Kevin Brophy

It has now been a year since Kevin Brophy died in a car accident. I am sure this is a tough day for many of his close friends and family. Since my writing career peaked in B-3 Freshman year of high school, I am just going to list some thoughts I have about Brophy.


Kevin Brophy is the most successful basketball player to come out of Savannah in a long, long time.

With all the bullshit people like to make up about where they are going to play or where someone's dad says his son has offers from, Kevin went to the University of Georgia, played in one of the best conferences in the nation, was a major contributor, and single handedly beat a top 25 team in Vanderbilt.

Kevin was a contributing athlete in one of the big 3 sports at UGA. However, when he went downtown, he didn't expect everyone to buy him shots or anything. I remember one time Rick passing him back an ID, and Kevin buying us all beers to return the favor. Name another athlete as good and as important to his team as Brophy at UGA or anywhere that does that kind of thing. I bet you can't.

The Bliss effect: Brophy certainly worked his ass off off the court to allow him to contribute at the level of SEC play. He played just as hard on the court. Even as big fans of UGA basketball, we aren't sure who does what off the court to prepare for the games. 2 years ago, we all hated Bliss. This year we loved him. I am pretty sure Bliss always did the right things off the court in his years at UGA, or he wouldn't have been the captain. However, after Brophy's death, Bliss played harder than we'd ever seen him play before. He played with energy and got everything he could out of his 6'9 265 pound frame. And I am being dead serious. Last year Bliss did it like Broph, and it was damn sure fun to watch.

Just one more time, I'd like to go back to Brophy making the team at UGA and actually contributing. Yes, there are about 15 guys playing in our Summer League that are more talented than him, and look where they are. Don't get me wrong; Brophy had natural ability. He was quick and had great vision. But most of all he had the ability to work hard and stay motivated. I hate when I hear people say, " If I had his chance, or, If I had my shit together, or, I could be just as good as he was." No you couldn't.

Brophy was a nice guy. He was an approachable guy. And he will be missed a lot more for what he did off the court than anything he ever did on the court.