GREENVILLE – Greenville senior Landin Brown will be part of the first season of Indiana Wesleyan University football as he committed to the Wildcats on Wednesday.
Brown, the son of Mart and Kathy Brown, said he made his decision to commit to Indiana Wesleyan after a lot of praying.
“It feels awesome,” Brown said. “I’m really just blessed, beyond blessed by God and my family and the coaching staff here as well, just giving me the tools and the abilities I need to be able to take everything to the next level and just being able to showcase what I’ve learned through all that.”
Brown will join his brother Justin Brown as a member of the Indiana Wesleyan football program. Justin, a linebacker, committed to the Wildcats last year. The elder Brown was part of the team this past year as the Wildcats practiced and scrimmaged but didn’t play any official games.
“That was honestly one of bigger factors as far as my decision process went, but I felt like that was the right place to go,” Brown said of joining his older brother. “I prayed about it a lot, and I just kept talking to God about it. I’m really excited to be playing with Justin for another four years. That’s awesome.”
Along with the family connection, Brown was drawn to Indiana Wesleyan because it’s a Christian university, the welcoming atmosphere of the campus and the amazing football facilities.
“I was really just amazed by how new everything was there, how friendly all the people were – everywhere you go to visit everybody’s saying hi to you and stuff like that,” he said. “It’s a really inviting environment. You really feel like you’re at home when you go there.”
In college Brown plans to major in graphic design and possibly marketing. He’s also been accepted into the John Wesley Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan and will earn an honors humanities major.
Brown will be an interior defensive lineman at Indiana Wesleyan, playing in front of his brother.
“Landin, he’s not the biggest guy in the world,” Greenville football coach Aaron Shaffer said. “He falls into one of the strongest guys on the field all the time. He’s always been a kid that’s had to fight an uphill battle whether it be on the field here and he’s going to have to continue to fight those battles when he gets over to Indiana Wesleyan.”
Brown is excited about the possibility of contributing to the first football team in Indiana Wesleyan history, and he’s excited about the program’s potential after its success in scrimmages this past fall. The Wildcats will compete in the Mid-States Football Association in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
“I think it’s going to be exciting to see what we can do, especially with how they performed in all the scrimmages last year, how well they did,” he said.
Shaffer, who said the Browns are the first brothers he’s coached who went on to be collegiate teammates, expects Landin to play well for the Wildcats.
“Landin is going to go over there and be Landin,” Shaffer said. “He’s going to work hard, and he’s going to give them great effort, and he’s going to give himself an opportunity to play.”
