JUCO Brown

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

This is from Mark Cofman in today's Boston Herald.
http://www2.bostonherald.com/sport/basketball/celts07052001.htm

(...) By all accounts, the swingman from Okaloosa-Walton Community College 
is a far superior talent to his draft predecessors from the juco ranks. In 
fact, there are those around the league (besides the Celtics) who now 
believe the 6-foot-7, 222-pound Brown could be the best all-around athlete 
taken in this year's draft who can shoot. Athletically and skill-wise, he's 
been compared by some to Latrell Sprewell.

``As a pure athlete - running, jumping, speed, quickness, reactions - he's 
off the chart,'' said Bruce Stewart, Brown's coach for two years at 
Okaloosa-Walton. ``When you take his pure athleticism, and then you add to 
that the fact his skill level has improved daily for two years, I think 
that begins to tell you what kind of a talent you're dealing with in 
Kedrick's case.''

Stewart, of course, has a natural bias toward his All-America, who helped 
lead the small Florida school to a 55-10 record the past two years. But 
even the numbers back up Stewart's belief the Celtics struck gold in making 
Brown the second of their consecutive lottery picks following Arkansas' Joe 
Johnson.

Brown, 20, averaged 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.3 blocks and 
2.3 steals per game last season.

Of added interest to the 3-point-happy Celtics, he hit 40.4 percent of his 
trifectas, distinguishing himself as the premier juco player in the nation. 
Initially, Brown was slated to continue college ball at LSU next season, 
but he changed his mind in early May.

``It was the biggest decision of my life, so I wasn't going to take it 
lightly,'' Brown said of his decision to enter the NBA draft. ``Coach 
Stewart has been around the pro game before (as a Continental Basketball 
Association coach for five years), and he did a lot of research and talked 
to NBA people he knew before a final decision was made.''

Equally important to Brown in the decision-making process, he received the 
blessing of his mother, Edith, though eventually she'd like him to pursue a 
four-year degree.

``A lot went into this decision,'' the younger Brown said. ``I would have 
gone to LSU if I didn't fully believe this was the right thing for me to do.''

Said Stewart: ``In my mind, Kedrick is ready for this challenge. He is a 
terrific shooter with range, and that could be especially important to the 
Celtics the way people double-up Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. But 
there's so much more to this young man's game and character, and people up 
here in Boston will find that out for themselves.

``First of all, he's very humble and extremely hard-working. He's always 
trying to improve his all-around skills. Secondly, he will absolutely 
electrify Celtics fans with his athleticism and his dunks. He's a leaper 
like they may not have had here in many years.

``When all is said and done, I think the Celtics and their fans are going 
to be very happy with this selection,'' Stewart added. ``And hopefully, 
Kedrick will have changed the way some people view junior college players 
entering the NBA draft.

***