The world of college basketball recruiting is full of surprises, and in that environment Kentucky is busier than most. But even for a fanbase that used to a moving needle, the announcement by
Greg Brown III on Tuesday night that Kentucky had made his final five caught everyone off guard.
I watched Brown in May in Indianapolis and couldn't figure out why Kentucky was not in pursuit. After all, he was long, athletic, and really good. Afterwards, the five-star told us that he had not heard from the Wildcats' coaching staff. Other local media members who we reached out to who were at Peach Jam in July, said there was no mention of the 6-foot-9 forward and the Big Blue.
We checked recent interviews and stories by our team of National Recruiting Analysts and the same held true. But on Tuesday night, Kentucky, Auburn, Memphis, Noth Carolina, and Texas made the cut.
The following afternoon, we spoke to his father, Greg Brown II, and he gave a very revealing interview about the Cats' involvement and an offer that been kept top secret. He also went into full detail about his recruitment.
Q: The news that your son put Kentucky in his list of five finalists kind of caught everyone off guard. Word didn't get out that they were recruiting him. Tell us how that all kind of came about.
Brown: "They contacted us while we were at the Peach Jam. They had come to see Cade (Cunningham), and after Coach Cal watched the game he was very interested in Greg. He wanted to know why they weren't recruiting him. They reached out to us. They talked to me. They talked to some of our inner circle, and talked to Little Greg. They made their pitch and told us what they thought, etcetera, etcetera. Based off the things we've seen, and the guys that have come through their program, it sounded interesting."
Q: How far have the talks gotten between you guys?
Brown: "Oh, they've gotten pretty advanced because we are we are trying to figure out when we are going to go down for an official visit or even an unofficial visit. That's where we are in our process in general with the five schools that we're looking at; setting up official visits and maybe unofficial visits as well."
Q: I guess the million dollar question is do you feel like an offer is going to come from there?
Brown: "Oh no, they've already offered."
Q: So Kentucky has offered?
Brown: "Oh yeah, we're not even talking to your school or coming to your school if you ain't coming with an offer. We ain't doing that (laughing)." .
Q: Here's the thing. I've even talked to other media sites who cover Kentucky, and that just hasn't gotten out.
Brown: "We kept that under wraps. Yeah, we kept it under wraps."
Q: When did that happen?
Brown: "The first day we talked to them (laughing)."
Q: Kentucky has the name and the success, but from Greg's point of view, what makes Kentucky really appealing to him?
Brown: "Well, the first thing is the obvious. Cal has more number one picks in the last ten years. So that's the most glaring thing because we think he has a shot to be a top five guy. You go there, you produce, and you have a really good shot with your athleticism and the things that you do on both ends of the floor. He has a good shot to be one of those really top guys in the 2021 Draft. That 's the most glaring thing that comes out first.
Then once you get past that, then we start looking at how Greg gets along with the coaching staff, the players that he'll be playing with, who else has committed, who will be be playing with. Because I think that's a big thing. And then how does the coach coach those guys? Sometimes you get on the team with a guy with a certain personality, or has to have the ball a lot. Does the coach hold people accountable? How does that all work? Those are things that we are looking at. It's just not Kentucky, but it's all five of those schools. What's the style of play that their school plays? What do they want Greg to do? What will be Greg's role?"
Q: Coach Calipari obviously coaches hard. He holds them accountable like you said. That's one thing he rally leans on. Is that something that's really attractive?
Brown: "We're not even coming to your school if you're not going to coach Greg hard. If you're not going to coach him hard, and you're going to let him do what he wants to do, if they're ain't going to be any accountability, we're not coming to your school. That's not going to help him long-term. We're looking at this long-term not short-term. What's going to be the most beneficial for him long-term? "
Q: You talked about his role. What is his role on the next level? Is he a three-four combo, or is he a multi-positional player?
Brown: "We talked a little bit about positions, but all of the guys that we are talking to are kind of looking at him at more of the positionless player. He can guard the one through four very easily, and he can play the one though four really easily. It's more of a positonless, and put him in space, and put him in situations that are easy, and will help the team win. It's kind of how all the schools are talking.
One thing we learned early on in basketball is you can't play a position unless you can guard that position. When you can guard the one through the four there a lot of options or places that you can fit in based on the other guys that you have on the team. So that's one of those luxuries with Greg is that he can guard multiple positions, but he can play multiple positions on the offensive end which allows us to kind of broaden our span of places off of that."
