When Southern Utah University junior Cade Brazier joined the Thunderbird family as a transfer student, he didn’t expect to find such a deep connection with Cedar City. Brazier recently earned a walk-on spot with the men’s basketball team at the end of December, but his pursuit of sport has required substantial sacrifice and effort. Attending SUU, though, helps him feel closer to his best friend and younger brother Treven, who passed away at the beginning of 2023.
Brazier’s story of overcoming adversity, however, goes all the way back to his time as a pre-teenager.
Early basketball career
At the age of 12, he moved in with his mother and step-father, who lived in Castle Dale, Utah. They were unable to help him pay to pursue basketball. “It was kind of like, if you want to pursue extracurricular activities, it is going to have to come out of your own time and pay,” Brazier explained. He was unable to play on any travel teams due to finances, so he resorted to participation in Junior Jazz.
When Brazier was 14, he got into some trouble with the law.
“I got a $3,200 fine, almost got sent to a juvenile detention center for this problem that I had,” said Brazier. It was impossible for him to pay for both sports and the fine — in addition to clothes. Three years after the incident, he was able to fully pay off the fine.
Just as his senior basketball season began, an injury forced him to miss time. “I got stress fractures from training too hard the summer prior, and so I was in a wheelchair for two and a half months, crutches for two weeks after trying to get back,” recalled Brazier. He ended up missing half of his senior season of basketball.
“[I] still came back early, even though the physical therapist was like, ‘No, you probably shouldn’t.’ I still played because I wanted to get a ring,” Brazier said. Unfortunately, his high school took third place in state that season, so while he got to play again, he didn’t get his ring.
He lost more than just play time and a shot at the state championship. “After I got hurt, colleges quit talking to me. They didn’t want anything to do with me,” said Brazier.
Although Brazier wasn’t physically healthy and was struggling mentally, he decided he was going to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was hard for Brazier because others from his hometown judged him for the troubles of his youth.
“I was very depressed and just felt anxious going out. I just decided to serve a mission anyways, just to give it a shot,” said Brazier. He was called to Huancayo, Peru, where he stayed for three months. After that period, he decided to come home since he was put in a spot where he had to confront the hard emotions that he was struggling with. “I had to open up about [the] things that I was dealing with that I had kept bottled up all my life,” he added.
On the plane ride back from Peru, Brazier took a moment to consider his life. “There’s a lot of stuff in my life that I do not like right now. I do not like waking up every day. I feel hopeless waking up every day. I need to change things,” he recalled thinking. Brazier began therapy and started working to improve his emotional and physical health.
SLCC years
Brazier decided that he wanted to continue playing basketball. “I would wake up, get in the basketball gym, go and lift weights. At night, I’d get in the gym again,” said Brazier. “I was doing three to four workouts a day minimum.” He even went to a showcase in Salt Lake City, where he played the best basketball of his life.
He got some out-of-state junior college offers, but Brazier felt that he needed to stay in-state to be with his family. Fortunately, he was able to earn a walk-on spot at SLCC.
Of the eight participating in his first season, Brazier was the only walk-on invited back for another year.
“After SLCC, I just had a walk-on offer to Weber State University, and I was talking to Utah Valley University,” noted Brazier. However, he passed on both of those opportunities.
The loss of younger brother T-Ball
Brazier’s younger brother Treven, nicknamed “T-Ball,” was an exceptional track and field athlete in high school. He received an athletic scholarship from SUU, his dream school.
T-Ball struggled mightily with mental health, so Brazier wanted to continue to be close to him. After a significant change in T-Ball’s well-being while Brazier was at SLCC, he and his then fiance, Abby, decided that SUU was where they needed to be.
Brazier spent a significant amount of time with T-Ball. “That’s when we really grew into being close, and [he was] one of my best friends,” he said. Brazier was impressed by SUU’s positive influence on T-Ball; in fact, during his first semester, he had a 3.6 GPA. “I was so proud of him and thought it was a miracle how fast he seemed to be recovering mentally.”
