Humble, hard-working ratbag following in family footsteps

He’s been described as “humble”, “hard-working” and “a bit of a ratbag”, but names don’t mean much to Che Brogan, even when his is inextricably linked to basketball.

The son of Basketball Australia Hall of Famer Michelle Brogan and nephew of Adelaide 36ers NBL Championship-winner Dean Brogan, Che Brogan is lucky to have the game in his blood.

But he has never relied on his name alone to take him places.

Proud uncle Dean explained it best when asked to describe the 19-year-old, after he was signed as a Development Player by the 36ers.

“He’s a very humble kid,” Dean Brogan said.

“He works his butt off. He’s got a great work ethic, keeps his head down.

“Yeah, he can be a little bit of a ratbag sometimes, you know, he reminds me of me in that way, he love's a good time, but also, he just wants to be a pro and he eats, breathes and sleeps basketball.

“He loves his family and, you know, overall, for a kid of his age, he’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders.”

Che Brogan is a dynamic playmaker who was part of the Australia side at this year’s FIBA Under 19 World Cup, where he led the side for assists and was second for steals.

The 6’6” forward grew up in Melbourne but went to high school in California in the United States and in Canberra while playing for Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (COE) side in NBL1 East.

For the COE side, he averaged 13.7 points, four assists and 3.2 rebounds per game this season.

After only joining 36ers training over recent days Brogan has earned his DP spot and in a nod to his uncle’s legacy will don the number 42 jersey Dean wore in the 1998 Championship win.

“It's unreal, like, what amazing opportunity to come to Adelaide, (and for) Mike (Wells) and Matt (Weston) taking a chance for me.

“(It’s) a great opportunity for me to get better so, yeah, I'm pumped, super excited.

“(Wearing number 42) was a choice that I made, like, Dean's obviously a mentor to me, he's helped me through a lot, not only in basketball but my life, so I had to wear the number 42 that he wore.”

While uncle Dean is always in his corner, his mum Michelle Brogan knows a thing or two about making it at the highest level.

The former Australian captain’s record speaks for itself. There are the 205 national team games for the Opals, two Olympic Games and three FIBA World Championships, not to mention four WNBL Championship wins including two with the Adelaide Lightning, as well as a stint in the WNBA.

But according to Che Brogan, his mum is super supportive and having the Brogan name is “a blessing”.

“People think it's pressure, but I think it's more like a blessing,” he smiled.

“My mum's done it, Dean's done it and they know what it takes to get there and just following what they say is good advice.

“Mum's more just there for me mentally. Like, she's the type of mum who always said, ‘you chase your dreams, I'm just going to be there with you, I’m not going to push you or force you to be something that you don't (want to be)’.”

While his mum remains in Melbourne as Che Brogan chases his dream in Adelaide, he’s been living with his nan Ros Brogan and bouncing off his uncle Dean for support.

And Dean says it’s the perfect environment for the teen to learn, especially alongside one of his idols.

“It was only probably two weeks ago that Che actually rang me and said, ‘look, I don't want to go back to Melbourne’ because he’s got a gap year now before he potentially goes to college,” Dean Brogan explained.

“He's graduated from the COE, because his mum lives in Melbourne he was probably going to head back to Melbourne, but he just didn't want any distractions with all his mates and he wanted to come here, live around me and he's really close with his nan.

“He wanted to be part of the Sixers. His idol is Bryce Cotton, and he just wanted to train, just come in and at least scrimmage and just see what happens and, you know, they obviously know him and Matt Weston, the GM, was really happy to have him.

“It's all worked out for him for the moment, but he's just here to learn, put his head down and bum up, and learn off the best and just see where it lands.”

In the short term, it’ll land him back in Canberra for the NBL Blitz, where he’s expected to get some minutes against Illawarra and Tasmania over coming days.