By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Brian Branson, a member of Graham’s most-recent state championship team in basketball and an Elon Athletics Hall of Famer, died last Thursday at age 59.
Branson played for the Red Devils when they captured the Class 3-A in the 1982-83 season.
“Brian Branson was just a good human being,” said Tommy Cole, who coached that Graham team before a long career at Williams. “Not only one of the main reasons Graham High School in 1983 won the state championship, he was just a scholar-athlete.”
Cole said Branson embraced being an all-around contributor in school activities.
“Just great characteristics of a student-athlete,” he said. “That’s what makes coaching high school kids, when you have players like that, such a great, great job.”
Cole recalled how he moved Branson to the center position even though he was undersized at that spot. It didn’t matter.
“He made up for his physical size with his intelligence,” his former coach said. “His intelligence made him a much better basketball player.”
At Elon, Branson was a basketball standout and the team’s Most Valuable Player in his final season. He was named an Academic All-American while at Elon, finishing his career there in the 1987-88 season.
Branson lived in Cary, where he was president and CEO of Global Knowledge. He died in hospice at Beacon Place in Greensboro.
He’s survived by his wife, Sally Branson, and three children and his mother, Barbara Branson. His father, Jesse Branson, is considered one of Elon’s greatest basketball players along with Cole.
“He came from good stock,” Cole said.
There’s a visitation from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at Rich & Thompson Funeral Home in Graham with a funeral at noon Friday at Elon Community Church.