Q: You were talking about who he would play with. Playing in the EYBL, they got B.J. Boston and Cam'Ron Fletcher committed. How do you like those two in the class so far?
Brown: "I don't like to talk about other people's kids, but I'll say this. Those two guys he would not have a problem playing with. He would actually like playing with those guys. I'm not going to say he wouldn't be very enthusiastic playing with everybody in the 2020 Class, but at the same time while I'm saying he can play with everybody in the 2020 Class, because he brings another aspect to the game. But in my opinion and a lot of other people's opinion, he doesn't need the ball as much as others do to have an impact in the game. A lot of other kids if they don't have the ball, you don't see their contribution as much, whereas when he doesn't have the ball you're like he's doing this, he's doing that, he's doing other things. I think he can play with anyone. I don't think he would want to play with everyone, but I think he can play with anyone."
Q: There's been a lot of talk with hm about Texas and North Carolina. They've been in on him for awhile. Are their leaders right now?
Brown: "I'll say this. Greg definitely does have a strong relationship with Shaka Smart. And the reason it's been good is because it's been since eighth grade. We live right there in Austin. He's been going up there and competing against the guys at Texas since he was in ninth grade. I'd be lying to you if I didn't say Texas has a strong case to be made. But like I said before, even with the strong case they have to be made, it's moreso how Greg feels about the Head Coach, even more than the assistant coaches. Because we know that the assistant coach can move on very quickly. A Head Coach tends to stick around. So the Head Coach kind of plays a big role in where he will play. What kind of role are you looking for out of him? So that's kind of the stuff that means the most to him. As his father, and an inner circle that has a lot of experience with basketball, we are going to have to try and help him get to a top three that's going to be the best fit for him based on everything above; all of the above. Based off that top three, we want him to choose where he wants to go. That's kind of our thought process as far as that goes."
Q: What's the calendar look like as far as setting up visits and making a decision?
Brown: "We are setting up visits was we speak. We're trying to get the visits in. I have three other kids so I have to try to fit it around my schedule. But we're trying to get the visits set up as we speak. The timetable, we're not in a rush to go ahead and sign with anyone. We probably won't even commit to anyone. We'll probably just sign. We're probably not looking to have a decision until February, March. He'll sign late. We want to see where some other people are going, and then make a decision. After that it will be all set and done."
Greg Brown III on Tuesday night that Kentucky had made his final five caught everyone off guard.
I watched Brown in May in Indianapolis and couldn't figure out why Kentucky was not in pursuit. After all, he was long, athletic, and really good. Afterwards, the five-star told us that he had not heard from the Wildcats' coaching staff. Other local media members who we reached out to who were at Peach Jam in July, said there was no mention of the 6-foot-9 forward and the Big Blue.
We checked recent interviews and stories by our team of National Recruiting Analysts and the same held true. But on Tuesday night, Kentucky, Auburn, Memphis, Noth Carolina, and Texas made the cut.
The following afternoon, we spoke to his father, Greg Brown II, and he gave a very revealing interview about the Cats' involvement and an offer that been kept top secret. He also went into full detail about his recruitment.
Q: The news that your son put Kentucky in his list of five finalists kind of caught everyone off guard. Word didn't get out that they were recruiting him. Tell us how that all kind of came about.
Brown: "They contacted us while we were at the Peach Jam. They had come to see Cade (Cunningham), and after Coach Cal watched the game he was very interested in Greg. He wanted to know why they weren't recruiting him. They reached out to us. They talked to me. They talked to some of our inner circle, and talked to Little Greg. They made their pitch and told us what they thought, etcetera, etcetera. Based off the things we've seen, and the guys that have come through their program, it sounded interesting."
Q: How far have the talks gotten between you guys?
Brown: "Oh, they've gotten pretty advanced because we are we are trying to figure out when we are going to go down for an official visit or even an unofficial visit. That's where we are in our process in general with the five schools that we're looking at; setting up official visits and maybe unofficial visits as well."
Q: I guess the million dollar question is do you feel like an offer is going to come from there?
Brown: "Oh no, they've already offered."
Q: So Kentucky has offered?
Brown: "Oh yeah, we're not even talking to your school or coming to your school if you ain't coming with an offer. We ain't doing that (laughing)." .
Q: Here's the thing. I've even talked to other media sites who cover Kentucky, and that just hasn't gotten out.
Brown: "We kept that under wraps. Yeah, we kept it under wraps."
Q: When did that happen?
