Isaac Schade interviews Alcorn State outfielder Brandon Rembert
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00:00Hello this is Isaac Shade for Sports Illustrated and Altar Heels. I am joined
00:06today by Alcorn State's baseball player Brandon Rembert. As you can see Brandon
00:11is functioning today with no electricity. They had a bad storm where he lives last
00:17night and so very graciously is still joining me today. So Brandon what's going
00:23on man? Nothing much man just just had the hurricane tonight last night so just
00:30a tough situation right now but yeah we're all fine we're all good so. That's
00:35great to hear I'm so glad you're doing okay I'm so grateful for your willingness
00:39to still join me. Where where was the hurricane where are you located? In
00:44Pensacola Florida so I think it made landfall in Gulf Shores but like we're
00:49on the east side of it so we so we really got the worst of it so yeah I'm
00:53in Pensacola right now. Okay is there has there been any damage to your house or
00:58to anything around you? No damage to my house but like my grandmother she lives
01:05across the street and her shed like a tree fell in her shed and like destroyed
01:09her shed but it's at least it wasn't her house so that I'm thankful for that. Yes
01:16well what a relief that you and your family are okay and and your structures
01:21are okay other than your grandma's shed. Yeah yeah. Man well I'm very grateful for
01:27you still being willing to do come on and talk with me even though you're
01:31doing it without electricity today I appreciate your perseverance that's
01:36great thank you. No problem. Well let's start off by just talking a little bit
01:41about who you are so who is Brandon Rembert? Where are you from? Tell me
01:45about your family any of those kind of things. Yeah I'm an outfielder at Alcorn
01:53State I'm originally from Pensacola Florida born and raised there. I have a
01:59family of seven well the seven kids and then there's two mom and dad so I guess
02:06a family of nine. I'm going into my second senior year since you know COVID
02:13kind of canceled the last year so I'm a I'm a senior get my master's right now
02:18and that's about it that's about it. So you're a super senior. Yeah super senior
02:27that's what they call it. That's awesome. So you're getting your master's this year what
02:31what are you doing your master's work in? It's athletic administration coaching
02:37and teaching that's what it's called yeah athletic administration coaching
02:41nice okay so you said that COVID canceled your first senior season just a
02:48little bit into it talk to me about that situation of what happened back in March
02:57yeah it was it was kind of crazy so we were we were getting ready to play
03:02Alabama State for like a weekend series and then our coach just we were about to
03:08get ready to leave and our coach just told all of us to just go home and I
03:12didn't know what was going on so we went home and then maybe a week after that
03:17they told us that the whole entire season was gonna get canceled so it was
03:21kind of crazy and we didn't know what was was really going on so yeah it was
03:28it was kind of a weird time so then after that we were just kind of sitting
03:33at home trying to see if we were gonna get our season back if we were not
03:38gonna get our season back if we were gonna pick up later in the summer maybe
03:43I don't know we really didn't know what was going on so it was it was kind of a
03:46lot of confusion going on with everybody including the coaches the coaches didn't
03:50know anything like the the people in the conference didn't know anything so it
03:54was it was just a weird time I don't think anybody you know has ever
03:57experienced something like that before with sports with collegiate sports at
04:01least so it was just it was a weird time it was a confusing time and I'm just
04:05glad that you know we were able to get our year back so that's good you talked
04:11to some about that emotion and some of the confusion what what was that season
04:16like emotionally of living in that uncertainty how were you processing that
04:25just take it day by day that's all that's all I could really do because no
04:31nobody knew like I didn't know like nobody knew anything so really just
04:35taking it day by day just trying to see if we could hear anything from anybody
04:40just taking a day by day and just live a moment and living in living in the
04:45present so that's all I could do let's focus on the present and not worry too
04:50much about the future because we didn't we really didn't know what was gonna
04:54happen well and but thankfully you've been able to persevere and see it
05:01through and as you said just a minute ago yeah the NCAA did indeed grant
05:07seniors who were spring athletes another year of eligibility and so what how did
05:14you find out about that and what was it like when you found out I think I found
05:23out probably through social media I think that was the first time because I
05:28know it's a like put out something about giving the the players back to
