Brother’s memory drives Gateway grad

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jaquan Brisker loves his highlight reel, figures it’s a big reason why major colleges have come calling with scholarship offers.

But there’s one thing he wishes he could change about it. At the end of some plays, the clip cuts off before you can see him point to the sky, which he does after every interception.

Before Tale’ Brisker was shot and killed three years ago, he used to tell his little brother the same thing over and over again: “You can make it.” That’s why Jaquan Brisker didn’t let low SAT scores end his dream, why he isn’t just satisfied with offers from Penn State, Pitt and West Virginia and why he won’t stop working — on the field and in the books — until he’s playing football at the highest level.

This story of a breakout player from Lackawanna College by way of Gateway High School is only just beginning, following a freshman season in which he nabbed four interceptions and returned two of those for touchdowns playing defensive back for one of the elite junior-college programs in the country.

“What keeps me motivated every day is my brother and my family,” said Brisker, a 6-foot-1, 197pound safety. “I just work hard for him. Every day I wake up, I know I have to get up and do this and do that, because I know that’s what he would want me to do. And then my family, I need to make it for them, because they need me. That’s what drives me.”

Tale’ Brisker was three years older than his brother and also a former Gateway football player. Details of his death in February 2015 in Prairie View, Texas, where he lived are sparse, and all Jaquan was told is there was an altercation involving Tale’, his girlfriend and another man, who pulled the trigger.

That’s why though Brisker wears No. 27 for coach Mark Duda’s Falcons, he’s No. 3 at heart, the same number he and his brother wore at Gateway. His play this past season, which Lackawanna finished Nov. 12 at 7-2, would no doubt make Tale’ proud.

“Just amazing ability. Great kid,” said Duda, who started only one other freshman on defense. “We always tell him he should’ve been born in 1961. He’s got a tremendous attitude about the game and about school and everything he does, and frankly, I think he is a huge talent.”

So much so that Duda compared him to one of his most gifted former players, Kyzir White, who’s now a senior safety at West Virginia considered among the top NFL prospects at his position.

That’s high praise, and raises the question: Why is Brisker shining in relative anonymity rather than redshirting or perhaps even playing at a power-five school?

“He didn’t have grades coming out of Gateway, but got to our place and made an instant impression on us,” Duda said. “He’s never missed a class since he’s been here, really just a solid dude all the way around. He’ll be our team captain next year, and I think he’ll be the best safety in junior college from Maine to California.”

Indeed, Brisker admits that some of the colleges on him now were interested during his high school days, but he didn’t have the test scores to qualify for NCAA eligibility. Instead, he went the junior-college route and has focused on becoming a better student, and now the rest is taking care of itself.

Knowing he was putting his skills on film for college coaches to see, his patience eventually turned anxious. He’d ask teammates, “Can I get an offer now?” They’d tell him maybe, but that he might have to wait until after the season or the spring. Turns out, West Virginia extended a scholarship the first week of November, and Pitt did so the next week.

“His versatility is just off the chain,” Duda said. “And I don’t really talk like that much about guys, but this kid has all the stuff you can imagine, plus the intangibles, too, so I’m not afraid to say he’ll probably be about as good a kid who comes out next year. If he’s not ranked in the top 10 junior college-wise, I don’t know who else is going to be.”

Duda deployed Brisker mostly at strong safety, where he was second on the team with 54 tackles, but his coach said he can also play free safety and even man-to-man on receivers as a cornerback. Brisker played receiver, running back and defensive back at Gateway, in addition to returning kicks. He also has a 36-inch vertical leap and has been dunking a basketball since his sophomore year of high school.

He’s grateful for the attention he’s getting, appreciative of Pitt and West Virginia as programs, but was hoping for the Penn State offer and would love to be on the radar of even more schools. With former Gateway coach Terry Smith on staff, the Nittany Lions came through for Brisker Nov. 30. He also thinks it would be neat to have even one SEC team as an option, just to know he can play in that league.

According to Duda, any coach who has visited Lackawanna to see a different prospect has left impressed by Brisker. Duda’s already sending offensive lineman Chase Brown to Pitt in January, whereas Brisker has another season and plenty of time for his recruitment to continue taking off. Brisker says he’s first and foremost concerned with schoolwork more so than the next level, but that he has admired Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi since he recruited former Gateway star Montae Nicholson to Michigan State.

“I think he’ll keep improving for a long time to come,” Duda said. “He’s just got that kind of ability, and his work ethic and stuff is just off the chart. … Jaquan is a prime example of a kid who just needed another chance to show he can play and show what he can do.”

And all along, he’ll be pointing to the sky.