Will it be UK, Memphis, Texas (or somewhere else) for top basketball recruit Greg Brown?
The father of five-star basketball recruit Greg Brown III made it clear in an interview with the Herald-Leader last week that his son is not that close to a college decision.
Even though the family has been on all five of their official visits — to Kentucky, Auburn, Memphis, Michigan and hometown Texas — Greg Brown Jr., the player’s father, wants his son to let this decision marinate, weigh the pros and cons of each possible destination, and let this college basketball season play out. Brown Jr. also wants his son to take notice of what each roster will look like next season, something that will obviously affect Brown’s role on each team.
While the recruit’s father said a serious discussion over those five schools is still a month or so away, he did have some interesting things to say about each of the finalists.
At one point in the interview, Brown Jr. — a former football standout at the University of Texas — broke down the five teams in terms of which ones he considered “a football school” and which ones he considered “a basketball school.” UK and Memphis went in the basketball category. Auburn, Michigan and Texas went in the football category.
Brown Jr.’s comments came a couple of days after the family wrapped up their official visit to Ann Arbor.
“The University of Michigan — I knew nothing about it going into it, but they got some really good stuff going on over there,” he told the Herald-Leader. “So, it was actually a really good trip. I didn’t realize their fan base for basketball was as good as it was. Usually, I find that most football schools — or, at least, what I think are football schools — the basketball (atmosphere) might not be as good. At least with Texas, it ain’t. I look at Kentucky as more of a basketball school. I look at Memphis as more of a basketball school. So I expect their following to be good. I didn’t expect Auburn and Michigan’s following to be as good as I’ve seen.”
That’s not great for Texas, which had long been considered to be the favorite in the 6-foot-9 forward’s recruitment. The Longhorns have also continued to struggle on the court, losing four straight games — one of them by 29 points to an Iowa State team missing its best player — before ending that skid with a home win over Texas Christian on Wednesday.
Texas is now 15-11 on the season, 5-8 in the Big 12, and not projected to make the NCAA Tournament, which would mean zero tournament wins in five years so far under Shaka Smart, who continues to be mentioned as a coach on the hot seat this offseason. Brown Jr. said his son’s interest in Texas is “one thousand percent” tied to Smart’s status.
“I don’t know if they could bring anybody in that we would say, ‘OK, yeah, let’s go to Texas now.’ Nah,” the player’s father said.
Recruiting analysts aren’t giving Auburn or Michigan much of a shot at this time. If Texas doesn’t get Brown’s commitment, that would leave UK and Memphis.
Memphis the favorite?
Brown’s father had nothing but good things to say about John Calipari and the culture surrounding Kentucky’s program. He also said there was still room for a player like his son — the No. 8 recruit in the 2020 class, according to Rivals.com — to grow and flourish offensively, even with such highly touted perimeter signees as Brandon “BJ” Boston and Terrence Clarke likely to get ample touches.
Memphis, however, has emerged as somewhat of a favorite. National recruiting experts Corey Evans, Eric Bossi and Andrew Slater have all logged predictions in favor of the Tigers — a program that still has zero 2020 commitments — in recent weeks.
Coach Penny Hardaway hosted Brown and his father for an official visit last month — one week before their trip to Kentucky — and the player’s dad said that Tigers assistant Mike Miller is the person who has connected the most with his son out of all the coaches recruiting him.
“We love Memphis,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a better relationship Greg has with anybody that he’s being recruited by than what he has with Mike Miller. He loves Mike Miller to death. Not that he doesn’t love the rest of the coaches, but there’s something that he really likes about Mike Miller.
“Just talking with Mike and spending some time with him — he just likes Mike. And Mike can shoot the s--- out of the ball, and that’s something that you gotta be able to do these days.”
Miller, of course, was an NBA rookie of the year and later a two-time NBA champion alongside close friend LeBron James with the Miami Heat. He was also a 17-year pro and shot 40.7 percent from three-point range — the type of versatile forward the similarly sized but more athletic Brown would like to become.
The NBA veteran has also emerged as a favorite of players and parents on the recruiting trail.
“Mike has a great way of being able to relate to the kids of today,” Brown’s father said. “These kids are definitely not like we were when we grew up. Mike has found a way to be able to relate to them on their level, and they respect him for it.”
Brown Jr. did say that winning at the college level would be a major factor in his son’s decision, and UK is once again likely to have a preseason top 10 team nationally next season. Memphis’ outlook — especially with no commitments for 2020 so far — isn’t as clear. The player’s father said he and Greg III are keeping tabs on the five teams left on his list, and they also have a network of several trusted basketball minds who are watching every game that those teams play. A commitment is expected shortly after the end of this college season.
“I think, by then, you pretty much know who’s going to leave and try to test the NBA. And you already know who’s coming in,” Brown Jr. said. “The first thing we want to see is who we want to be playing with next year. And how well that team could do, because that’s what’s most important to us. We want to win.”