05:33eligibility so I think I heard on social media about that and I was really
05:37exciting I was really excited to to be able to get that year back because I
05:43really didn't want to end my senior season you know playing 12 games I think
05:47it was so I was really excited to get another opportunity to play in college
05:52again so it was just it was a relief you know it was definitely a relief
05:58that's great one thing that a lot of people don't think about is it's great
06:03in theory to be able to have these this extra year of eligibility but along with
06:08that comes a lot of financial burden for individuals for athletic departments of
06:14trying to figure out where the money comes from what the rosters look like so
06:19how has Alcorn State handled that with trying to figure out how to get you guys
06:24the money to be able to stick around I know they increase the roster size the
06:32NCAA did I think it's like we can carry 35 either 30 or 35 now so that was good
06:39and I think all the seniors we just got our same scholarships from last year I
06:44don't know how they did with everybody else but I know we all got our same
06:48scholarships for last year so it kind of worked out with that regard but I
06:52don't know how they they spread out the scholarships this year I didn't I didn't
06:56really know about that but yeah good good this is Isaac shade for Sports
07:05Illustrated I'm joined today by Brandon Rembert whose family experienced a
07:10hurricane last night on the Gulf Coast in Pensacola and so he's joining me
07:14today on zoom by flashlight and so Brandon thanks again so much for being
07:18with me you are a baseball player that has taken a kind of circuitous route to
07:25get to the d1 level talk to me about your progression as an athlete as a
07:31baseball player yeah so my my collegiate journey was was crazy kind of I feel
07:37like so I started off at Faulkner which is an NAIA school and then I was
07:43actually on the JV team at Faulkner I wasn't even on the varsity team I was on
07:47the JV team and then I transferred to this juco called coastal Alabama it's
07:54in it's in Bruton it's like it's about an hour away from Pensacola so I
07:59transferred there and then after that now I'm at Alcorn and then I have to
08:06play another year oh I guess my third year at Alcorn as a senior my second
08:11year being a senior at Alcorn so it's just it's been crazy I never I never
08:17kind of pictured that you know my college year was gonna be like this
08:21because you're gonna be like this but it was it's definitely fun you know being
08:26able to experience all of this so that I could tell my grandkids yeah that's so
08:33true what a wild ride it's been so how coming out of high school how did you
08:37decide on Faulkner the NAIA school yeah I just really liked the coaching there
08:45to be honest and I didn't really have a ton of offers but Faulkner was was a
08:52really pretty close school it was about two and a half hours away and that
08:57probably was my closest offer and yeah I like the coaching like the program was
09:02really good the facilities were good see I just I felt like that was a good place
09:07for me to go out of high school nice and you started off playing on the JV
09:12team there yeah the JV team did you move up to the varsity there at Faulkner or
09:18did you go straight from playing that JV team to the JUCO school in Alabama
09:21yeah I went straight from playing the JV team to JUCO I mean there they've got
09:28some really really good players though like don't don't get it wrong they
09:31they're very talented they get a lot of d1 transfers I know that year that I was
09:35there they had at least three people get drafted and that's not even the free
09:40agents that signed so and some of them were top ten rounds to top ten round
09:45drafting where they had a really solid program and they had a lot of d1 d1
09:51transfers so they they were pretty pretty solid but yeah I was I was on the
09:55JV team though so I mean we had a pretty decent pretty decent squad too so and so
10:01what precipitated the decision to move from Faulkner to your next school I just
10:07felt like that wasn't the place for me at the time I felt like in my heart that
10:11I was supposed to be somewhere bigger than that so I felt like it was good for
10:16me to transfer back to JUCO and weigh my options after that you know so I felt
10:22like that was just just the best thing for me at the time this is to go the
10:27JUCO route so nice and then what led from going there to Alcorn State I really
10:35liked the coaching I like coach Richardson who's a coach now I really
10:39liked him and I knew there they were losing a lot of outfielders so I knew I
10:43was gonna have a chance to come in and compete for a starting position
10:47immediately and I like the kind of the family culture there so I just felt like
10:52I was the right place for me I really felt in my heart that was the right
10:55place for me I felt like I was gonna have a chance early to contribute so I
11:01think that was just the best decision. Brandon what what was it that allowed
