Jason Brownlee has already played at Southern Mississippi’s M.M. Roberts Stadium.
In high school, Brownlee lived out a life dream as he led the West Point Green Wave to a state championship on the Golden Eagles’ home field. Just by playing in that atmosphere, the wide receiver remembers Southern Miss standing out to him in his collegiate recruitment.
“It felt good because the lights were on and all the fans were there, you could just feel the atmosphere,” Brownlee said in a media availability last week. “You just knew this was a place you wanted to be at … “It’s been great since I’ve been here. It’s like a family here and I love it.”
As a prospect, hype surrounding Brownlee has always been there, even going back to his sophomore season at East Mississippi Community College. A three-star recruit, 247 Sports ranked Brownlee as the 26th-best receiving prospect in the nation for the class of 2020. Brownlee has often been lauded for his speed, with his previous head coach estimating the wideout would have played at the Power Five level.
“With Brownlee, he understands the game more this year and yes, he’s an SEC guy without a doubt,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said before the start of the 2019 season. “It’s just going to depend on if he has a good year, where he’ll land and how many SEC offers he’s going to have.”
Brownlee didn’t transfer to an SEC school, but still could have a big impact on Southern Miss with two years of eligibility remaining.
In 2019, Brownlee was one of 12 West Point players on EMCC’s roster and delivered a breakthrough season. The 6-foot-3 receiver led the Lions in all receiving categories with 75 catches for 1,055 yards while catching 12 touchdowns as a sophomore.
After spending two years at a JUCO, Brownlee said he knows he needs to take his game to the next level.
“It’s a big difference,” Brownlee said of going from EMCC to USM. “Everything is just different. You have to work harder and bring your A-game. It’s a different level because here, everyone wants your spot. You’re fighting for a spot every day. You don’t know if you’re going to be a starter or not so you have to go hard every day. There’s a lot of competition here.”
USM head coach Jay Hopson called Brownlee a fall camp standout earlier this month, and plans to utilize the former Green Wave standout as an outside receiver.
“They have me playing H and W, that’s the two outside receiver positions,” Brownlee said. “They have me playing both sides so I can know both of them. I think it’s good that I can play either one of them.
“As far as the offense goes, I like what they have planned. They’re going to throw it, but we’re going to pound the ball some this year too. We’re going to run through defenses.”
Brownlee said he’s started developing a relationship with starting quarterback Jack Abraham, who threw for nearly 3,500 yards a season ago.
“After practice, we constantly get reps in and get that chemistry down pact,” Brownlee said.
Southern Miss is scheduled to open its season against South Alabama on Sept. 3 in Hattiesburg.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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