By: Josh Brown
Stephaun Branch grinded his way from junior varsity snub all the way to the G-League simply by never giving up on his dream.
As an undersized freshman & sophomore, Branch was cut from his high school’s JV team two years in a row. He eventually had a growth spurt and made JV as a junior & varsity as a senior, but barely logged any minutes all season.
Despite this, Branch wasn’t ready to let his hoop dreams die. After getting no interested from any colleges, he enrolled at Mount San Antonio, a JUCO in Southern California. Just 10 days after graduating high school, Branch was engulfed in a grueling offseason training program in order to even be considered for the team.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nx6JQV_SFEs?start=79" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>He not only got a roster spot, but flourished, averaging a double-double his first season and leading Mt. Sac to a 27-2 record his sophomore campaign.
From there, after still getting no offers from D1 schools, Branch continued his basketball journey at D2 West Georgia. Once again he shined, leading the Wolves in minutes, points, and rebounds his junior & senior seasons.
Branch went on to enter the NBA Draft, but per usual, it wasn’t that easy. After sitting through 60 picks without hearing his name called, Branch signed up for a tryout with the G-League’s South Bay Lakers. He arrived at camp a couple weeks later and beat out 50 other players for a roster spot.
Branch has since seized every opportunity as a pro, spending two years in the G-League from 2017-2019 before heading overseas. In just three seasons in Europe, Branch has gone from playing in Finland, to Belgium, to what is considered one of the top leagues in the world in Israel. He also played for D2 in TBT 2019 and Team Challenge ALS in 2020, posting an average of 17 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BEj6PXvVAxk?start=79" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>“Nothing in this world is going to be given to you,” Branch told the G-League’s Ryan Young in 2017. “You have to take it.”