Cal is poised for a huge year after landing elite recruit Jaylen Brown
One of the schools on Jaylen Brown’s list has been to the Final Four four of the past five seasons. Another played for the national championship two years ago. A third has captured the title twice in the past decade and could start next season atop the polls.
Brown didn’t select any of them late Friday night. To the surprise of fans from Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina, the nation’s best small forward prospect chose California instead.
The stunning commitment from Brown was a fitting way to end a high-drama recruitment that kept even the coaching staffs involved guessing until the very end. At different points over the past year, UCLA, Kentucky and Michigan were perceived as the favorites to land Rivals.com’s No. 3 overall prospect. None of them got him in the end.
Cal wasn’t even perceived as a threat to land Brown until six weeks ago when he unexpectedly visted the Bears unofficially. Brown’s relationship with head coach Cuonzo Martin and assistant Tracy Webster was undoubtedly a selling point, as was the fact the Bears could be every bit as good next season as all of the other marquee programs recruiting him.
Next season already had the chance to be Cal’s most anticipated since the days of Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray when elite big man Ivan Rabb chose the Bears over Kentucky and Arizona and point guard Tyrone Wallace opted to return to school after flirting with declaring for the draft. Add Brown to that mix, and the Bears have a realistic chance to go from missing the NCAA tournament in Cuonzo Martin’s debut season to cracking the preseason top 10 entering his second year.
Cal is loaded on the perimeter and light on frontcourt depth behind Rabb, so there’s a good chance the 6-foot-7 Brown will see substantial playing time at power forward in a similar role to what Justise Winslow filled at Duke late last season. He has the size and muscle to defend opposing power forwards at one end and the quickness and strength to attack them off the dribble at the other.
The mismatches that would create make that potentially Brown’s best position in college even if he projects as a small forward in the NBA. It would also allow Wallace, former McDonald’s All-American wing Jabari Bird and high-scoring guard Jordan Mathews to join Brown in the starting lineup, ensuring Cal has its five best players on the floor at the start and end of games.
That quintet is among the most talented starting fives in the nation. With Arizona replacing four starters and Utah trying to overcome the loss of do-it-all star Delon Wright, Cal should be considered no worse than the co-favorites to win the Pac-12 next season.
Brown’s decision to choose Cal was also noteworthy because it marked the fifth time this spring that an elite recruit has passed on an offer from Kentucky. The Wildcats have also lost out on coveted five-star prospects Malik Newman (Mississippi State), Brandon Ingram (Duke), Cheick Diallo (Kansas) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), forcing them to scramble to fill out their roster with some second-tier options.
In this case, John Calipari’s loss is Martin’s gain. In a Cal-versus-Cal recruiting battle, Brown apparently preferred the school to the coach.
Rivals.com video of Jaylen Brown:
– – – – – – –
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
