Grayson County’s Owen Brown to join Kentucky Wesleyan tennis program

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Grayson County High School’s Owen Brown has signed a letter of intent to join the Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) tennis program.

Brown is a senior member of the Grayson County tennis team coached by Sherry Vincent.

The decision to join the Panther tennis program was fairly straightforward for Brown as they recently hired Chuck Brown as their head coach.

Chuck Brown, previously was the tennis pro at Centre Court, a facility in Owensboro where the Cougar star trained. He also has coached at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania.

“(Signing with KWC) was mainly because of the coach,” Owen Brown said “I had a personal relationship with him, he mentored me a little bit when I was younger. It really helped my decision.”

This strong relationship between coach and student-athlete was something that his dad, Chris, also mentioned.

“It really boils down to one of his instructors took the head coaching position so they had that connection already,” Chris Brown said. “He’s going to fit right in. He’s already hitting with the team now and getting to know them. I like the smaller school for academics and of course, I like it being close to home.”

Owen has been the epitome of showing what hard work can do for someone in whatever they might put their head to.

“It takes a lot of effort and he’s put in countless hours of work,” Chris said. “I told him years ago, if you want to be better than everyone else, you have to work harder than everyone else. All credit to him. He’s earned it.”

That work was a constant thread in what Grayson County tennis head coach Sherry Vincent mentioned when talking about Owen.

“He practices with a purpose and I am constantly using him as an example at practice of how well he stays focused,” Vincent said. “I can give him a ball machine and he’s working on something. He comes with a plan every day of what he wants to gain strength in and build weapons.”

One of the best parts about your school years is getting the ability to find your niche and see how that helps you grow as a person.

“I could go on and on about his growth as a person, first of all, and how to be independent and mediate out on the court,” Vincent told K105. “He’s a leader for us. He leads by example and he’s done that on the court with his play and with everything that we do.”

Brown pictured with his parents and younger siblings.

The leadership aspect for him is something that Vincent especially spoke on.

“He set this goal as early as the fifth or sixth grade and it has been a tremendous focus on what he wanted to achieve. He got a great offer.”

Growing as a person, along with an athlete, is something that Owen realized about himself too, especially when it comes to communication.

“It’s definitely helped with my communication skills and being able to talk to people and make friends easily,” he said. “I have made tons of friends along the way and all of them I can definitely say are my best friends.”

In addition to his family, the signing ceremony was also attended by members of the Grayson County tennis team. The group of people were clearly special to the Cougar standout.

“They’re all a part of my life right now which is a good thing to say that all of them came out to support me,” he said.

He couldn’t go without mentioning that none of this would be possible without the support of his parents, Chris and Amanda. While they were star golfers, they shifted into tennis parents to help Owen in any way they could.

“Everything,” Owen said about what his parents mean to him. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it for sure, especially when I was younger. They took me to everything, paid for everything, truly without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”

While there was a celebration in the library on Monday, there was still a sense of determination. Something that Vincent described as “unfinished business.”

Brown has finished as the runner-up in the region in consecutive years. Last year, he went all the way to the state quarterfinals before falling. It is safe to say that his eyes are set on bigger things this year.

“In my eyes, it’s a regional championship,” Vincent said. “He’s already achieved what most high school student-athletes would be satisfied with. This has not been satisfying for him. He is hungry.”

When told about his coach’s phrasing of “unfinished business,” Brown nodded saying, “I definitely agree with that. The past two years I have gotten runner-up, from the same guy, so I feel like if I do win region that I have earned it.”

Luckily the wait for avenging those losses is ending soon. The 2023 regular season begins on March 13 as the teams head to Ohio County. The home opener will be on March 17 against South Warren. The regional tournament is set for mid-May in Owensboro.

By: Sam Gormley, Play-By-Play Announcer/Local Sports
Reach Sam at sam@k105.com

Brown pictured with his family.
Brown joined by all members of his family that were in attendance.
Brown pictured with members of the GCHS tennis coaching staff.
Brown pictured with the 2023 Grayson County Cougar tennis team.
Brown pictured with the senior members of the GCHS tennis team.
Brown pictured with his aunt/uncle Lacy and Adam Cox along with his cousins.
Brown pictured with his sister, mom, and grandmothers.
Three generations of the Brown family.