ROGERSVILLE — Chase Branham returned to a hero’s welcome on Friday, Sept. 25.
Alongside his Logan-Rogersville basketball teammates, the Wildcats received their state championship rings at halftime of the football game.
Rogersville’s entire stands rose and applauded the team that won the school’s first state title since 1982. During the team’s state tournament run, the school and community were buzzing. Branham felt the same feelings when receiving the title ring.
“The energy around the school was different,” Branham told the News-Leader. “People weren’t really expecting us to have a real chance necessarily. After TOC, morale was up. It gave us confidence and we knew from day one that it was our mission.”
the best running backs in Missouri
Branham was the Wildcats' star player in the team’s title run. Instead of returning for one final season, the senior opted to join La Lumiere School in Northwest Indiana.
La Lumiere is known as one of the nation's powerhouse high school basketball programs. Branham saw it as an opportunity to improve his basketball skills while pushing himself out of his comfort zone.
“The main thing for me was to progress to get better,” Branham said. “I want to continue to build my game. It was the best thing for me going forward and my goals. Not saying, I wouldn’t have here, but I wanted to test myself and do something different.”
Since moving to La Lumiere, Branham has endured the normal things young people go through when living on their own.
“We have chores every week,” Branham smiled. “The biggest shock for me when I started off was the amount of kids from out of the country. Being able to connect with them has been really cool, comparing cultures and different languages, is stuff that I’ve never really been around.”
Branham and La Lumiere will play a nationally recognized schedule. They will face some of the best teams in the nation, like Oak Hill Academy and Montverde Academy. Not only is Branham practicing against fellow Division I players, but he will also face future college stars in games.
This was another big reason why he joined La Lumiere. He wanted to be ready for college basketball when he joins Indiana next year.
“I’ve had limited amounts of struggles. The change that I’m going to have at Indiana is I’m going to go against 7-footers and dudes that are more athletic,” Branham said. “I want to use my shooting ability and IQ and try to build upon those things. The best way to do that was to play a college schedule.”
Last year, Branham committed to Indiana and it was an easy pick to join head coach Darian DeVries. He felt comfortable and at home in Bloomington during his visit. After one year with La Lumiere, Branham will be even more comfortable when his number is called during Big Ten play.
“Coach DeVries is a super cool dude. It’s kind of the same situation as La Lumiere, he wants you to shoot the ball,” Branham said.
Branham will be pushing himself to new heights this winter. He shared that he will always be keeping tabs on Rogersville’s squad.
No matter what happens in the future, Branham and Rogersville made history last spring as state champions.
Liam Keating covers high school sports and Missouri State athletics for The Springfield News-Leader. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: How Logan-Rogersville's Chase Branham is enjoying life at La Lumiere basketball
