Troy Brown, Jr. Recruiting Thread

[tommy]

In case you don't check the front page, here's a look at 2017 PG recruit Troy Brown, Jr., a rising sophomore out of Las Vegas. Special kid.

[superdave]

Is this the earliest we have offered a kid since Demarcus Nelson?

Sounds like a good kid from a good family. And he probably is not done growing.

[Kedsy]

In case you don't check the front page, here's a look at 2017 PG recruit Troy Brown, Jr., a rising sophomore out of Las Vegas. Special kid.

Seems like a lot of top players seem to be coming out of Nevada lately. You think there's a reason or is it just random chance (or simply a figment of my imagination)?

[PSurprise]

Seems like a lot of top players seem to be coming out of Nevada lately. You think there's a reason or is it just random chance (or simply a figment of my imagination)?

Yes.

In all seriousness, they are a random figment of your imagination.

[devildeac]

Is this the earliest we have offered a kid since Demarcus Nelson?

Sounds like a good kid from a good family. And he probably is not done growing.

Maybe he'll turn into another Dunleavy Jr. recruiting story/player. Recruit a PG and have a wing/3/SF or a stretch 4 matriculate.

[Henderson]

Seems like a lot of top players seem to be coming out of Nevada lately. You think there's a reason or is it just random chance (or simply a figment of my imagination)?

I was wondering that myself. I think it's more random chance than anything. There's Findlay Prep, which was established only 9 years ago by a local car dealer (the one Ed O'Bannon works for) and has already sent 7 players to the NBA. It's a basketball mill that attracts top players from all over like Huntington Prep. The academics -- based on correspondence courses -- are geared toward establishing NCAA eligibility.

There's also Bishop Gorman HS, a parochial school with a strong tradition of sports and strong academics that pulls many of the best players from the Las Vegas area. Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman are both seniors there now. But they are both local kids. Chase goes there because his dad played for UNLV and stayed in LV (as a police officer). I'm less familiar with Zimmerman's family story.

Troy Brown Jr. goes to Centennial High, which is public. His mom and dad are both athletic (Dad played for Texas A&I -- now Texas A&M Kingsfield), and I don't know why they settled in Las Vegas. Here's a nice local piece about Troy Brown Jr. from a couple months ago.

Olek Czyz came out of Reno, where he moved with his mother and sister at the age of 14 from Poland. Who knows why Reno.

One possible explanation for the current crop of outstanding Nevada players is that Nevada was exploding in population 10-20 years ago, with lots of people moving in. Great weather and no state income tax. We could be seeing a bubble of talent in Las Vegas as the kids of parents who came to (or stayed in) Las Vegas during that period of rapid population expansion become HS age. Chase Jeter might fit in that category, but I'm speculating.

These things ebb and flow. A few years ago, Oregon was a hotbed with Kevin Love, Kyle Singler, Terrence Jones, and Damon Stoudemire. (Stoudemire and Jones are cousins). Then there was the Alaska connection a few years ago with Carlos Boozer and Trajan Langdon. Boozer was a military brat, and Langdon's dad was an anthropologist studying the Tlingit natives at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Just happenstance that they grew up in Alaska.

So, yeah, more random than anything I think.

[tommy]

Seems like a lot of top players seem to be coming out of Nevada lately. You think there's a reason or is it just random chance (or simply a figment of my imagination)?

Might be a figment.

In the '15 class, Jeter, Zimmerman, and Ray Smith are elite prospects, there's a kid named Nick Blair who is a 3-4 star, but I think that might be it. The '16 class has a couple kids from Bishop Gorman named Zach Collins and Chase Nomaaea who may be players, and then there's Brown in '17 along with Charles O'Bannon, Jr. There are some other young kids coming up that may take their place in the upper echelons of the '16 and '17 classes, but I don't think they're there yet. Bishop Gorman is a real powerhouse program so they're going to continue to produce prospects. But maybe your perception is due to Duke having been involved with several Nevada kids lately when before we never really did.

What may be skewing it in people's minds too is Findlay Prep. That establishment obviously hosts a lot of top players, so it seems like they're coming out of Nevada, but almost none of them are actually from that state.

[Kedsy]

Might be a figment.

In the '15 class, Jeter, Zimmerman, and Ray Smith are elite prospects, there's a kid named Nick Blair who is a 3-4 star, but I think that might be it. The '16 class has a couple kids from Bishop Gorman named Zach Collins and Chase Nomaaea who may be players, and then there's Brown in '17 along with Charles O'Bannon, Jr. There are some other young kids coming up that may take their place in the upper echelons of the '16 and '17 classes, but I don't think they're there yet. Bishop Gorman is a real powerhouse program so they're going to continue to produce prospects. But maybe your perception is due to Duke having been involved with several Nevada kids lately when before we never really did.

