Luke Brown
- Thread starter K'ville Comet
- Start date
Well the Alford comparison should keep fan expectations reasonable.
Just confirming, based upon your physical evaluation of brown, in 12 months (given he was held back a year) he will be the same age as Alford ending his Freshman year at IU? A freshman year highlighted by an upset win of the 1984 #1 UNC team. I would recommend reviewing video of that game and the nature of how Alford scored (flashed more athleticism/quickness than usually given credit for — not a great athlete by any means — but better than likely remembered). That was on display against some of the best athletes in America.
Alford shot 59% from the field as a freshman at IU. 18/19 years old.
53% from both 2 & 3 for his career.
Yet you compared LB’s 42% from 3 against the lowest level of Indiana high school basketball and concluded him to be/project to be a better shooter than Alford? LB may be quicker, but isn’t close to demonstrating that on any platform that mattered at the same age Big Ten, NCAA, Olympics as Alford did in 1984.
I’m the furthest thing from an Alford fan from a coaching perspective, but I find his playing record at IU pretty much unimpeachable. I’m much less familiar with his high school record, but my guess it was very impressive.
I think it is a major disservice to Luke Brown that Alford’s name was even mentioned in your post. Your very minor disclaimer about the competition rings hollow in the shadow of that comparison.
That said, I appreciate the time you spent observing and posting the report on Luke as a player (that is the value of this board).
Thanks for the first hand account. I think mentioning Alford is about the worst thing you can do to a kid though! I watched several of Alfords games in high school and he was just a great all around scorer. At 6'2" he could get inside and of course he got a lot of his points at the line. I would guess a far greater percentage of his shots in college were 3 pters. But, it's also worth nothing he was playing much better high school comp than Brown is. I only watched a few minutes of the linked game, but he looks good. I think it will depend on #s, which at the moment don't seem to work in his favor, but it looks like there could be a spot on the team for a solid backup PG who is a knock down shooter. That may be his decision: backup at a B10 school or starter at a mid major.
Well in fairness, you're comparing Brown's #s as a senior in HS to Alfords college #s. I agree with you, especially my recollection of Alford in high school, he scored from all over, not just from range. That may be what the guy was trying to say: that Brown is a better shooter from 3 in high school. Still you're talking about the difference between 2 premier shooters. The worst think he could have done was compared him to SA.. too many strong emotions with him. Would have been better to say Coverdale or Lewis. The bottom line is, the kid does appear to be a terrific shooter, albeit against weaker comp. Intriguing prospect to possibly round out a class, and another in the long line of great IN HS players.
There’s not a player on IUs team That could beat Brown in a game of horse or free throw shooting!
Which is probably true.. In the same manner, I doubt Brown could get a shot off in game against them.
Yes, defenders do tend to muck things up from the practice court. I've actually been preaching that we should be talking to Brown and keeping an eye on him in case we feel on down the road that he might be able to help us.
When Jordan Hulls signed with IU,50% of this board knocked his shooting form and said he would never get a shot off in college.
When IU was searching for a new coach,AM was brought up early and often as a great hire.I love internet message boards.
When IU was searching for a new coach,AM was brought up early and often as a great hire.I love internet message boards.
Absolutely take the skilled basketball player over the raw athlete who can not dribble, pass, or shoot.
Just a couple of things to consider. I haven't seen Brown play so I'm not qualified to judge whether he's B1G material or not. But he is just a junior with another full year to mature physically and develop his game before he has to play at the collegiate level. As for age, check SA's date of birth. He started school later than his classmates as well. From folks who know the family, that was designed to help insure that he was as/more mature physically as those he would be competing against through hs. The same is true with a whole lot of other kids throughout the long history of basketball in this state. So much so that the IHSAA legislated against holding kids back a second year in middle school who were making sufficient academic progress.
My guess is that many of the kids in his class competing against Luke Brown are as old as he is. If his family has a history of maturing late physically, good for them for thinking ahead. I was born in August and graduated from hs at 17. My freshman year in college I grew an inch and put on 40 pounds. I think about how that would have helped me as a high school player and I sure wish my parents had started me later. Point is, it's not giving Luke Brown some advantage that distorts his true potential.
For those who discount the level of competition, lots of great players have come from small schools. Larry Bird didn't play against the biggest and the best in high school for sure. It didn't seem to limit him at the next level.
