www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2009/04/03/hoops_recruit_m.html Please let this happen.
OK. I'm willing to get my hopes up again. Regardless of what transpires, congrats to JB for keeping his nose to the grindstone & not giving up. HOOK 'EM, Texdoc
While I HOPE what his dad is saying is true, I am inclined to believe otherwise. What class has he taken to suddenly qualify? His dad is a big part of the reason J'covan has not reached maturity. I know he's currently playing in the Pt. Arthur Rec league. Hope that's not the last stop in his playing career, because he does have special talent.
Wow! Loaded with talented players next year...bit of a numbers issue but I can think of worse problems to have. Link
I posted elsewhere that his paperwork was submitted to the clearinghouse. We'll see how it goes, but the people I've talked to say it looks good. This is merely the first hurdle, and not necessarily the biggest, but the other hurdles can't be overcome until this one was. He still has to show he can handle a structured environment, and it's going to be the first time where he hasn't been clearly the best player on a team he's been on. He has a lot of work ahead of him --- in his own way, a lot more work than Pittman has put in.
How exactly does this work? Does anyone know what would prevent the clearinghouse from clearing him? I know it's a clusterf**k, but isnt eligibility a fairly simple thing?
No, it's not a simple thing. The critical component is the definition of a core class. Some classes that are submitted as core classes are not accepted as such. This can affect the player's qualification in a couple of ways. First, without the acceptance of all their core classes, they may not have enough to meet NCAA minimum requirements. Secondly, even if they do have enough core classes to meet NCAA minimum requirements after some classes have been disallowed as such, by disallowing some of the classes, it may bring down the player's GPA in his core classes, which can then affect the test score they need to obtain in order to be fully qualified.
Thanks for the clarification. I guess I knew it wasnt a simple process, but it just seems like it should be.
Too late now but wouldn't Brown have been better off getting his grades in order at a prep school like a lot of other guys have ? Maybe that's still an option and best for Texas considering the numbers. From famine to feast as far as shooters go.
Bravehorn, this whole "sitting out" thing didn't have to happen. There were other complications involved. If the family and the Texas coaching staff had taken care of business, it's my opinion the paperwork could have been sent to the clearinghouse last summer.
While I'd love to see Brown in burnt orange, his eligibility would compound our current scholarship numbers problem.
Just curious in finding out what the deal is. SLX- do you have any feel for the likelihood he will get cleared?
From what I understand, the likelihood is good. We'll see, though. I haven't seen a copy of his transcript, but the people who have think that it's going to be fine.
SL: You said a while back, if I remember correctly, that he's as good of a player talent-wise as Willie Warren. I can understand how you thought that before, but do you still hold that same conviction after Warren's amazing showcase this year? If J'Covan is really that incredible, he would make a huge impact as soon as he stepped on the court, even if it's just in a backup role or as a scoring PG who we can rely on... What (or, better even, where) do you think his greatest impacts would be?
