By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University guard Levi Braun is a walking, talking, shooting testament to how valuable a redshirt year can be for a college athlete.
And while it was probably hard at times for the former Hayden basketball star to sit and watch last season while his Washburn teammates played games, Braun knows that year helped prepare him to make the major contribution he has for the 10-1 No. 8-ranked Ichabods this winter.
"It helped a ton,'' said the 6-foot-4 guard, who helped Hayden win a state championship in 2018. "I dedicated my time to the weight room, to class and just practice and learning and developing.
"I would suggest that to more incoming freshman, not just for basketball, for any sport, just because college is hard, especially at a program like this. You’ve got to be special to come in and make a difference right away. It takes time.''
Hayden product Levi Braun has hit 26 3-pointers and is shooting 54.2 percent from outside the arc for 10-1 Washburn. [Photograph courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Braun's hard work has paid off, not only for himself, but for Brett Ballard's Ichabods.
Braun has seen action in all 11 games for Washburn as one of the first players off the bench, averaging 7.6 points in 14.5 minutes per game, while ranking second on the team to junior Jalen Lewis in 3-pointers made (26) and 3-point percentage (54.2 percent).
“That kid can really shoot it,'' Ballard said. "He’s the first kid in the gym every day and one of the last kids to leave every day and he sees a lot of those things go in, before the lights come on. Then it pays off when he out here, but you’ve still got to make them under the lights, and he’s done a great job of that this year.’’
Braun is coming off his best week as an Ichabod, scoring 34 points in two Washburn wins while connecting on 11 of 15 3-point attempts.
Braun came up huge last Thursday in WU's 99-58 win over Missouri Southern, hitting his first 6 3s and 6 of 7 for the game en route to a career-high 19 points.
“The most important thing I was worried about was the win,'' Braun said. "We lost the last game (at Missouri Western), so we were definitely wanting to bounce back. It was just a total team effort and that’s what I was most concerned with.’’
Braun followed up that performance with a 15-point game in Saturday's 84-62 win over Pittsburg State, connecting on 5 of 8 attempts from ourside the arc, and said he's just thankful to have the opportubity to be on the floor.
“Coach reminds us a lot that it’s a blessing, especially this year, just to be able to play at all,'' Braun said. "There’s teams that have only played like two games, some teams aren’t playing at all, so I’m having a blast. It’s fun.’’
