Jabari Brown

AAU basketballbasketball recruitingcollege basketball

By Marcus Shockley

Jabari Brown (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2011) is a special player.

This is, of course, not news to fans of several colleges that have offered Jabari, which he is still considering, and it’s the reason we featured an interview with him just a few days ago.

The scouting report for Jabari is that he’s got great size for a guard and definitely has the ball handling ability to play point or shooting guard. He also is very smooth, very polished and handled the exhausting ball handling drills at the Chris Paul Elite Guard camp exceedingly well.

He looks very comfortable with his dribble, can slash effectively and has a deadly jump shot.

His jump shot is equally strong from both outside the arc and mid range. He’s a dangerous offensive player that has a very fluid game and a high basketball IQ.

But all of that doesn’t really describe the ease and charismatic nature that Brown brings to the court.

It’s immediately obvious that Brown is grounded and competitive, but he’s so smooth with his play that it’s almost easy to forget that he can explode past the defense with the dribble and throw it down. Jabari Brown is without question a player that has the intangibles that, when combined with great athletic ability, could make him a star.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to see Jabari working in any defensive drills, but he’s a player that will make an impact at the college level and if he continues to work and improve on his already solid game, will be a High School All American.

Jabari had a visit at Wake Forest immediately following the camp and intends to take all five of his visits before making a decision. He also says that college coaches have told him that he needs to continue to work on being a multi-positional player, which Jabari has definitely taken to heart.

Summary

+ Multi positional player
+ Scorer
+ Perimeter Shot
+ Slasher
+ Athletic
+ Poise
+ Excellent ball handler

AAU basketballbasketball recruiting

By Alex Kline

Jabari Brown
Image from MaxPreps

When Jabari Brown decided to leave national powerhouse Findlay Prep in January of 2010, critics believed it was the wrong decision. Brown, not only rose to the occasion, but jumped in the rankings and took his game to another level.

While the 6-foot-3 shooting guard (Class of 2011) returned to his hometown of Oakland, California, he would enroll at Oakland High School. The junior averaged over 23 points per contest as he helped lead his squad to a winning record. Through that and his jump in the world of AAU helped lift his recruiting to new levels.

Brown, who plays with the Oakland Soldiers, is part of one of the most talented teams in the country. The Soliders consist of players like Findlay Prep’s Nick Johnson and Jesuit’s Kyle Wiltjer, both top 50 players in the class of 2011. While playing in the top tournaments around the country this summer, Brown is attracting coaches’ eyes towards him.

The California golden boy currently has offers from Georgia Tech, Washington, Arizona State, California, Maryland, UNLV, Wake Forest and Next Mexico. Two ACC schools, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, were the most recent to offer Jabari. Another ACC squad, Maryland, has also become involved.

While the distance on paper from California to the East Coast doesn’t seem like one most players are willing to take, “distance is not a factor” for the sharp-shooter. Maryland appeals to Jabari due to their, “tradition, conference and Head Coach Gary Williams is a great coach.” He likes Georgia Tech because, “they have had so many good guards, their conference, and Head Coach Paul Hewitt.” Wake Forest is also a school he enjoys because of, “the feel that I have gotten from the new coaching staff, along with their style of play.” Despite the departure of Head Coach Dino Gaudio from Wake Forest, his replacement, Jeff Bzdelik of Colorado, has done an excellent job. “I think Coach Bzdelik is a good coach who would put me in the position to flourish from style of play,” said Brown. As of now, Brown has no favorites and is nowhere close to making a decision on where he will commit.

If you break down Jabari Brown’s game, it is simple, yet deadly. Jabari puts it best when he says, “I’m a guard that can score from anywhere on the court, as well as get my teammates involved.” He also said, “I’m a leader who hates losing.” He is simply deadly.

So far, Brown’s spring season of AAU with the Soldiers has gone well. They have been one of the top ranked teams in the country. Scout.com’s Evan Daniels even called them the best AAU team of the spring. Brown will take his talent to Chris Paul camp, Paul Pierce’s Skills Academy and LeBron’s Skills Academy.

Watch out for Jabari Brown this summer as he looks to explode onto the AAU scene even more. He has already been ranked as one of the top 15 players in the country by Scout.com and looks to go higher on the list. Just like his shot, this kid is nothing but net.