ABERDEEN — He’s the self-proclaimed “Warm-up MVP.”
Whether home or away, when Brody Riggs is getting shots up in warm ups, it draws oohs and aahs from the crowd.
Maybe it’s his mustache that draws the attention of fans. After all, he said he’s been growing it since the seventh grade, and he likes to joke with teammate Riley Endres that his is the best on the team.
And though his playing time is usually limited, at the Class B state tournament in Aberdeen, the “warm-up MVP” was out in full force.
During the Rustlers’ contest against Aberdeen Christian, fans reminded the senior of his percentage during that particular warm-up session. And when one went in, Riggs responded by raising three fingers in celebration as he was met with cheers.
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In celebration is usually the easiest way to locate Riggs on the bench. Any chance he gets, he’s up and out of his seat, emphatically replicating a charge call, jumping on one leg with three fingers in the air or finding a new way to celebrate a good play by Ethan.
“Anytime one of our players gets a charge, it just brings so much energy,” Riggs said, describing his favorite celebration to do on the bench. “So I like to really hammer it in there on a charge whenever somebody gets a charge, because that’s just a momentum shift.”
He’s been on the varsity team since his freshman year, and he said he knew his role would never be to go out and score the most points or guard the other team’s best player. But that didn’t discourage him, and he instead embraced his role.
“If I’m going to buy into my role, I’m going to buy into it 100%,” Riggs said. “I’ve just been like that since my freshman year, just encouraging the guys, telling them, ‘Hey, you got it next time out there.’”
What fans see during the game is largely that. His celebrations are hard to miss on the sidelines and during a timeout, he's quick to jump out of his seat and greet his teammates as they walk to the huddle.
In Friday’s loss to Viborg-Hurley, though, fans got to see the senior take the court in the state tournament in the waning moments, something Riggs said was “pretty cool,” considering he came into the weekend not really expecting to see the floor.
But coach Bryce Roth said what fans don’t see is his role at practice, where Riggs helps to run the scout team, helping both himself and his teammates get better.
“Brody hustles. He works hard,” Roth said. “If he ever tells you he’s a hell of a 3-point shooter, I’d tend to agree with him.”
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Riggs said he likes to tell his teammates that no one wants to guard him during practice, because he has no hesitation to shoot. And if one misses, it doesn’t discourage him from firing another and letting whoever was guarding him know about it when it goes in.
His presence on the team is vital, though. Despite an 0-2 start at the Class B state tournament, Roth said Riggs helps to bring a “dose of reality” even though the Rustlers aren’t where they wanted to be at the state tournament.
And throughout his whole senior season — which he compared to “being on the best carnival ride with your brothers” — Riggs has made sure to keep an enthusiastic outlook.
“If all 12 guys are down in the dumps, it’s not going to be looking good,” Riggs said. “But if there’s just that one guy that can maybe spark something, spark a flame into somebody else on the court, then that just gets everybody going and builds off of it. So it’s really imperative that there’s one person on the team that’s never too down in the dumps, just trying to raise the morale.”
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