Troy native starting for Southern Miss

NEW ORLEANS — Micah Brown’s college choice and eventual success has made his family change its allegiances.

Brown, a junior who starts at left guard for Southern Miss, is from Troy. He played at Charles Henderson, graduating in 2005. He’ll play his hometown team Sunday in the New Orleans Bowl.

But his parents, Bobby and Kim, graduated from Troy, as did older brother Matt. Kim was a majorette in the Sound of the South marching band. Several more family members are Troy fans.

Or maybe they were Troy fans.

“They’re definitely Southern Miss fans,” Brown said. “They’ll be rooting for me.”

Brown was offered a scholarship by the Trojans, but visited Southern Miss and fell in love with the campus and decided playing for the Golden Eagles was the right fit. He was pulling for Troy to beat Arkansas State in the Trojans’ season finale so USM would face Troy in the bowl. USM accepted the bowl bid earlier in the week.

“I was excited to hear about it,” Brown said. “It gives me a chance to play the home team and show people from home what I’m doing now. A lot of people don’t get a chance to see me play, but now they will.”

The 6-foot-2, 287-pound Brown has come a long way since he got on campus, as he’s been saddled by injuries from the get-go. There’s been three foot surgeries and an appendix removal.

Brown’s first career start came in the Papajohns.com Bowl last year, but he didn’t get much of a chance to impress first-year head coach Larry Fedora.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Fedora said. “I knew he started the bowl game, but we weren’t able to see anything from him because he was in a boot the entire offseason and the entire fall camp.”

Brown eventually became the starter at left guard in the team’s fourth game and hasn’t given up the position yet. He earned the “Pound the Rock” award from coaches after a Nov. 15 win over East Carolina and graded 80 percent or better four times.

“He’s been very consistent and knows his blocking assignments with the pass and run game,” Fedora said. “It’s been a good situation for us.”