What Bruce Brown's commitment means for Miami Hurricanes
Bruce Brown, one of the nation’s top shooting guard prospects, revealed his college decision on Wednesday, the final day of the early signing period for college basketball. Brown is headed to Miami.
Brown’s announcement comes after he took official visits to Indiana, Xavier, Miami and Purdue. The Vermont (Vt.) Academy standout—who reportedly at one point considered reclassifying to 2015—drew scholarship offers from more than 20 programs but wrote in a message posted on Twitter earlier this week that he had narrowed his list to the Hoosiers and Hurricanes.
He ultimately spurned a blueblood from the Big Ten for a program that has never advanced past the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
• MORE: Miami No. 6 in SI's preseason ACC projections
At 6'3" and 200 pounds, Brown is known for his defense, toughness and ability to attack the basket. “Brown has high confidence and a very short memory,” Rivals.com analyst Eric Bossi wrote of Brown. “Missed shots don't get to him and is more than happy to keep firing away because of his confidence. Off the dribble, Brown uses his powerfully built body to get into the lane and finish through contact.”
Through 22 games this season with his grassroots program, Boston Amateur Basketball Club, on the Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, Brown averaged 16.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. He checks in at No. 37 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, a composite ranking that incorporates data from several sources.
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The addition of Brown is particularly encouraging for a Miami program that watched coveted target De’JonJarreaupick UMass over the Hurricanes this fall. Expect coach Jim Larrañaga to lean on Brown for backcourt scoring right away, as the two guards we project to lead Miami in points per game in 2015–16—redshirt seniors Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez—are set to leave in the off-season.
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More generally, Brown gives Miami a backcourt headliner in a year in which a number of top guards are set to join other teams in the ACC. Dennis Smith Jr., arguably the nation’s top point guard, is headed to NC State. Duke landed five-star point guard Frank Jackson. Florida State added four-star shooting guard Trent Forrest and four-star point guard C.J. Walker. North Carolina reeled in four-star shooting guard Brandon Robinson. And Virginia is bringing in four-star shooting guard Kyle Guy and four-star point guard Ty Jerome.
Brown joins a Hurricanes recruiting class that already includes four-star center Rodney Miller and could be on the verge of adding four-star power forward Dewan Huell, who will announce his decision on Wednesday.
