​Brecken Green of Joplin High School and Deacon Endicott of Carl Junction High School spent their lives as rivals, each pushing the other as they progressed from youth sports through junior high and into high school. Both competed in basketball and baseball throughout their high school careers. Now, they are poised to become teammates at Pittsburg State University, joining head coach Brock Buckingham’s Gorillas on the diamond.
Green described the chance to become a Gorilla as a dream come true and already has his sights set on the next big milestone. “I literally grew up on Pitt’s campus,” he said. “It’s cool to live out that childhood dream, but the next step is to make it to North Carolina and go to the Division II World Series.” For Endicott, the goal to play for PSU runs in the family. “I always wanted to go to Pitt because my dad went there,” he explained. His father, Tony Endicott, had a hand in shaping his aspirations as well.
The two players are set to share a room this coming school year, and while they weren’t particularly close friends growing up, they each knew who the other was and began forming a bond as they matured. Both will serve as pitchers for the Gorillas.
Endicott’s passion for sports at a young age leaned toward basketball, and his path shifted toward college baseball after he started playing varsity as a freshman. He credits his father with helping him gain exposure online, noting, “My dad helped me out a lot by getting my highlights out on Twitter.” Buckingham spotted Endicott while he was still at Cowley College and, when he became Pittsburg State’s head coach, offered him a scholarship to join the Gorilla program.
Green’s route to Pittsburg State followed a somewhat similar trajectory, though it started with a late realization about college baseball. He recalled that Pitt’s interest came during his sophomore year, and the connection to a family with strong Pitt ties made the opportunity even more meaningful. “Having Pitt reach out was absolutely awesome because I think I’ve had 15 family members go to Pitt,” Green said. “Being able to kind of follow in all my family’s footsteps was super cool, and obviously, they had a tremendous season this year, so being able to roll into that is super cool.”
Among Green’s supporters are his mother, Mandy Fancher; his father, C.J. Green; and his father, Barry Williamson, reflecting a large family tradition of Pitt attendance.
The two players didn’t have a long history of close friendship, but the stories they did share about one another were positive. Endicott recalled a moment from last year or the year before when Green hit four consecutive three-pointers in a game, leaving Endicott unsure of how to respond. Green remembered a Miami (Oklahoma) tournament game in which Endicott hit two home runs, describing how Endicott “cleared the fence by like 40 feet.” Their bond grew through a late junior high to early high school period when a shared basketball trainer helped connect them.
That trainer was Courtney Ingram, who worked in Galena, Kansas. Ingram specialized in basketball training and played a role, even if indirectly, in the developing relationship between Green and Endicott, helping to create a link that would later become a strong foundation for their shared future at Pittsburg State.