Written by Lauren Fountain, a graduate student working for Sun Devil Athletics in the Public Relations Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Originally from Chandler, Arizona, Fountain is a lifelong Sun Devil and will graduate in May 2022.
To Brandon Magee, Arizona State University means family.
The Sun Devil alumnus was a two-sport athlete during his time at ASU, playing football as a linebacker and baseball as an outfielder from 2008-12.
Brandon's older brother, Angelo, also played football for the university in 2011. The Sun Devil ties even transcend blood relations, as another Magee brother, Chris, is married to former ASU softball pitcher Dallas Escobedo.
Now, the Sun Devil family tree is expanding, with Brandon's two youngest siblings embarking on their own journeys at ASU.
Cameron, a baseball infielder who will play his freshman season in the spring, committed to ASU in March 2020 after a prior commitment to the University of San Diego.
"In my head it was like, it's about time," Brandon said. "I mean, obviously a scholarship is a scholarship, so I was happy about him committing, but I knew he bleeds maroon and gold. He grew up maroon and gold. He watched myself and Angelo play on the football and baseball teams. So, I know I was happy, but I was more happy for him to see him attack his dream throughout Little League all the way to high school, and then sign to his dream school."
Kylee, a right-handed pitcher, signed with Sun Devil Softball on the 2021 Signing Day after committing to the program as an eighth grader.
"I've grown up watching ASU softball, so that's kind of the only college that I've ever been really interested in," Kylee said. "I just wanted to play in the heat and wear the ASU gear."
For the high school senior from Canyon High School in Anaheim, California, signing with ASU has been a long time coming.
"It was really crazy because I've been waiting so long because I committed early and then when I was at my school and I signed, I was starting to tear up," Kylee said. "I was really working for this, and it finally paid off."
Outside of the softball program itself, it was ASU's fashion design program that drew Kylee to the university.
"I was so used to going to football games, watching my older brothers playing football at ASU, that I was already in love with it," Kylee said. "I think we were just driving by the campus when I was like 11 or 12 and I was just looking at all of the signs, of the big pictures of people who went there, like dang, I'm going to go here one day. But then, I got on the phone with Coach Ford, and she told me that ASU had a fashion design program and I knew it was like a wrap. I was like, okay, I'm going here."
For Kylee, "it's really special" to sign with ASU knowing she will be a Sun Devil at the same time as Cameron.
"I know that he's always wanted to go there since he was little and I think that when he finally got the opportunity to, I was just so proud of him," Kylee said. "It's just really cool because now I know someone who's going to be there with me."
With his family's legacy carrying on at ASU, Brandon has switched gears from the football field to the big screen.
In December 2020, it was announced that ??Jada Pinkett Smith would star as Tia Magee, Brandon's mother, in "Redd Zone," an upcoming drama that will be released by Netflix. Brandon will serve as an executive producer on the film.
"I feel honored and blessed and extremely, extremely excited for not only myself, but for Dominic's legacy to be seen by the world," Brandon said. "He was a prominent figure not only to his friends, but to everybody in the community, and to lose somebody at 15 and now at 31 being able to tell that story, his impact is the reason people at Arizona State even know me."
The film focuses on the death of Magee's childhood best friend and high school teammate, Dominic Redd, and his mother subsequently caring for 17 members of Brandon's football team at Centennial High School in Corona, California.
"In high school, I saw this kid, I saw how he would talk to people, how he would treat people, how people would treat him," Brandon said. "He would give his last dollar if he had it. So, I carried that on just out of respect because I saw the right way to do it."
During his time at ASU, Magee visited more than 30 elementary schools across Phoenix to talk to kids about overcoming obstacles, the importance of education and maintaining a positive mindset. In his senior season, Brandon was nominated for the 2012 AFCA Allstate Insurance Good Works Team Award, an award that recognizes student-athletes' commitment to volunteering and bettering the community.
"You don't go to Arizona State just to be a great player and win games," Brandon said. "You go to Arizona State to make the community a better place. I feel like you are cheating not only yourself, but the whole community if you're not out there trying to convince a kid to go this way, to choose the upper hand, to be a better person, be a better woman, a girl, whatever. And thanks to Todd Graham – I mean, people don't know he let me miss meetings to go talk to kids at schools all over Arizona. So, without Todd Graham's blessing, I wouldn't be able to do what I was doing."
Nearly a decade after Brandon's graduation from ASU, a new generation of Magee siblings are headed to Tempe, Arizona, with maroon and gold coursing through their veins. All Brandon can do is soak in each moment with his family.
"I love Arizona State," Brandon said. "My parents love Arizona State. My family loves Arizona State. And that's why we just keep going back to it. When I have kids, you don't have to ask where they're going. I'm not going to force them to go there, but you know, I would love for that to happen."