MUSKEGON – It would be easy for a player like Muskegon’s Jordan Briggs to get lost trying to follow in the footsteps of the greats who came before him, or trying to create an individual legacy of his own.

After all, Briggs is currently averaging a lofty 28 points, six rebounds and five assists per game while helping the Big Reds get off to a great 3-0 start.

With numbers like that, Briggs is already being mentioned as a possible Michigan Mr. Basketball candidate.

But Briggs is focused on winning games for a Muskegon team that’s loaded with experience and talent and could go a long way this season. While he’s proud of his accomplishments, he realizes that the best way to make a name for himself is to bring more glory to the Big Red program.

He certainly gave his team a major boost in Muskegon’s last game, an 81-79 overtime thriller against Grand Rapids Catholic Central at the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Classic at Reeths-Puffer High School. He finished with a career-high 35 points and scored the game-winning shot with 10 seconds left in overtime.

Briggs will try to keep that kind of offense rolling on Friday on the same court, when the Big Reds visit Reeths-Puffer in a key O-K Green conference matchup.

“It was a great feeling,” said Briggs about his emotions following the winning shot against GRCC. “It was just a great game overall. In that moment, we had a time out and coach told us the play was for me. He told me I had to put the game away and I did that.”

Even on a team full of senior leaders, it wasn’t a surprise that Guy turned to Briggs at the most crucial moment.

“That play was drawn up for him,” the coach said about the final play. “I told him it was on him, and he didn’t bat an eye. He knew exactly where he wanted to get. He got where he wanted to get, and it was well defended. He hit a tough shot, and that’s what Mr. Basketball candidates do.”

Guy knows exactly what a Mr. Basketball candidate looks like, having coached both Deshaun Thrower and Deyonta Davis, who won the prestigious statewide award in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Living up to the legacies of players like that could produce a lot of pressure for Briggs, but it helps to have some of those former greats around.

“We’ve had guys come back and scrimmage us, and they come back all the time and mentor us,” Briggs said. “Deshaun comes and we talk all the time before and after games. I learn as much as I can from him. He’s been here and won at every level. There really is nobody better to learn from.”

So how much would it mean to Briggs to be a Mr. Basketball, just like Thrower?

“It would be great,” he said. “We haven’t had one since 2015 with (Davis), but just being in the conversation is a great accomplishment for me. If I keep playing how I am, I might have a chance. But that’s not the main goal or focus. I’m just doing whatever I can do to win. I’m not chasing stats.”

Briggs has become a leader for the Big Reds, and he said that’s been his biggest area of growth since he joined the Muskegon varsity as a sophomore.

“As a sophomore I was still kind of learning, and even in my junior year I was kind of still learning and following older guys footsteps,” he said. “Now I’m the older guy and one of the seniors on the team. I just have to be vocal and be like another coach on the team.”

Coach Guy has noticed how Briggs has stepped up to be a guiding force on the team.

“He’s acting like a guy who’s started his third year,” Guy said. “He’s acting like this is his last season in high school and he knows it. These are three-year varsity moments in what he’s doing.”

Briggs’ biggest goal is to be one of the players who brings a state championship bask to Muskegon. The Big Reds haven’t won it all since 2014, and he wants to end that drought.

“It being my last year, there would be no greater way to go out,” he said. “We talk about it all the time and coach says, ‘Before it happens, we have to imagine it.’ We think about it while going through practice and working to be ready for those intense situations in games. We always want to be ready for any moment.”