Sterling Brown, a 6-foot-4, 205 rising senior guard from Maywood (IL) Proviso East, is one of the top guards in the Midwest and has received a scholarship offer from Minnesota.
Sterling Brown, a 6-foot-4, 205 rising senior guard from Maywood (IL) Proviso East, is one of the top guards in the Midwest and has received a scholarship offer from Minnesota. Brown, who is the younger brother of NBA and former Michigan State guard Shannon, attended the NBA Top 100 camp last month. GopherHole.com recently caught up with Brown to learn the latest on his recruitment
Brown led Proviso East to a 32-1 mark, losing to three-time Class AAAA state champion Simeon. Brown scored a game-high 25 points as he made 10 of 18 shots from the field, two of five from beyond the arc and all three free throws. Proviso East was outscored 16-9 in the final quarter.
Brown shot 41.4% from the field, 50% from three-point range and 66.7% from the line last season as he averaged 12.7 points per game, second best on the team.
Brown helped lead the Mac Irvin Fire to the Peach Jam and this past week, they advanced to the title game of the Las Vegas Classic, losing to the Houston Hoops 54-53 in overtime.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on your recruitment right now?
Sterling Brown: There are no schools that are standing out, but I have heard from Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, Colorado, Georgia Tech and USC.
Gopher Hole: Have you set up any visits?
Sterling Brown: No, not yet.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Sterling Brown: Close to ten. (DePaul, Illinois State, Minnesota, Nebraska, USC, Oregon State, Northwestern, Miami)
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from Minnesota?
Sterling Brown: I am hearing about how much they want me and the program. I am talking to Coach Smith and Coach Taylor.
Gopher Hole: Is that a school that would appeal to you?
Sterling Brown: Oh, yeah, definitely.
Gopher Hole: Do you know much about Coach Smith and his background?
Sterling Brown: At Kentucky, I know a little bit about him. I know a couple of players that he has produced and put in the league, but that is pretty much it.
Gopher Hole: Georgia Tech is recruiting you and their head coach, Brian Gregory, recruited your brother when he was an assistant at Michigan State. Is that one reason that Georgia Tech is high on your list of schools?
Sterling Brown: Definitely. He has a good bond with the family.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about when you might try to make your college decision? Would you try to sign in the early signing period? Have you even thought that far yet?
Sterling Brown: No., I haven’t. I’ll probably narrow down my list, probably next month.
Gopher Hole: Have you ever been up to Minnesota besides to play in the EYBL event in April?
Sterling Brown: No, I haven’t.
Gopher Hole: Would Minnesota be a school that you would visit?
Sterling Brown: I’m not for sure right now. I can’t say what schools I am going to visit.
Gopher Hole: You have been on the road the last few weeks. Does it feel good to be home and have a day off?
Sterling Brown: Oh, yes definitely. It will feel good to be back home. I am going to take a little rest to take care of my body and then get back in the gym and work on some things that will help me and my team this season.
Gopher Hole: Will you try to visit some colleges before school starts?
Sterling Brown: Oh, yeah definitely. I am going to try to get in a couple of unofficial visits.
Gopher Hole: Do you know which ones you will visit?
Sterling Brown: I have no idea yet.
Gopher Hole: You visited Nebraska with several other Chicago players. What was the trip like?
Sterling Brown: It was good, Nebraska has good facilities, so that trip was good. The coaching staff was great. The fans were great.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you are hoping that are playing in front of the college coaches that you will get some more looks, right?
Sterling Brown: Hopefully. Just keep playing my game and improving. When the coaches see the improvement, hopefully, they will want me more.
Gopher Hole: Do you notice the coaches when you are playing? Do you try not to notice them or is hard not to?
Sterling Brown: Not really. I glance every once in a while, but I try not to. I just try to focus on my game and not play for the coaches, but to try to play to better myself.
Gopher Hole: What things have you been really working on to continue to improve yourself as a player?
Sterling Brown: Being more aggressive on both ends of the floor, offense and defense. Looking for my jump shot on offense and my ballhandling.
Gopher Hole: You come from a basketball family. Is that something that has always been in your blood?
Sterling Brown: I always wanted to do it since my brother was playing and watching him play when I was growing up. I just wanted to play basketball.
Gopher Hole: Do you still get a chance to watch him much?
Sterling Brown: I try to watch every game on TV. When he is playing (locally) and I can get down there, I watch him play. I look back at a couple of high school and college games, just to study.
Gopher Hole: Do you see aspects of his game that you want to add to your game.
Sterling Brown: Oh, yeah, totally. His total aggressiveness in high school. He was dominant. He was dominating everybody. I just have to try to get there.
Gopher Hole: He played at Michigan State. Is that a school that you have looked at?
Sterling Brown: Oh, yeah. That is a school that I am looking at. They are recruiting me right now and I have seen the coaches a couple of time over there. I am just going to keep playing and try to improve.
Gopher Hole: Are you still open to new schools recruiting you?
Sterling Brown: Oh, yeah, totally. I am definitely open to any school that wants to recruit me. I am going to look at you, just the way that you look at me.
Gopher Hole: How about your high school season?
Sterling Brown: Things were good. We made it to the state championship game. Fell short to (AAU teammate Jabari (Parker) and Simeon. We lost by two points. Hopefully, next year we are going to try to get back there and see them again and get the W.
Gopher Hole: Do you lose a lot of guys?
Sterling Brown: We lost like five or six seniors, but we are still strong. We are still strong as a team and I still have my point guard, Paris Lee, who is playing with me, so we are strong.
Gopher Hole: The championship was the only game you lost all season, right?
Sterling Brown: That was the only game we lost all season. It was tough, real tough. It was tough, just losing in the championship, period and tough losing one game for the season. We set a goal to go undefeated and win the championship game and in one game, we failed a couple of goals, so it was tough.