Even Brauns realized after his high school season ended that if was going to earn more scholarship offers, it would be helpful if he hit the gym.

The 6-foot-9 big man from Iowa City West hit the weight room and the results over the past few months have really transformed his body.

“Since the end of the basketball season I looked at what college players look like physically and decided I needed to work on my body,” Brauns said. “I’ve been working out with our strength coach at West High five times a week and as a result, I’ve added about 15 pounds of muscle.”

The physical change was also helped by a slight alteration in his diet. He’s eating more often and his diet is also focused on healthy food.

The hard work off the court has started to pay off for the 2020 prospect, as he added several new scholarship offers after the April evaluation period.

“After the evaluation period I picked up offers from South Dakota, Indiana State, Belmont, Bradley, Wofford, and Appalachian State.”

That goes along with earlier offers from Toledo, UW-Milwaukee, and UNI. Brauns has also picked up interest from Minnesota and Northwestern.

“I’m taking an official visit to Belmont on June 16th and I am hoping to make an unofficial visit to Northwestern sometime in June,” he said.

Iowa also remains in the picture. This past season, Brauns played with Patrick McCaffery, the son of the Hawkeyes head coach. So, Iowa was represented at nearly every game the Trojans played this past season. They were also out to see him play with his Iowa Barnstormers AAU team in April.

“Coach Speraw was at our games in Dallas during the live period. They are always good about keeping in touch and telling me that I am on their radar and we will see where it goes.”

In addition to the college visits in June, Brauns will be playing with a group of 40 Iowa high school players selected by the Iowa High School Coaches Association that will play at an event in Kansas City that can be attended by college coaches.

“I think it’s really nice that the coaches put that together for the players in our state,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of it and there are some really good coaches involved.”

Then it will be the July evaluation period where he will be back with his Barnstormers team. He hopes that by the end July, there may be more offers on the table, potentially from power conference schools.

“That’s the ideal plan. You kind of work your way up with offers and I have been working hard towards that goal.”