By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BAY ST. LOUIS — From the Bay to Hawaii. On national television.

Former Bay High all-state standout Ziron “Dank” Brown is set to make his first collegiate start this weekend. Brown, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman at Stanford, was recently name the starting center for the Cardinal before the opening game of the season as Stanford heads to Honolulu Saturday to take on home-standing Hawaii.

The game will be televised on CBS with kickoff set for 6;30 p.m., c.s.t.

“We all could not be more proud of him…coaches, teachers and administrators that watched him grow and flourish.” Brown’s head coach at Bay High Jeremy Turcotte told SouthMiss6 Sports this week. “Ziron became the hardest working kid in our program from an early age. He always worked out extra. He always did extra drills. He took care of his body. The kid made one C for one nine weeks in four years of high school and did extra AP classes the summer before his senior year to help himself get accepted into Stanford. He made a grown up decision to go across the country to one of the most prestigious schools in the world that also plays big-time football and I cannot wait to watch him continue to grow.”

During his days in the Bay, Brown became the first Tiger All-American on the high school gridiron as selected by Under Armour and was selected to play in the national All-Star game to end the 2023 season at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

He was also named Class 4A All-State First Team his senior season by the Mississippi Association of Coaches and was the first ever Bay High player chosen to play in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star game.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Brown will don the number 51 for Stanford Saturday as he steps into the starting-lineup after he red-shirted last year as a true freshman.

He just finished up his second fall camp at Stanford, and Brown has taken advantage of it.

“It’s opened my eyes to what it takes to be a successful offensive lineman,” Brown said. “You get the opportunity to see what you need to work on and correct it. You’re always working, always competing, and always trying to improve.”

Brown’s debut in a Cardinal uniform this weekend is just one many changes for the program this season. Stanford enters 2025 with new leadership also, as former All-American quarterback Andrew Luck returns to his alma mater as the program’s first General Manager and he brought in NFL veteran coach Frank Reich to serve as the team’s interim head coach for the 2025 season. Reich coached Luck during the former Stanford great’s final season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.

This is the second time in the last three years that Stanford has begun the season at Hawaii. The 2023 season started with a 37-24 win over the Rainbow Warriors.

Also, Stanford will play five of its first six games on the road to open the season, a span that will end with a trip to Dallas to face Southern Methodist University on Sat., Oct 11th in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him get his first start against Hawaii this week,” Turcotte, now the offensive coordinator at Harrison Central, added. “And I’ll be in attendance, with a lot of other folks who love him, when Stanford plays SMU in Dallas.”