Player of the Month: 2016 guard Dalven Brushier

Dalven Brushier wants to make it clear. He is honored to win the Prep Hoops Colorado’s first player of the month award for his performance during the July period. He also knows it’s an award that belongs to many other people. “I couldn’t done any of it without my team,” said Brushier, an athletic 2016 guard who be a senior at Doherty this season. “Without God, my teammates, my coaches over at The Force, we would have never been able to win a championship (in the gold bracket at the Adidas Invitational) or do any of the things I’ve done individually, so just a big shoutout to them for all of that.” Brushier also noted there were numerous players deserving of the accolade, and he’s right. Like Colbey Ross, the 2017 Eaglecrest point guard who shined for Colorado Chaos during July, collecting interest from a number of Division I programs. Ross, who averaged better than 20 points through the summer, finished second in the voting. Matthew Johnson, a 2017 guard with Colorado Connect, finished third. Brushier, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for more out of the summer, which was his first with a high-level traveling club team. The slender guard said many family moves have largely kept him from playing summer ball with a club team before, so his first opportunity came at an opportune time. “I had never been to Indiana, Las Vegas, California, any of those places, with a team before,” he said. “So I was just blessed to have that experience. I got to have competition that I wouldn’t have been able to see by just staying in Colorado, so it was just awesome.” Brushier is coming off a big junior season at Doherty, where he averaged 14.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-2 guard teams with fellow senior Tynan Velasquez and junior Brevin Brimble, to make one of the state’s most dynamic backcourts. Brushier, who excels in transition and is a menace attacking the basket, has already picked up an offer from Division II Adams State and NAIA school Concordia (Neb.), and he has received some interest from Weber State. “Right now I’m just taking a step back and seeing what I need to improve on,” Brushier said. “There is stuff I need to work on. I need to improve my outside jump shot. I need to put on a little weight. I’m tall and lean, but playing college level, especially where I want to play, I’ve got to get bigger. So I’m just going to try and get my weight up and improve my overall stamina and strength.”