11:08you to progress from playing on the JV team at an NAIA school up to being a D1
11:14baseball player how did that happen? Yeah I feel like it was a lot that that went
11:19into it I feel like I I just got better you know skill wise I really progressed
11:25with my skills I really got stronger you know I really just started to I don't
11:33know how to say it I just I just got better honestly you know yeah and I you
11:39know I was younger coming into college I was like I was 17 coming into college so
11:44I feel like my age you know getting older had something to do with it too I
11:49started to come into my body kind of just got stronger and got wiser my
11:54baseball IQ you know just increased I feel like I always had the skill and the
11:59talent but I feel like you know going to my junior year I feel like it all
12:03started to come together yeah all the hard work started paying off I just feel
12:09like I just got better honestly I just got better focused on what I need what I
12:15needed to focus on and and just really really progressed. That's good so did you
12:22have to reach out to Alcorn or did you because you were playing well did people
12:26start coming to you how did that go? So actually in high school they they
12:34recruited me so then after that I just kept in touch with them and then they
12:39just decided to offer me again my junior year so that's how that all kind of
12:46played off so. Good that's awesome and so your first year at Alcorn State you
12:53you did really well you had a great year and then were poised to do the same
12:58again last year but like you said there were only 12 games so I know coming into
13:05this super senior year your last year you've got some big-time aspirations for
13:11yourself what are they? As a team I feel like my championship definitely a
13:22conference championship but for myself I have some big aspirations I feel like I
13:27could be player of the year that's one of my big goals just to be to be
13:32conference player of the year and and to put myself in a position to be picked up
13:35for the draft those are really my I guess my three big main goals so the
13:40conference championship so I play the year and get drafted. Very good so as you
13:49think about the idea of getting drafted what have you heard from Scouts about
13:54what you need to do to improve your draft stock?
14:03Really just to hit for more power especially if I want to play a corner
14:08position like in the pros I need to hit for more power I feel like I have power
14:14but I need more more over-the-fence power you know I need to put a really
14:18good power number and speed I feel like my speed has to get a little better I'm
14:23not I'm not slow at all but I feel like being able to steal more bases is gonna
14:30help my stock kind of go up a little bit so really those two things speed and
14:34power especially at the other corner position and if I were to play center
14:39field and power wouldn't be you know such you know what I need but I think at
14:46the corner position I need to hit for more power definitely. So Brandon as you
14:51work on growing your speed and your power obviously there's this balance you
14:56have to strike where you don't bulk up so much that you're not quick but you
15:01still need to be strong so how do you balance that middle ground between
15:05strength and power and quickness? Yeah gotcha yeah it's it's it's kind of tough
15:14sometimes because you want to you want to be able to be strong and let's still
15:20be flexible and be able to move well so you just kind of have to find that
15:23balance with training so right now I'm not lifting as heavy as I used to so
15:33kind of I'm still keeping my strength but I'm not too bulky I'm keep my
15:39mobility so just trying to try to find that that in between that balance. Nice
15:48that's good. Well you talked about some big aspirations both for you as an
15:55individual and for your team this year and with that with those aspirations
16:00come a lot of expectations so how do you anticipate managing all that? You know
16:09it's tough sometimes you know I put a lot on myself but I feel like the work
16:16that I put in you know will kind of speak for itself and in in working hard
16:21it helps me not to be to be nervous because I know that I put in the work
16:25and I've practiced it so many times so like in game situations I know I could
16:31you know do well you know because I put myself in the best position so yeah I
16:37like the expectations can be hard sometimes but I like it it fuels me a
16:44little bit so I like I like to live up to them. And I imagine part of these
16:52expectations are going to put you in a leadership role on your team and so I
16:57was curious what does it mean to you to be a leader amongst your peers? Really to
17:02hold everybody accountable you know and including myself you know I try to lead
17:07you know by example so I always have to be doing the right things at the right
17:13time you know so just just doing doing the right things and holding myself and
17:18others accountable I feel like that's the best way for me because I'm not
