Grinnell College Athletics

Ed Brands '96 becomes a member of the Hall of Fame in honor of his impressive basketball record. His career began with a promising first-year season, which led to his selection as co-MVP that season. Brands continued to win awards, cumulating in six awards his senior year. Brands won the Morgan Taylor Award for Outstanding Athlete in a Single Sport, and was named the Midwest Conference Most Valuable Player. He also earned GTE First-Team All-American honors and was awarded the AT&T Long Distance Award. Brands even claimed the Division III Scoring Champion title, as well as the Three-Point Field Goal Champion title. His collegiate basketball career ended in triumph, as his team won Grinnell's first Midwest Conference Championship in men's basketball since the mid-1960s. After graduation, Brands continued to play basketball, this time in northern Germany. He joined BSG Bremerhaven, a club team that he took to the conference championship. He averaged 25 points per game during this season. After Germany,
Brands moved south of the equator and played basketball for Club Deportivo San Jose La Salle, another club team in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Since his basketball days, Brands has earned a Ph.D. in geography and began teaching in the areas of science, policy, and development at the University of Iowa. He has also worked in nonprofit, governmental, and private company settings and most recently opened a small consulting firm.