A Milestone for Malcolm: Pope John Basketball Star Reaches 1,000 Points for His Career

Malcolm Brown is a past Boston Globe All-Scholastic football player of the year who will be playing in the Shriners All-Star Classic in June at Gillette Stadium.

But the Pope John XXIII High School senior from Lynn is also an exceptional basketball player and a big reason why the Tigers will challenge St. Mary’s and Winthrop for the Division 4 North title in March.

The 6-feet, 2-inch Brown traveled to the land of the elite Friday night, scoring the 1,000th point of his career in a non-league game at Medford High School. Brown entered the club in dynamic fashion, making a dazzling move inside the lane for a two-pointer. He had entered the game with 983 points.

To Medford officials’ credit, they interrupted the game for a good five minutes and allowed Malcolm to savor his moment: his family and nearly all of the Pope John supporters in attendance wanted a mid-court photo with the newly minted 1,000-point man.

While Medford prevailed in the game (Pope John had toppled the Division 1 Mustangs earlier in the season), this was Malcolm Brown’s night. And Malcolm’s mom, Stacy Gikas, wore the biggest smile in the fieldhouse.

“I’m so excited – I’m so proud of my son,” said Gikas after the game. “I’m speechless right now. I’m just so excited for him and I hope he moves forward and does awesome in the future.”

Gikas said her son developed his skills in Lynn CYO programs, Boys and Girls Club basketball, and in the Mass Thundercats AAU organization.

“He’s just a natural football and basketball player,” said Gikas. “He’ll be going on to college. He makes me a proud mom and he’s a great son.”

In between congratulatory hugs and handshakes, Brown talked about his achievement moments after the game.

“I’m honored to do it for my coaches and teammates at Pope John,” said Brown. “Now I get to join my coach [David Sacco] up on the wall at Pope John.”

Brown realizes that only a select few reach 1,000, a feat he accomplished in three seasons at Pope John.

“This is probably the biggest highlight of my whole life sports wise,” said Brown. “Thanks to my coaches, especially David Sacco, the hard work paid off today.”

Brown said he drew inspiration from his sister, former Lynn English and current Caldwell College player Jeanette Anderson.

“Seeing Jeanette get her 1,000th point and hearing her talk about it, it inspired me to want to get it,” said Brown. “I also played a lot of basketball with my dad [Malcolm Brown Sr.] and my friends down at Marian Gardens that helped me improve my skills.”

Brown said he will be playing college football. Among the schools he’s considering are Framingham State and Bentley University.

David Sacco, the Tigers’ head coach and all-time leading scorer, was overjoyed to welcome him to the exclusive point club.

“It feels really good to have one of your own players score 1,000,” said Sacco. “He’s pretty much been our go-to guy for the past three years. To see him evolve as a player and a person really means a lot. When he first came here, he was such a good athlete that just on his athleticism alone he could get by, but his game evolved and he’s worked on his game so much that he can hit the long-range jumper consistently or take the ball to the basket. He’s a tough player to guard.”

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