17:22really a big vocal guy but I am kind of a lead by example do the right thing
17:27kind of guy you know especially with the the younger guys coming in the freshman
17:32you know they're gonna kind of look up to us you know to me as a fifth year
17:37senior to to kind of show them the ropes and you know and doing the right thing
17:42on and off the field in the classroom in the weight room so kind of leading by
17:47example I feel like for me. Great man that's good yeah set the tone and do it
17:54yeah so I want to shift gears a little bit here to talk just some about what's
18:01going on in our world while you and I know that conversations about race are
18:09something of a hot topic right now in reality that's something that is always
18:13facing our country and our world and so I'm curious to you as a black man living
18:20in America how are you processing through everything that's going on right
18:24now? Yeah it's definitely tough you know being a black man in America right now
18:30you know these things have been going on for for a long time so but yeah but
18:36being a baseball player and being black it's definitely different because we're
18:41the minority in the sport but I feel like being on the team you know we don't
18:47see color in baseball I feel like I haven't met any racist baseball players
18:52we were all brothers on the field so I feel like if we could do that but as a
18:58country I feel like we'd be good you know just just treat all each other the
19:03same just love each other because that's what we do on the team you know we have
19:07we have a lot of different you know races on our team and I feel like we
19:11just treat each other the same we don't we don't see our color we just love each
19:15other because we're brothers you know we're we're all fighting for one common
19:19goal so I feel like if we could come together like that in America I feel
19:24like we're gonna make some some huge strides you know we've been making some
19:27strides but we still I feel like we have a long way to go and I feel like if we
19:32just love one another you know treat everybody you know the way they should
19:36be treated and not see them as less than you know I feel like we we would be okay
19:41if we do that but you know we're we're trying to work on that you know in
19:45America so I think I think yeah I think Americans could take a lot from from
19:52athletes you know people on the team because we're all there's all these
19:57different races on one team and we're all for one thing you know and that's
20:05great I love that Brandon of where can we find unity working well in our
20:09country and how do we grow that to the general population and so do you have
20:16any ideas on like what could we do to take what you're experiencing within
20:20your baseball team or other people are and how do we translate that to the rest
20:25of the country that's a tough one I feel like people need to put
20:34themselves in other people's shoes I feel like I feel like we're scared about
20:39what we don't know so I feel like people should go and get to know these people
20:45and of different races and different communities and really like genuinely
20:50get to know them and see what they experience I feel like that will would
20:56help a lot because you know as a team we're in each other's lives every day so
20:59we really get to know like each everybody personally and I feel like that
21:05that makes us closer I feel like so if we if we do that in America like maybe
21:10one or two people just really get to know you know them as a person you know
21:15I feel like that that will help a lot getting to know somebody and and putting
21:20yourself in their shoes and I feel like that would help a lot thank you yeah
21:28injecting humanity into it is a big deal yeah definitely well another thing that
21:35we see going on as part of some of this is and I'll call it an HBCU revolution
21:43and you sir play at an HBCU a historically black college or
21:48university and so what are you experiencing as an athlete at an HBCU
21:54college or what are you seeing around the country with that yeah it's kind of
21:58crazy you know more you know athletes are going the HBCU route which I don't
22:05have a problem with I'm a fan of it you know we we even had we had some guys we
22:10had a guy from Vandy football wise he had a guy from Vandy he's transferring
22:15over to our school and maybe another maybe a couple other guys from bigger
22:20schools but yeah I'm a fan you know I honestly like it it's something
22:26different it's definitely something different so we're gonna see see you
22:30know if they could start that revolution for HBCUs you know so I'm gonna sit back
22:35and watch and see what happens here you go definitely interesting to see well
22:43Brandon what what if anything are you hearing at this point about I know it's
22:47so hard to project anything out past you as you said you're just living day to
22:52day but what are you hearing about how COVID-19 will impact the upcoming
22:57baseball season right now we're good to go that's what our coach told us in our
