One of the job duties that Andover Central boys basketball coach Tyler Richardson prioritizes is monitoring the academic progress of his players.
 
When it comes to checking in on senior point guard Jayden Brown, Richardson admits it can be a little self-serving.
 
“I tell the kids all the time basketball is the last part of my job,” Richardson said. “I’m all about academics. If you can’t take care of business there, then this isn’t for you.
 
“Jayden is a kid who I’ve never had to worry about. I check kids’ grades daily, and we have awesome kids. It’s not that we don’t. But he’s a kid who I don’t really need to check his grades and when I do, it’s just because I want to smile.”
 
Brown, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week, has a way of brightening things on and off the court for the Jaguars.
 
Making mostly A’s in the classroom, Brown has also proved to be a good problem-solver in the opening stage of his final high school basketball season. With many of his teammates joining him just days after completing Central’s run to its first state football title in Class 4A, Brown scored a career-high 37 points and made a technical free throw with no time remaining to give the Jaguars a 62-61 victory over Salina Central in their season opener.

 
In Tuesday’s second home game against Maize South, the Mavericks chose to guard the 5-foot-7 Brown with brawny 6-foot-7 junior Cy Stucky. It was a ploy that limited Brown’s offensive production until the closing minutes, when he scored eight points in the final 3:14 of Central’s 59-53 victory that improved the Jaguars to 2-0.
 
“I get the itch every year because I’m one of the only guys who doesn’t play football,” said Brown, a fourth-year varsity player. “I spend the offseason by myself just working. I itch to get out here and face competition.
 
“I finally get out here and I’m with all my friends, and I’m just happy to compete with them.”
 
While Brown, a two-time All-Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division II selection, puts considerable emphasis on basketball, he draws motivation from the myriad successes of fellow Jaguars in other sports and activities. Basketball teammates Maddox Archibald, Brandt Stupka, Brody DeGarmo, Jace Jefferson and Jace Adler were some of the key players on Central’s football team.
 
The Jaguar boys won their first league cross country title this fall. Stupka is the school record holder in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, while 2024 graduate Bryce Barkdull was the national high school leader in the pole vault last spring.
 
Even on the activities side, student vocalist McKayla Stacey competed on the television show “American Idol” during the 2023-24 school year.
 
“It’s the culture around here,” Brown said. “Everyone here is so supportive. I always see people working hard here no matter what the sport is. When I see someone working hard, it makes me want to work hard. It’s kind of contagious.”
 
Brown has blended his work ethic with an affable personality that Andover Central teachers and administrators admire. Richardson said Brown hardly said a word when he transferred into Andover Central Middle School midway through his seventh-grade year and was a student in one of Richardson’s classes.
 
Those days are history.
 
“I think what we’re losing a little bit in this wonderful world with all the cell phones and headphones is we’re losing those kids who simply walk down the hallways and say hello,” Andover Central athletic director Chad Gerwick said. “You can walk down the hall, see Jayden, say hello, and he’s going to respond back to you.
 
“Jayden is always good for a handshake or a high five. You’re always going to get a response from him, and it’s a simple little thing that makes him unique and a really good kid.”
 
Brown’s early motivation to do well in the classroom came from his father, Tony. Since then, he has become self-driven, inspired by Central teachers like Julie Kobbe, whom he spends mornings with as a teacher aide and speech and seminar class student.
 
“My dad always says grades first,” Brown said. “Now he doesn’t even have to say anything to me. I know it’s a priority. I just feel like that goes along with life. You have to produce when you get to the real world. You’ve got to do your job.
 
“It’s just putting effort into the classroom and building your connection with teachers. I feel like the teachers in this building are amazing. Credit to them for doing such a good job. They just make it pretty easy for us students.”
 
Last spring, Brown explored offering basketball training for youth players. The private sessions didn’t take off as he had hoped, but it’s something he is considering re-visiting after assisting with a camp offered through the school.
 
“I want to help out the youth, especially the young kids who’ll be coming through here,” Brown said. “There were a couple older guys ahead of me who I looked up to and I know a lot of these young kids look up to me. I just want to give back to them because I’m only going to be around here for so long.”
 
In the meantime, Brown heads into the winter with increased interest from college recruiters after his big performance against Salina Central. He is also hoping to lead the Jaguars to the Class 5A state tournament after they’ve fallen one victory short each of the last three seasons.
 
Tuesday’s victory over Maize South had a bit of a salving effect. The Mavericks knocked Central out of the last two sub-states and hadn’t lost to the Jaguars since Brown’s freshman year.
 
“He’s our most experienced player,” Richardson said. “He’s the only freshman who I have suited up varsity and actually got on the floor since I’ve been here at Andover Central (starting in 2020-21). And it wasn’t necessarily pity minutes. He got into the game as a freshman on a team that was No. 1 in the state at that point.
 
“He was here with some great leaders, some great players, and every year he’s just taken a little bit from every one of his teammates, which is what you want. He’s not a kid who comes in and beats his chest and says I’ve got everything figured out. He listens to all the coaches and he’s just a sponge.”