Centennial’s Brown focused on being a leader during final live period

By Taylor Bern

Thursday, July 21, 2016 | 2 a.m.

A couple of weeks ago the Las Vegas Prospects had a rough showing at the Nike Peach Jam, going 0-5, and after a little bounce back in Milwaukee they were looking to get off to a good start here at home during the final live recruiting period of the summer. It didn’t turn out that way at Durango High on Wednesday night as California-based Dream Vision turned a tie game into a 20-point blowout, but through adversity Prospects guard Troy Brown Jr. is staying resilient.

“Having tough games and stuff like that, I just try to be a leader and continue to cheer people on and keep everybody’s mindset right,” Brown said.

Brown, a senior-to-be at Centennial High, couldn’t find his shot on Wednesday, a problem shared by most of the team. But weathering the storm is part of basketball, and there are plenty more games to be played this week as events continue across the Las Vegas Valley through the weekend.

Brown has been one of the top-ranked players in the state for several years, and he and Prospects teammate Chuck O’Bannon Jr. are both top-30 nationally in the class of 2017, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. This is their final summer weekend playing in front of coaches, and Brown, who’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, hopes to prove that he’s a more physical player than last summer.

“That was one thing that being a big guard, most people said I was not physical,” Brown said. “I would say now I’m getting to the basket and creating more contact. Still got to work on finishing at the hoop.”

Former UNLV coach Dave Rice offered Brown a scholarship four years ago when Brown was 14. Rice, now an assistant at UNR, was at Wednesday’s game, as was the entire Rebels coaching staff that’s attempting to pick up where he left off.

Brown said UNLV coach Marvin Menzies started reaching out before the tryouts for the USA Basketball U-17 team that Brown eventually helped to win a gold medal last month at the FIBA World Championships in Spain. While the coaching change certainly hurts the Rebels’ chances, Brown said he’s keeping his options open and has enjoyed getting to know Menzies.

“Coming in with them having a new coaching staff I didn’t think I was going to get to know them very well but they’ve been very open to my process and they’ve been talking to me a lot and getting to know me as a person instead of just a basketball player,” Brown said.

He plans to cut down his list after the summer season ends and he gets a chance to go over options with his family. Some of the other schools making their push for Brown include Cal, Arizona, Alabama and Kansas.

Brown said he plans to take all of his five allotted official visits, and whatever he decides Brown has learned through the process to really value his relationship with the program’s head coach.

“Building a one-on-one connection with the coach, that’s huge for me,” Brown said. “Especially if I am going to play that point guard position, I need to know how he feels about everything and what he wants me to do.”

Those decisions will come at a later date. For now, Brown and the Prospects want to get back to work and make the most of the summer’s remaining games.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.