A quick study at UMBC
Courtesy of Gary Lambrecht, The Baltimore Sun | Originally published January 18, 2007
Whether he is in the classroom or on the basketball court, UMBC junior guard Brian Hodges is determined to make the most of his time.
Hodges has been in the starting lineup just three times this season for the Retrievers, who over the past two years have discovered quite the sixth man in their rotation. In mid-January, Hodges lead the team with a 16.2-point average despite playing just 24.9 minutes per game.
A native of Prince George's County and a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School, Hodges also plans to earn a degree in finance economics this spring - a year ahead of schedule. He aims to have a master's in economics by age 23.
When he is done with basketball, Hodges will train his focus on something bigger. Some day, he wants to be a chief executive or financial officer of a Fortune 500 company.
"I've always liked math and money," said Hodges, 20, who is 13 credits shy of his undergraduate degree. "I've learned how to manage my time well. I know what I can do and what I can't do. It's not like I don't have a life. I still like to go out with my friends. I'm having the complete college experience."
Hodges would become the first UMBC Division I men’s player to compete as graduate student next year. “It’s amazing that I would be the first player to accomplish something like this and be remembered for what I did in the classroom in addition to my on-the-court achievements.”
During his time at UMBC, Hodges has pushed himself to become a complete player. He arrived in Catonsville as not much more than a spot-up, three-point shooter. Now he's a pure scorer who creates points in different ways and presents matchup problems because of it.
His ball-handling has improved significantly. That allows Hodges to bait defenders, then drive by them. His mid-range jumper has come a long way.
Weight training has given him a sturdy, 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame that can absorb more contact inside and get him to the foul line, where Hodges has made 74.6 percent of his 71 attempts. He
has led UMBC in scoring 14 times and has been named America East Player of the Week twice.
Through it all, he hasn't changed. He still sports the same stoic demeanor he brought to the Retrievers. The highs and lows of the game don't rattle him. Even when he struggled mightily to make shots early in this and last season, prompting UMBC coach Randy Monroe to send him to the bench each time, Hodges displayed no emotion.
"I think our players feed off his tenacity," Monroe said. "Some guys would have a very difficult time with [a backup role] and not fully accept it. He's accepted his role, and the rest is history."
"As a competitor, every basketball player wants to start, but everything about Coach Monroe's decision was understandable," Hodges said. "My team still counts on me to put up numbers. I know a lot depends on me."
Val Hodges, Brian's father, said his son has always been the quiet, analytical type who has kept his feelings largely to himself.
"He's a real hard kid to read, unless you kind of pry it out of him," said Val, a procurement contract manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. "As a freshman [at UMBC], he was fortunate enough to hit the winning shot in a game, and he showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever.
"He doesn't say much about the academic side, either. He just gets it done. That's the part that makes me stick my chest out."
Hodges is so tight-lipped that his teammates had no idea he was progressing so rapidly through UMBC’s rigorous Economics curriculum. “I really didn’t tell anyone what I was doing. My teammates were shocked when then found out. Even my professors didn’t know. They didn’t know I was taking extra courses here and there to get it done.”
Hodges might have pursued his goals on a more prestigious campus. Cornell, Penn and Columbia were among the schools that seriously recruited him. Hodges graduated from Bishop McNamara with a grade point average that exceeded 4.0.
But UMBC came calling with a full athletic scholarship, something Ivy League schools don't offer. That held much sway in the Hodges family, which includes Brian's mother, Jacqueline, a loan officer; and his younger sister, Brittani, a freshman at Temple. The Hodges family is paying her way.
He wants to help the Retrievers get in position to contend for a conference title and an NCAA tournament berth. Given his lofty career goals, he knows the clock is ticking in his competitive basketball life. “During my free time, I will try to play some recreational basketball, maybe eventually joining some over-25 and over-30 leagues. I will miss it, but I’ll have to adjust.”
Adjusting is something that Brian Hodges has had little problems with on and off the court. He is a poster child for what the student-athlete concept is all about.
“The student-athlete concept can be done,” Hodges said. “I know a lot of people that don’t think you can achieve both in the classroom and on the court, but you just have to be focused. A person has to want to do both.”
UMBC’s Steve Levy contributed to this article.