Alcorn State's Brandon Rembert has risen to become one of the premier baseball players in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.  Rembert, who hails from Pensacola, Florida, is in his 3rd year at Division 1 HBCU Alcorn State University and his 5th year of college.  He returned to Alcorn State for his 5th year due to the cancellation of his spring season in 2020 because of COVID-19.  The NCAA granted baseball players another year back whose seasons were cut short.  The 2020 Pre-Season All-SWAC 1st-Team selection is now known as one of the top hitters and players in the entire conference.  The right fielder's offensive prowess and success at the plate have made him one of the most feared hitters in the SWAC. Even though he is now recognized as one the conference's top players,  the road that Brandon Rembert took to get to that position has been nothing but ordinary.

Rembert who stands at 5'9 and weighs 185 has always been an undersized player compared to others in the sport.  He states, "I've never been the biggest guy on the field at all, so I've always had to find other ways to stand out as a player.  Over the years, I've tried to develop my tools since my frame wasn't always the biggest." Rembert attended high school at Booker T. Washington, where he was a 3 year letter winner in baseball. Rembert was not a highly recruited player out of Washington High. He states, "Coming in to my senior year I had zero offers, which was a bit discouraging.  Many seniors had already signed by the time I started to garner interest from schools.  I was very late in the recruiting process and didn't have a ton of interest from schools."  After his senior season in high school, he then committed to NAIA Faulkner University who has hoisted many talented baseball players over the years. He states, "I didn't have a ton of offers, so I felt like Faulkner University was the best choice for me. I knew that they had a very good program and it was also close to home being in Montgomery, Alabama.  It was also a Christian school which I liked since I am of the Christian faith.  I just felt like that was the right choice for me at the time."

Rembert was very excited to sign with Faulkner University, but was given discouraging news from the coach there. Brandon Rembert would be a member of the JV team.  He states, "The coach called and told me that I would be on the JV team my first year.  I was a little down about being put on the JV team and it was a confidence killer for sure.  Being on there did light a fire under me to prove that I did not belong on the junior varsity team." Rembert arrived in the fall with hopes of moving up to the varsity in the spring. He states," I felt like I had a pretty decent fall and I knew the coaches liked my speed.  I thought I had a chance to move up to the varsity squad."  Even though he had hopes of being placed on the varsity squad, Rembert was forced to play on the JV squad for his entire freshman season. After his freshman campaign went by, he thought about making the decision to transfer schools.

He states, " I thought long and hard about if I should transfer to another program.  I just really felt that there was something bigger for me out there in the future than playing for a NAIA JV team, so I took a leap of faith and decided to transfer programs."  He then decided to transfer to Coastal Alabama Community College in Brewton, Alabama.  They compete in the Alabama Community College Conference. He states," That school was really one of my only choices.  I was very fortunate and blessed to receive an opportunity to play there.  It was really close to home, being about an hour away.  I just felt like going to a JUCO would help me really get better and hone in on my skills there."  Rembert was faced with another challenge when he arrived to school there.  He found out that in his first fall there that he had partially torn his UCL in his elbow. He states, "The injury had happened in the summer, but I didn't think anything of it.  When I first arrived to Coastal Alabama, I wasn't even able to throw.  It was tough because I wanted to win a starting spot there right away."  Rembert then had to decide if he wanted a PRP injection or the infamous Tommy John Surgery to repair the injury.

He chose to go with the PRP injection route. PRP stands for "platelet rich plasma." He states, "With the PRP injection, they just inject my centrifuged blood back in my arm to help heal it.  The recovery time was much quicker for that than it would be Tommy John Surgery. I knew I was going to be ready to play by the spring season with the injection."  Rembert returned in the spring of his sophomore season putting up decent numbers.  He hoisted a .274 batting average with 10 RBIs in 38 games played.  He also committed only 1 error in the field that year.  After his sophomore campaign, Rembert then signed to Division 1 Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi.  He states, "I just felt like that was the best decision for me. I felt like I had an opportunity to play early at the Division 1 level."  Rembert did not only start for the Braves his first season, but lead the team in many offensive categories in his junior campaign. He burst onto the scene at Alcorn to lead the team in batting average and on base percentage.  His .345 batting average and eye-popping .462 on base percentage were 8th in and 5th in the conference respectively.

When asked about what changed for him that year Rembert states," Everything just kind of clicked for me when I arrived at Alcorn.  I feel like the potential and tools have always been there for me, but I felt like it all came together that year.  My confidence grew a ton."  Rembert was a nightmare for pitchers that year and was a hard out to get.  He only struck out 14 times in 41 games respectively. After a pretty solid junior campaign, Rembert was met with multiple accolades prior to his 2020 season.  He was named a Perfect Game Pre-Season All-Conference selection and was named a SWAC Top Player to Watch by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper to name a few. Rembert also started to garner attention for the MLB Draft in 2020 as well.  He was named by Black College Nines as an HBCU Player to Watch for the MLB Draft in 2020, even though he was not selected. "I was starting to garner some attention coming off of my 2019 season.  It put some pressure and expectations on me.  I was honestly grateful for it though because I never thought I would end up in this position after playing on NAIA JV team.  It was just really humbling to think of where I came from."

Rembert hopes he can inspire others through his journey he took. "I have always been an underdog.  I was never the biggest, but I kept believing and having faith.  I went from playing at one of the lowest levels of baseball to playing at one of the highest levels and am now in a position to be potentially drafted in this upcoming draft.  I feel like if you want to do something you can do it if you believe, have faith, and work hard.  I honestly feel like anything is achievable if you believe."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 15, 2020 08:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).