Francis Marion University senior men’s basketball player Detrek Browning was honored at the university’s 48th-annual Athletic Awards Gala on Monday by having his No.2 jersey retired.
The Irmo graduate becomes only the fourth student-athlete in the 48-year history of the Patriot athletic program to have his/her jersey retired, joining baseball player Kenneth R. Roth Jr. (#14) in 1977, women’s basketball player Pearl Moore (#12) in 1979, and men’s basketball player Robert Moore (#40) in 1981.
The announcement was made by FMU head coach Gary Edwards and the jersey was presented by university president Dr. Fred Carter and athletic director Murray Hartzler.
Only the university president can retire a jersey, and in the case of Browning, it came after extensive discussion between Dr. Carter and Hartzler, and it took into account not just what Browning accomplished this past season, but what he accomplished over the course of his four years.
Browning also received the men’s basketball most valuable player award for the third consecutive year during the awards ceremony.
The Columbia native was named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year for 2017-18 and garnered All-American honors after leading the Peach Belt and ranking fourth nationally in NCAA Division II in scoring at 24.6 points per game. Browning, who scored in double figures a school-record 56 consecutive games, helped direct Francis Marion to a 20-win season and the program’s second-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
As a Patriot, he established a new scoring record for both FMU and the Peach Belt Conference with 2,356 points. He surpassed the old FMU career scoring mark by 493 points, improving on the old record by more than 26 percent.
He also finished his playing career second on the FMU all-time list for steals with 245, second in assists with 408, and 15th in rebounding with 539. He also now holds the Patriots career marks for minutes played (4054), highest scoring average (20.5), field goals made (824) and attempted (1650), three-pointers made (292) and attempted (723), games scoring in double figures (111), and 30-point games (9).
Despite his large volume of shots, as a guard he still shot 49.9 percent from the floor, 40.4 percent from three-point range, and 82.7 percent from the free throw line.