Brown looks to turn things around in Rebels’ program

Steve Guiremand

Monday, March 27, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

While growing up in Southern California, it was only natural that Kevin Brown be compared to Lawrence Phillips.

Both were highly recruited running backs with a rare combination of size, power and speed.

Both earned all-CIF honors at Baldwin Park High School, about 20 miles east of Los Angeles.

Both signed with the University of Nebraska.

"Lawrence was somebody I always looked up to when I was younger," the muscular 6-1, 230-pound Brown said. "I was three or four years under him and I kind of watched him grow up. So I always wanted to be like Lawrence."

Be like Lawrence Phillips on the football field, not off it.

Phillips, who led Nebraska to the 1996 national championship and was a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams, has a well-chronicled history of problems off the field and was released by the San Francisco 49ers this past NFL season.

In fact, it was because of Phillips' troubled childhood that Brown got to know the former Nebraska All-American.

Phillips spent his high school years growing up at the Tina Mack Youth Home in West Covina, just a couple of blocks from Brown's house.

"I just talked to Lawrence the other day," Brown, who will be a senior at UNLV next fall, said after a recent spring practice workout. "He just told me not to do what he did, to just keep cool."

Thanks to an incident following his sophomore year at Washington State, it looked like Brown might be compared to Phillips for his off-the-field problems as well.

Slated to be a key starter for Mike Price's Cougars last season, Brown found himself kicked out of school after he and two teammates pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2,000 of personal property, including computer equipment, from an unlocked apartment on the Washington State campus. The players were sentenced to 30 days in jail and did 240 hours of community service.

Brown, who was a second team all-Pac-10 choice as a sophomore for the Cougars after gaining 1,046 yards in just six starts (including 216 yards on 37 carries in one game against Stanford), had to find another school willing to take him after the incident. So he called his junior college coach, George Rush of City College of San Francisco.

"He called (UNLV) Coach (John) Robinson, and that's how I got here," Brown said. "You can't refuse to play for someone like Coach Robinson. I grew up in Southern California, so I knew all about USC. That's where I always wanted to go."

"We knew he had a great season at Washington State and then got into some trouble," Robinson said. "He paid for what he did ... and then he decided to leave there and come here."

Before awarding Brown a scholarship, Robinson said he did a strong background check.

"(Rush) gave us a great recommendation, and the coaches at Washington State did, too," Robinson said. "Everybody who has ever dealt with this guy has thought he was a top-flight person who made a mistake."

In fact, Price spoke on Brown's behalf at his sentencing, saying the incident was out of character.

"I think what happened at Washington State is something I should have avoided," Brown said. "It wasn't me. It wasn't my type of thing."

"He's been a great guy for us here," Robinson added. "He's a leader-type guy for us. He's serious about what he does but he's also mellow, too. There's a good quality about him."

Brown said he is grateful for getting a second chance.

"I paid a big price," he said softly. "At the time, everything happened so quickly that I didn't know what was going to happen."

Brown has bulldozed his way over many a linebacker and defensive back in spring drills and also last fall while playing on the scout team. His power style figures to blend nicely with fellow senior tailbacks Jeremi Rudolph and Raymont Skaggs, both of whom are small speed backs.

"He's going to be the Mountain West Conference's version of Ron Dayne," predicted UNLV safety Randy Black. "He's a tough guy to tackle."

"He's a big, physical runner," Robinson said. "I think he has what it takes to play at the next level."

Although he isn't proud of what happened at Washington State, Brown is happy that he gets to continue his college career in Las Vegas.

"I think things happen for a reason," he said. "I learned a valuable lesson from my mistake. Now I want to go out and finish my college career on a strong note."

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