23:04meeting last week we we should be good to go I know we got some teams on the
23:09schedule already I know we're gonna start off I think somewhere in New
23:12Orleans and then I know we're I think Ole Miss is is probably on the schedule
23:17again that's the only teams that I really know that we probably will play
23:20but yeah I think I think we should be good if football plays I think we should
23:27be able to play yes actually while we've been having this interview the Big Ten
23:33came out and said that they are going to play football this year oh unanimous
23:37vote starting they're gonna start October 23rd and 24th it looks like so
23:42yeah it seems like you know breaking news here while we're doing our
23:46interview but yeah it seems like things are progressing in a good direction now
23:51for you personally you had been at home to start the semester you moved in to
23:56campus and now you're back at home what what was that progression yes so the
24:02first three weeks of school were online and then we moved in and then we had a
24:09team meeting and they're stating that we can't practice till October 15th I
24:14think but we start conditioning the 28th so right now I'm just at home just doing
24:20online classes and then I'll go back up there probably 27 28 so we can start
24:27our conditioning and our weightlifting and then we'll start practice October
24:3115th so right now all of my classes are online so I'm just doing doing online
24:38school I feel like it's better so I don't have to you know risk that chance
24:42of getting the virus you know for in class yeah that is one benefit to being
24:48at home for sure that's good this is Isaac shade for
24:53Sports Illustrated I'm joined today by Brandon Rembert who plays baseball at
24:57Alcorn State we're just talking about everything going on in the world right
25:01now and and Brandon's progression as a baseball player Brandon thank you so
25:05much for your time I know you've given me some great time I've got just a couple
25:09more questions for you and then I'll let you go you've talked to me about your
25:14faith and how important that is to you would you tell me some about just how
25:19that is part of your life and what it means to you to be a man of faith
25:28yeah I've been a man of faith for basically my entire life I grew up in
25:34faith and I feel like it's helped me with so much you know being being a man
25:40of faith I feel like I wouldn't be in the position that I am you know without
25:46my faith so yeah I've met so many great people through my let's meet with so
25:52much and yeah my faith is definitely it definitely plays a big role you know in
26:00my life especially on the field I wouldn't I feel like I wouldn't perform
26:05as well without my faith you know it helps me to be calm and it gives me
26:10strength I feel like so Brandon I just have one more question recently you said
26:17to me I hope my story can encourage and give hope to people so my question for
26:24you is why is that important to you and and what does that mean to you I feel
26:34like I was always an underdog you know I went from NAIAJV to division one
26:41baseball player so I've went from the lowest to probably you know the highest
26:46level of baseball and I feel like you know that that story could encourage
26:51people to let them know that they could do it too I feel like and I'm not the
26:56biggest person either I'm like 5'9 185 I'm not the biggest person either and I
27:02feel like you know height you know doesn't matter well I feel like skill
27:09and your heart heart matters you know if you want something I feel like you could
27:14get it I feel like anything's attainable and I feel like I'm a living
27:18you know witness of that I feel like you know this this can really inspire people
27:22because I went from the bottom to the top being you know my size you know so
27:28when I was younger I always used to look for stories like that you know people
27:31with my height you know making it big that's why I like Mookie Best you know
27:37he's my my size my height it's not not that big and he's you know making 300
27:43million dollars so I feel like yeah I want I want somebody to hear this
27:48because they can do it too they could they could be the next Mookie Beds or
27:52they could be in the situation that I'm in right now.
27:55Well Brandon I'm so thankful for your time today I know with your hurricane
28:00and the storms and everything last night I know it's a crazy time for you and
28:05your family and your teammates just trying to figure out life and so man I'm
28:10grateful for your willingness to join me even when you don't have electricity
28:13we're just doing this interview over cell service and with the use of a
28:18flashlight and so I'm really grateful for your time and dedication to making
28:23it work. No problem thank you for having me I really appreciate this. Absolutely
28:31it's an honor and a pleasure to get to chat with you man. Yeah thank you. That's
28:36good. So this has been Isaac Shade for Sports Illustrated I've been joined
28:41today by Alcorn State senior outfielder Brandon Rembert.