On New Year’s Eve, 2022, T-Ball’s birthday, his family threw a party for him. “It was fun; he seemed totally fine, just enjoying the night,” Brazier remembered. “We stayed up until like 3 a.m. talking, just me and him, and I gave him a hug goodbye.”
On New Year’s Day, T-Ball took his own life.
“That’s why I came to SUU — to be with Treven, even though I had no desire to come to SUU outside of that. Looking back, even though it didn’t seem like it was working out at that time, it worked out just how it was supposed to because I got to spend that time with him and grow as brothers with him and as best friends with him.”
Up until around a month ago, Brazier still felt extremely numb and couldn’t stop thinking about him. Then, he had a personal experience that changed his perception. “It just clarified everything for me,” he shared. “I know he’s here with me, here with all of us, and he’s watching over me throughout everything.”
Back with the team
Brazier participated with the men’s basketball team in the summer of 2023. He played pick-up almost every day and lifted weights with them. On top of that, he was working full-time at The Home Depot to provide for himself and his wife.
During that time, Brazier got into contact with one of the assistant coaches for the men’s basketball team. “They invited me to an open gym; from then on, I was with them through the entire summer.” A week before the fall semester started, on Brazier’s birthday, SUU men’s basketball head coach Rob Jeter told Brazier there weren’t enough roster spots and that he was not on the team anymore.
Brazier was discouraged but knew that it was happening for a reason. “Maybe I was relying on basketball too much to be an outlet for me for dealing with sadness,” Brazier mused. He used the time to focus on going to therapy and building an even stronger bond with Abby.
On a random night in late December, Brazier received a call from Jeter. He recalled, “Coach Jeter said, ‘Hey, a roster spot opened up; are you still interested in playing?’ I said, Let me talk to my wife first.’” Brazier talked to Abby, and they were on the same page: he was back on the team.
It wasn’t smooth sailing at first. During his second practice, Brazier suffered a gnarly sprained ankle. “[It was] heartbreaking, but rehab [finished] in four weeks, and in three weeks, I was back on the court,” Brazier said.
On Feb. 2, Brazier got his first-ever minutes, coming against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He also made an appearance against Grand Canyon University on Feb. 10.
Day in the life
Brazier spends almost every waking moment actively engaged in something. “I usually get up [at] 5:30, [eat], breakfast, stretch and study.” He is then in the America First Event Center by 7 a.m., getting warmed up, taped and an individual on-the-court workout in. This is all before starting team practice, which spans from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“I have a break in between where I eat lunch. Then, I have class at noon that goes until 2, then weights from 2-3 [and] class after until 5:45,” Brazier explained. He then gets a little break from the world, getting to spend time with Abby while they make and eat dinner. He’s then usually doing homework until lights out.
With so much going on in his life, Brazier can’t do it all alone. He noted that Abby’s support has made a world of difference. “Right from the jump, I met her when I was playing basketball at Salt Lake City Community College, and she has been supportive ever since. She never missed a game, and she was right there helping me in the gym [by] rebounding, pushing me,” he said. “She just makes me want to be great because I see how hard she works on herself and other things. I don’t think I would ever be on SUU’s basketball team or where I’m at mentally if it wasn’t for her.”
Fortunately, Brazier will complete his undergraduate studies with a bachelor’s in finance this spring. He is set to complete the Master of Business Administration program in the spring of 2025, and he plans to continue pursuing basketball, planning to once again walk on next season.
Treven Brazier basketball tournament
Brazier, along with one of T-Ball’s friends from high school, decided to host a 3v3 basketball tournament over the 2023 winter break in his brother’s honor to raise awareness for mental health. All of the proceeds were donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“It went really good. We had a total of 24 teams. In total, we raised $5,200,” Brazier said. “The community loved and seemed to respond well to it.”
Brazier plans on hosting it again at the end of this year, though money raised this time will be for a scholarship in T-Ball’s name that will go to an Emery High student coming to SUU.
“Hopefully we can encourage students at Emery High School to go to college and to come to such a great university,” said Brazier. “It took me a while to get used to it here, but now I love it.”
Author: Brig Pyfer
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Kale Nelson
eic@suunews.net
This article was originally published in the Spring 2024 edition of the University Journal.