Brown: "The first day we talked to them (laughing)."
Q: Kentucky has the name and the success, but from Greg's point of view, what makes Kentucky really appealing to him?
Brown: "Well, the first thing is the obvious. Cal has more number one picks in the last ten years. So that's the most glaring thing because we think he has a shot to be a top five guy. You go there, you produce, and you have a really good shot with your athleticism and the things that you do on both ends of the floor. He has a good shot to be one of those really top guys in the 2021 Draft. That 's the most glaring thing that comes out first.
Then once you get past that, then we start looking at how Greg gets along with the coaching staff, the players that he'll be playing with, who else has committed, who will be be playing with. Because I think that's a big thing. And then how does the coach coach those guys? Sometimes you get on the team with a guy with a certain personality, or has to have the ball a lot. Does the coach hold people accountable? How does that all work? Those are things that we are looking at. It's just not Kentucky, but it's all five of those schools. What's the style of play that their school plays? What do they want Greg to do? What will be Greg's role?"
Q: Coach Calipari obviously coaches hard. He holds them accountable like you said. That's one thing he rally leans on. Is that something that's really attractive?
Brown: "We're not even coming to your school if you're not going to coach Greg hard. If you're not going to coach him hard, and you're going to let him do what he wants to do, if they're ain't going to be any accountability, we're not coming to your school. That's not going to help him long-term. We're looking at this long-term not short-term. What's going to be the most beneficial for him long-term? "
Q: You talked about his role. What is his role on the next level? Is he a three-four combo, or is he a multi-positional player?
Brown: "We talked a little bit about positions, but all of the guys that we are talking to are kind of looking at him at more of the positionless player. He can guard the one through four very easily, and he can play the one though four really easily. It's more of a positonless, and put him in space, and put him in situations that are easy, and will help the team win. It's kind of how all the schools are talking.
One thing we learned early on in basketball is you can't play a position unless you can guard that position. When you can guard the one through the four there a lot of options or places that you can fit in based on the other guys that you have on the team. So that's one of those luxuries with Greg is that he can guard multiple positions, but he can play multiple positions on the offensive end which allows us to kind of broaden our span of places off of that."
Q: You were talking about who he would play with. Playing in the EYBL, they got B.J. Boston and Cam'Ron Fletcher committed. How do you like those two in the class so far?
Brown: "I don't like to talk about other people's kids, but I'll say this. Those two guys he would not have a problem playing with. He would actually like playing with those guys. I'm not going to say he wouldn't be very enthusiastic playing with everybody in the 2020 Class, but at the same time while I'm saying he can play with everybody in the 2020 Class, because he brings another aspect to the game. But in my opinion and a lot of other people's opinion, he doesn't need the ball as much as others do to have an impact in the game. A lot of other kids if they don't have the ball, you don't see their contribution as much, whereas when he doesn't have the ball you're like he's doing this, he's doing that, he's doing other things. I think he can play with anyone. I don't think he would want to play with everyone, but I think he can play with anyone."
Q: There's been a lot of talk with hm about Texas and North Carolina. They've been in on him for awhile. Are their leaders right now?
Brown: "I'll say this. Greg definitely does have a strong relationship with Shaka Smart. And the reason it's been good is because it's been since eighth grade. We live right there in Austin. He's been going up there and competing against the guys at Texas since he was in ninth grade. I'd be lying to you if I didn't say Texas has a strong case to be made. But like I said before, even with the strong case they have to be made, it's moreso how Greg feels about the Head Coach, even more than the assistant coaches. Because we know that the assistant coach can move on very quickly. A Head Coach tends to stick around. So the Head Coach kind of plays a big role in where he will play. What kind of role are you looking for out of him? So that's kind of the stuff that means the most to him. As his father, and an inner circle that has a lot of experience with basketball, we are going to have to try and help him get to a top three that's going to be the best fit for him based on everything above; all of the above. Based off that top three, we want him to choose where he wants to go. That's kind of our thought process as far as that goes."
Q: What's the calendar look like as far as setting up visits and making a decision?
Brown: "We are setting up visits was we speak. We're trying to get the visits in. I have three other kids so I have to try to fit it around my schedule. But we're trying to get the visits set up as we speak. The timetable, we're not in a rush to go ahead and sign with anyone. We probably won't even commit to anyone. We'll probably just sign. We're probably not looking to have a decision until February, March. He'll sign late. We want to see where some other people are going, and then make a decision. After that it will be all set and done."
