With Arizona playing in the Bay area this weekend, highly-touted Class of 2011 guard Jabari Brown of Oakland (Calif.) High School is keeping a watchful eye on the Wildcats.

“I (was not) be able to go to (last night’s) game because I have a late practice, but yeah both Cal and Arizona are recruiting me,” Brown wrote me Thursday via e-mail. “I like both coaching staffs a lot and the style of play for both.”

Brown, 6-3, 205, transferred to his hometown of Oakland in midseason from high-profile Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., where he was one of the Pilots’ top players.

“It wasn’t really working out,” Brown told the Oakland Tribune about his transfer. “I just decided it would be a good decision for me and the team and I decided to come home.”

In a game before his transfer, Brown had a season-high 28 points, scoring 15 points in a four-minute stretch during the second half of a 109-68 victory against St. Andrews of Rhode Island. He hit four straight 3-pointers in the outburst. Arizona does not have that kind of scoring punch on its team this season.

Other programs are also recruiting him with great interest including ASU, Maryland, Wake Forest and Stanford, among others.

This is an example of how strong of a player Brown is for Oakland: After Brown transferred from Findlay on Jan. 12, he had to wait three weeks to get his eligibility cleared. In his first game, he showed no signs of rust with 33 points, five blocks and four steals in a 92-84 win over Oakland Tech.

When Brown was at Findlay he was observed occasionally by UA coach Sean Miller and assistant Archie Miller. The Millers are also recruiting Class of 2011 guard Nick Johnson and other from the Class of 2012 at Findlay.

“I haven’t heard from the U of A coaches lately, but I think they might have called one of my coaches,” Brown said.

The fact that he has not heard from the coaches raises eyebrows. His transfer out of the Findlay program should not brand Brown, who reportedly was benched in the second half of a game before his departure because he did not hustle back on defense. Veteran recruiting guru Van Coleman, who is as knowledgeable as they come in the business, reported on Hoopmasters.com that sources close to the situation say that Brown was homesick, and felt that he needed to return home.

“That was more of the reason than anything related to school or athletics,” Coleman reported.

Scouts, Inc., describes Brown’s game this way on ESPN.com: Brown is an athletic shooting guard with a good feel for scoring the basketball. Jabari is an excellent shooter with range to 22 feet. He has a quick release and a consistent follow through. Jabari is cognizant of court spacing; he knows when he has space to shoot the three point shot or to drive past his defender. He has an explosive first step and uses his body to shield defenders when finishing lay-ups in the lane or drawing contact to get to the foul line. His ability to draw fouls and finish the traditional three point play is outstanding. He has good instincts on defense and is able to lock and trail shooters coming off screens, as well as, defending against dribble penetration. The future is bright because of his athleticism and basketball IQ.

Keep in mind that from here on out Sean Miller will be recruiting his type of player: Tough-minded, defense-oriented, smart and able to shoot from anywhere on the court. That description fits a player like Brown.

Rivals.com rates Brown a Four-Star player and the 28th best prospect overall in his class. Scout.com, which reports that Arizona has offered him a scholarship along with Cal and Wake Forest, also rates him as a Four-Star recruit and 55th overall.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 9:34 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Archie Miller, Class of 2011 recruits, Jabari Brown, Nick Johnson, Sean Miller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.