To the untrained eye, freshman Brandon Lincoln’s transition from high school basketball to college ball may look effortless.
Well?
“It wasn’t that easy,” Lincoln stressed. “Things are getting better.”
The Portland native has seen an ample amount of playing time this season as a first-year player. Looks can be deceiving, however. Lincoln is getting accustomed to a faster, harder level of play, and that’s proven most difficult for the versatile guard. More demanding, even, than adjusting to a new city, new friends and new classes.
“My focus (in high school) was hoops,” Lincoln said. “My parents made me keep my focus on school and I think that helped me to come in here.”
All of Lincoln’s immediate family — his two brothers, Edward and Darren, and his parents, Eddie and Sharon — have kept a similar focus. Eddie majored in marketing at the University of Portland and Sharon majored in accounting at Portland State University. Darren graduated from Willamette University and Edward is taking classes at Portland Community College.
“The way my parents raised me, they honestly figured I could handle my business myself,” Lincoln said. “They really raised me well.”
So it isn’t surprising that the youngest Lincoln stayed in Oregon, nor is it astonishing that he is debating a business administration or sports marketing major.
 
Nineteen-year-old Brandon Lincoln chose to remain in-state rather than play ball at the University of Missouri. For four years Lincoln made his way up the ranks at Jefferson High School, and last year it was his playground.
“High school was fun,” he said. “I had a lot of friends. We all just pretty much ran around, played basketball.”
Lincoln can quickly rattle off the names of his high school friends and where they ended up going to college. Lincoln also played along side Jefferson graduates Brandon Brooks of USC and the University of Kansas’ Aaron Miles and Michael Lee. It’s a basketball mecca, but it’s far from the most prestigious school in Portland. Unfortunately, Lincoln said, some people look at the bad without taking in the good.
“It’s only what you make of it,” he said. “There’s some people that go there that, you know, don’t go to class and do things like that. But (some people) really don’t take time to see the positive things. We have people that get scholarships to Stanford and are getting scholarships to go everywhere. Those people don’t ever get highlighted.”
School wasn’t the most fun, Lincoln admitted, but it’s gotten him to where he is today.
“Class was class,” he said. “I was just going in, trying to get my work done.”
That work consisted of getting good grades and scoring well on the SAT — the requirements that would land him a Division I scholarship. Doing what needed to be done was an easy task for Lincoln, but his parents made sure it was that way.
“My parents gave a little bit at a time,” he said. “They didn’t just let (me and my brothers) run free. They pretty much made sure we had our heads on straight. As we got older, they let us do more as we displayed our responsibility.”
 
Nowadays, most of Lincoln’s closest friends are the guys on his team. He rooms with freshman Adam Zahn in H.P. Barnhart, and Lincoln likes his surroundings.
“We’ve got a nice little set-up,” he said. “We just chill out and listen to music most of the time. We’re really like music junkies, so we always sit back and find a new CD — find a CD we haven’t heard in a while.”
For those who watch Lincoln on the court, most know he’s multifaceted. He describes his personality the same way.
“Half-goofy, half-calm,” he said of himself.
Sometimes, he’s laying back, taking things in. Other times, he’s up dancing, making people laugh. And on occasion, he’s laying back, giving interviews — and still making others chuckle.
“Brandon Lincoln, you’ve got to get (your hair) cut, ’cause it’s terrible,” teammate James Davis joked.
But, apparently, the transition from high school girls to college women has been easier than his on-the-court move. It seems Lincoln doesn’t need a trim to help out his love life.
“You got a Valentine, Brandon?” another teammate asked.
“Yeah,” Lincoln said with a smile.
“What’s her name?”
Well?
“I’ll tell you in a minute.”