Hill Airman competes for spot on AF men’s basketball team

  • Published
  • By Paul Holcomb
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  A Team Hill Airman has been selected to try out for the All-Air Force Men's Basketball Team during trials Oct. 15-30 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

Airman 1st Class Qadry Brown, 75th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, was notified recently of his selection.

“I was in shock when I first found out,” he said. “I expect to gain a lot of valuable experience.”

Brown, a Los Angeles Lakers fan, grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and began playing competitive basketball at age 10.

“I was just a tall, skinny kid who had no idea what he was doing,” he said, “but somehow, I fell in love with the game. I started to practice many hours each day and eventually became what I like to call a ‘complete player.’”

As a youth, Brown’s love of the game helped him and his teammates produce two Amateur Athletic Union championships.

“My best times on the court were during my senior year in high school,” he said. “I still miss the camaraderie. Everyone on the team was like family and we always had a good time playing together.”

Brown, who is a 6’2” point guard, averaged more than 21 points per game during intramurals here last season.

“As a member of the 75th Medical Group team, I had a really good season during last year’s intramurals,” he said. “I also train and play almost every day of the week.”

Brown joined the Air Force to serve others and to build a career for himself.

“I currently have my application submitted to the U.S. Air Force Academy through the LEAD (Leaders Encouraging Airmen Development) Program and hope to be accepted so that I can further my career and reach my goal of becoming an Air Force officer,” he said.

Brown credits Mo Uhlhorn and the Warrior Fitness Center staff, his supervisor, Staff Sgt. Ismael Cabrera, 75th Medical Support Squadron, and the friends he’s made at Hill AFB for believing in him and his abilities.

"A1C Brown is dedicated, optimistic, trustworthy and humble. He’s a hard-working individual who has set clear and achievable goals, which puts him ahead of most of his peers," said Cabrera.

If selected for the team, Brown will have the opportunity to represent the Air Force at the DOD level during the 2016 Armed Forces Championship at MCB Quantico, Virginia, Oct. 31-Nov. 8.