What may be skewing it in people's minds too is Findlay Prep. That establishment obviously hosts a lot of top players, so it seems like they're coming out of Nevada, but almost none of them are actually from that state.

Anthony Bennett and Shabazz Muhammad came from Nevada, too, right? But you may be right about Duke's involvement and Findlay Prep coloring my perceptions.

[tommy]

Anthony Bennett and Shabazz Muhammad came from Nevada, too, right? But you may be right about Duke's involvement and Findlay Prep coloring my perceptions.

Muhammad, yes, but Bennett is from Canada. He then went to Nevada just to play at Findlay Prep before moving on to UNLV for a year, then the NBA.

[BD80]

Is this the earliest we have offered a kid since Demarcus Nelson?

Sounds like a good kid from a good family. And he probably is not done growing.

Maybe he'll turn into another Dunleavy Jr. recruiting story/player. Recruit a PG and have a wing/3/SF or a stretch 4 matriculate.

Or Anthony Davis?

[flyingdutchdevil]

Or Anthony Davis?

Dunleavy would be very good. Anthony Davis? Do you think a few DBRers actually believe Brown Jr to come back for a second year?

[superdave]

Dunleavy would be very good. Anthony Davis? Do you think a few DBRers actually believe Brown Jr to come back for a second year?

He's 15 so I will reserve my outlandish expectations for a high schooler until he's 17. We'll need to see some cinderblock photos and discuss his diet and AAU teams as well.

Nevertheless, it is great to see the coaching stuff in early. Hard work pays off.

[BD80]

Dunleavy would be very good. Anthony Davis? Do you think a few DBRers actually believe Brown Jr to come back for a second year?

On the flip side, for Troy to play with his "big brother" Chase, Chase would have to stick around for a least three years.

[flyingdutchdevil]

On the flip side, for Troy to play with his "big brother" Chase, Chase would have to stick around for a least three years.

Kinda like Austin wanted Kyrie to stay for another year .

In all honesty, Chase staying for 4 years isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Jeter is and wants to be a true 5, but that body of his is built like a 3 or a spread 4. Furthermore, we're gonna be deep at the 4 and 5 in '15-'16 with Obi, MP3, Amile, and Semi. Not sure if Chase will be able to leap frog those players.

Chase Jeter is a unique player for Coach K: a highly skilled 5 who is physically unready for college ball (although he still has a year left, so anything can happen). If I recall correctly, Duke 5s have usually been physically ready (MPs, Okafor, Zoubek, Shelden, Brand, etc).

[Duke79UNLV77]

If I recall correctly, Duke 5s have usually been physically ready (MPs, Okafor, Zoubek, Shelden, Brand, etc).

George Burgin wasn't physically ready.

[jimsumner]

Jeter is a consensus top-10 player. Unless he's the second coming of Joey Beard, he should be in the rotation as a freshman.

[BD80]

Jeter is a consensus top-10 player. Unless he's the second coming of Joey Beard, he should be in the rotation as a freshman.

Wouldn't that be the second "going" of Joey Beard?

[tommy]

Seems like a lot of top players seem to be coming out of Nevada lately. You think there's a reason or is it just random chance (or simply a figment of my imagination)?

I was wondering that myself. I think it's more random chance than anything. There's Findlay Prep, which was established only 9 years ago by a local car dealer (the one Ed O'Bannon works for) and has already sent 7 players to the NBA. It's a basketball mill that attracts top players from all over like Huntington Prep. The academics -- based on correspondence courses -- are geared toward establishing NCAA eligibility.

There's also Bishop Gorman HS, a parochial school with a strong tradition of sports and strong academics that pulls many of the best players from the Las Vegas area. Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman are both seniors there now. But they are both local kids. Chase goes there because his dad played for UNLV and stayed in LV (as a police officer). I'm less familiar with Zimmerman's family story.

I think there are going to continue to be a lot of very good players coming out of Nevada in the years to come. I was at a very good frosh/soph camp this weekend, and there were a lot of really good prospects from Vegas (and elsewhere too.) Most noticeable, though, was that Bishop Gorman itself had eight of the 200 kids at the camp, including Charles O'Bannon and a few other really impressive kids. That program is committed.

[Duvall]

I think there are going to continue to be a lot of very good players coming out of Nevada in the years to come. I was at a very good frosh/soph camp this weekend, and there were a lot of really good prospects from Vegas (and elsewhere too.) Most noticeable, though, was that Bishop Gorman itself had eight of the 200 kids at the camp, including Charles O'Bannon...

Sorry, crumbling into dust now.

[BD80]

... I was at a very good frosh/soph camp this weekend, and there were a lot of really good prospects from Vegas ... including Charles O'Bannon ...

Did you have to pay extra to his family just to see him? Did they charge for taking photographs? Or do you even have to pay for writing about him?