Male Athlete of the Week

Brennen Melvin Bishop Verot Vikings Senior Basketball
Bishop Verot has built a proud basketball tradition. Specifically, in the past 10 years under coach Matt Herting, the Vikings have had 12 players go on to play at the college level, including five at Division I schools.
That success puts in perspective the performance of senior point guard Brennen Melvin, who is on the verge of breaking career school records for both rebounds and assists.
The Daily Breeze Male Athlete of the Week has become a well-rounded player in his four seasons with the Vikings and now stands 46 rebounds and 12 assists shy of becoming the school’s all-time leader in both categories.
“When you consider some of the players we’ve had, like Reed Baker (who plays at FGCU), that’s pretty impressive,” said Herting. “We count on (Brennen) for a lot of things.”
Though a point guard, the 6-foot-4 Melvin uses his size and strength to his advantage. He averages 16 points, 9.5. rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
He continued his all-around play last week, tallying 17 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in an 81-52 win over Dunbar, then added 12 points and 12 rebounds in a 62-46 win at Key West.
It’s been typical of the Vikings to play a tough early-season schedule and then hit their stride come tournament time. That appears to be the case again, as they’ve won nine of their last 10 games.
“We’re coming on strong when we need to,” Melvin said. “We’ve been good the past four years I’ve been here. Hopefully, we can make another run in the playoffs.”
Melvin started one game as a freshman and every game since then. Growing up, he said, soccer was his first love, but when he reached sixth grade he became more interested in basketball because of his height.
Herting said like a lot of the best point guards, Melvin excels at making good decisions with the ball.
“He’s big, strong and real efficient,” Herting said. “He makes a lot of the simple plays.”
Like several past Verot standouts, Melvin has hopes of continue playing in college. He’s currently receiving interest from schools the likes of Stetson, William & Mary and SMU.
Honorable mentions:
Fabian Fajardo, junior, Cape Coral soccer: Fajardo converted a penalty kick in a 3-1 victory over Estero and had an assist in a 1-0 win over Gateway last week.
Tyler Korytkowski, senior, Mariner soccer: Korytkowski scored three goals in the Tritons’ 6-0 win over Riverdale last week.