The same is true of athletic ability. Special skills are still special skills. Remember a kid named Jay Burson ? Would you take him on your team ? As I said, I don't know if Brown can play or not but I would be cautious about automatically discounting him. I'm sure the staff will be diligent, but at this point I would take a hard look at somebody's grandma if she could shoot it.
Did not see what you are referring to. Watching him hit threes and pull-up jumpers (going straight up) instantly reminded me of Rick Mount. Again, his passing was the biggest surprise for me and something no one is talking about. And to save someone the picky criticism, I know there was no three-point shot when Mount played.
haver you ever heard of setting a screen or is archie too much of a dumb@ss to use screens and moving without the ball ?
We'll get a chance to see how he does this summer on the AAU circuit against kids that can actually play. Oh wait, he's not on the team anyone because his dad threw a fit that he had to split time with other kids last year and pulled him off it last year.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
I said this a few weeks ago or so. Luke Brown is just fun to watch as a fan. If he is just a high school player and can't do it on the next level then I can still say that watching him play was a fine experience.
Too true. I have an August Bday and like you graduated at 17. My senior year in HS: 5'10" and 140. By my freshman year in college: 6'3" and 185.
Luke Brown was held back a year already, he's already a year older than everyone in the 2021 class. I'm highly doubting that he's gonna grow much more than what he's already at now.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
Does this mean next year Luke will be 6'7"? Lol Just kidding. It is true that some guys are late bloomers. Didn't David Robinson grow a lot while at Navy?
yeah, I think at the time the tallest you could be admitted to the Navy was 6'6", so he grew 6-7". Think it's so they can pass through portals on ships/subs.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
I actually forgot the point about David being too tall to really serve. If you can't be on ships or subs then what are you going to do in the Navy?
I don't recall the specifics of how things went after his playing career. I believe they approved an early discharge for him and maybe called him a Naval Ambassador or something. I think they felt he had done and continued to promote the Navy in a manner that was more than beneficial compared to actual service.
Retry: No Top 10 school is recruiting Brown. Nor is the whole of the BIG.
That should tell you something..
Last edited:
As of note...the 3 point line wasn’t added until 1987 in the IHSAA. We will never know if Alford was a better 3 point shooter than Brown is.
Steve was born in nov of 1964. He started at IU in Aug/September of 1983. So he was 18 on arrival and turned 19 during his freshman year at IU, as almost all freshman at IU do (except for the Late June - August birthdays). Now, do people with autumn birthdays have an advantage over spring birthdays in regards to “school year” alignment for sports and physical maturity (sure), but it wasn’t as if Steve was held back a year.
Youth Hockey as an example is run by birth year, so significant advantages to kids born Jan-March vs Oct-Dec.
Not sure of LBs birthday (I assume autumn of 2001/spring 2002), but he would enter the fall 2021 at 19, turning 20 during the school year. Therefore placing him a 1/2 to full year older as a freshman in college than Steve. Even with the age advantage, I wish the kid luck to achieve 1/2 of what Steve did as a freshman (no matter the school he attends).
LB could be a great player, my point was the Alford comparison. For example LB could be Mr. Basketball next year, get a high D-1 scholarship, even play as a freshman in D-1 and yet still not be as good as Alford as a freshman in college. It doesn’t diminish those great achievements for LB (if/when they happen).
Has a guard in the Big Ten since 1984 shot better than 59% from the field (Alford averaged 9+ shots a game as a freshman so wasn’t on low volume) for a season?
Back to high school, my guess is his 37.7 points as a high school senior was also accomplished with a relatively high shooting percentage.
True re: high school. In 5 years you can compare their respective senior years in college 3-pt %’s, Steve’s was 53% (on high volume).
That is exactly what I think he will be, it's up to Archie to surround an offensive talent like that with defenders and use the positives. Hulls couldn't guard a chair either, but he definitely could play.
If Brown is as good as this board says he is we would be seeing Izzo all over him. Izzo loves 3 star Indiana kids. Not sure Brown is a 3 though.
Luke Brown has mid major scholarship offers. The likelihood thay he would accept a walk on here isn't good at all.
And we're not gonna get a class full of all Indiana kids like you keep saying. Furst and Kaufman aren't gonna go to the same school.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
Furst and Kaufman should go to the same school because they would play well together. Kaufman has range and Furst is a down low to mid range guy. I could see them doing some real damage together.