Nordberg realizes that, Orangesweat. He was making a funny --- a pretty clever one, I thought. GoHornsGo90, No, I have to retract me statement regarding Willie Warren and J'Covan Brown. That was my feeling heading into what should have been their freshman year, but I underestimated Warren. He has some limitations --- he doesn't go to his left well at all, he has an extremely low release point on his shots, and in many ways he's a mental midget in his own right. However, to Capel and Warren's credit, I felt like everyone did a great job of maximizing Warren's immense basketball talent and overall athleticism as an extremely effective complement to both Blake Griffin, and the perimeter shooting skills of the other OU guards. I still don't think J'Covan is that far off as a player, but he doesn't have nearly the otherworldly athleticism of Warren, he's a couple of inches shorter, and while J'Covan is a very good outside shooter, I think Warren is better. What I'm uncertain of is who is a better playmaker? Who is better at attacking the basket? Who is a better "scorer" (as opposed to "shooter", a category for which I'd give the nod to Warren)? Who is better on defense? J'Covan doesn't have the above the rim game Warren does, but J'Covan is a much more ruthless player in his matchups. When J'Covan gets a defender on his hip, it's all over. And while Warren has improved over the last two years as a playmaker for his teammates, he simply doesn't have the court instincts, either in the half court or particularly in the full court, that J'Covan does. And that's not meant as a criticism of Warren, who is more than passable in that regard. I just think J'Covan is head and shoulders better. What I will say is that IMO J'Covan has better lead guard qualities --- we're talking basketball skills here, ignoring the anger management issues --- than Warren does, but Warren is the better NBA prospect by far. With Bradley and Hamilton coming on board, I have no idea what impact J'Covan could make on this team. There's also Ward, Mason, and Balbay. I just know that with all that talent, it would be easy to underestimate J'Covan's basketball abilities. They're immense. I felt J'Covan Brown was a national top 25 talent in terms of his recruiting class going into the season, and I especially feel that way now. He has a great all around game. He's a threat to score anywhere on the court, whether from long range, midrange, or by attacking the basket. He has excellent court vision, both in the full and half court. He's an outstanding playmaker for his teammates. He has near equal facility with either hand --- something Warren doesn't have. Like a true son of Port Arthur, he also has a giant chip on his shoulder in terms of his abilities and talent. He won't be intimidated, he won't fear competition, and he won't back down from anyone. Watching the dynamics between him and Avery Bradley is going to be interesting to me to say the least. If he can play the point --- and I wouldn't hazard to guess one way or another on that count --- you could be looking at a Brown/Bradley/Hamilton/James/Pittman starting lineup. If that could possibly work in terms of chemistry and functionality, that would be one seriously scary starting 5. I truly feel like that could dwarf what the national champion Tar Heel squad just put on the floor.
I hope he makes it..the fact that he didn't give up and is still trying to live his dream, shows me something.
J'Covan looks like a sick passer (much better than Balbay or Lucas). He also has a very good handle, is a playmaker's playmaker, and is far more talented than Doge or Jai. If he gets on campus, what's to keep him out of the starting lineup. PG would be our weakest position next year, and our only position without a guaranteed star. Brown could be a true difference maker, especially with Dogus and Jai as backups who both can contribute certain attributes of the position...
"Much" better than Balbay? I think if you put some shooters around Balbay and give him 25-30 minutes a game, he can easily be a 7-8 assist per game guy. But then again I haven't seen a lot of Brown to compare/contrast.
J'Covan isn't a sure bet at the point at all. He's an excellent passer when he wants to, but I think its fair to question whether he has a points guard's mentality. He COULD (not saying its a guarantee) be an excellent scoring point in the mold of Allen Iverson (obviously not nearly on the same level or nearly as quick), but like with Iverson on the Pistons, that might not be what this team needs.
Yes, much better than Balbay. He made some of the worst passes I've ever seen last year. Mundane and elementary passes. Admittedly, he made some good ones that were quickly dropped or the receiver wasn't looking, but he made some just flat out BAD passes last year.
J'covan would be an upgrade oven Balbay simply because someone would have to actually guard him, instead of laying off and helping on someone else. J'covan has range well beyond the college line, and he's a thousand times better scorer. I am still skeptical he has qualified though. We will see come June I guess.
Like I said...there are other things that are more important than scoring for a point guard on next year's team. Sure, with this year's team, a scoring point would have been better than Balbay. But when you have guys with well rounded offensive games out there like Hamilton and Bradley, it might not always be a better fit. It didn't help last year when we had another guy outside of Balbay (usually Mason) out there with absolutely no semblence of an outside shot and occasionally had Atchley running pick and pops when nobody respected his ability to shoot anymore, so they sagged off and guarded balbay coming off the screen. Personally, I think J'Covan fits great in a pick and pop system, but I don't know if that's the system we'll be running most of the time next year. Our PG and PF are usually going to be our 4th and 5th scoring options.
