.
Keaston has a 4.14 weighted GPA and plans to play in college with aspirations of playing professionally someday.
He will major in sports medicine or sports management in college, and might pursue the family business – coaching.
“Basketball is in my blood,” Keaston said. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have basketball in my life.”