Dee Brown (Illinois)
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- For other persons named Dee Brown, see Dee Brown
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| Position | Point guard |
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| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Team | Utah Jazz |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Born | August 17, 1984 (age 22) Jackson, Mississippi |
| College | Illinois |
| Draft | 2nd round, 46th overall, 2006 Utah Jazz |
| Pro career | 2006–present |
Daniel (Dee) Brown (born August 17, 1984 in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player. Brown played at the University of Illinois from 2002 to 2006, receiving many awards and accolades. Brown was selected in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.
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[edit] High school
Brown graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, where he excelled not only athletically but also academically, finishing with a class rank of 16th out of 382 graduates. Brown was a star on Proviso East's basketball and football teams. He played quarterback for the football team, passing and rushing for more than 1,800 yards and 16 touchdowns in seven games during his senior season. His play at quarterback garnered the recruiting attention of many major collegiate football programs, including Florida State University and the University of Nebraska. His play on the basketball court, however, led Brown to be considered one of the best high school basketball players in the United States for his class. Brown was named Illinois Mr. Basketball and was a McDonald's All-American, and many recruiting analysts ranked him in the top 20 high school players.
[edit] College
[edit] Freshman year
Brown was named a starting guard for 31 of 32 games in his freshman season at Illinois. He led the Big Ten Conference in steals per game (1.9/game) and averaged 4.9 assist, second to teammate Deron Williams; a contribution that helped the Illini finish second in the Big Ten regular season standings and win the 2003 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
[edit] Sophomore year
In his second season, Brown shared duties at point guard and shooting guard with Deron Williams. He started every game of the season, averaging 13.3 points per game and ranking second on the team in assists with 4.5 per game (behind Deron Williams). Williams and Brown, combined with talents of junior shooting guard Luther Head and the frontcourt tandem of Roger Powell and James Augustine, helped the Illini to a 13-3 Big Ten Conference regular season record, enough to win the school's first outright Big Ten Conference Championship since 1952.
In the NCAA Tournament, Brown helped the 5th-seeded Illini to an opening-round 72-53 victory over 12th-seeded Murray State. In their second round game against the 4th-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats, Brown scored 14 points and accounted for 8 of the team's 26 assists in a 92-68 victory, the Illini's first ever NCAA Tournament victory over a higher-seeded team. Illinois finally lost to top-ranked Duke, 72-62, in the regional semifinals.
[edit] Junior year
In the 2004-2005 collegiate basketball season, Brown was one of a celebrated trio of guards (along with Deron Williams and Luther Head) that led the Fighting Illini to a 37-2 record and a second-place finish in the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
After the 2004-2005 season, Brown considered declaring his eligibility for the NBA Draft. However, Brown broke his foot during the NBA pre-draft camp for draft-eligible players, and opted to not enter the draft and return to Illinois for his senior year.
[edit] Senior year
With Williams and Head in the NBA, Brown and fellow senior James Augustine led the Illini to a 26-7 record. Brown had played shooting guard for his first three years at Illinois. But since Deron Williams, who played point guard in his years at Illinois, had left for the NBA, Brown returned to his primary position of point guard for his senior season. His last game was the 67-64 loss to Washington in the second round on the 2006 NCAA Tournament. After the season, Brown was named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press. He received the sixth-most votes, making him the leading vote getter on the second team.[1] Also, he was named the winner of the Bob Cousy Award for 2006, given to the nation's top collegiate male point guard.
[edit] NBA
During the 2006 NBA Draft, Brown was selected 46th overall by the Utah Jazz but was not offered a guaranteed contract. Brown attended the team's training camp in the fall, where he and various undrafted players competed for a roster spot. On August 29th, 2006 Dee Brown signed with the Jazz and was reunited with former college teammates Deron Williams and Roger Powell, who also signed with the team.
On November 14, 2006, Brown scored his first points in the NBA with a pair of free throws against the Los Angeles Clippers. Through the first month of the NBA season, Brown played off the bench in eight of the Jazz seventeen games.
[edit] Personal
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- Mother is Cathy Brown-Blocker. Brown-Blocker became a minor celebrity herself when shown on television during many televised Fighting Illini games wearing a replica of her son's jersey and rooting on her son and his teammates.
- Graduated in December, 2005 with a bachelor's degree in sports management.
- Reputation as one of the quickest guards in America has earned him the nickname "The One-Man Fast Break".
- Attended the same high school as NBA player and coach Doc Rivers and current NBA players Michael Finley and Shannon Brown.
- Has a tattoo of the NBA logo on his lower arm
- Attended the Jon Hendrian basketball camp as a freshman in high school, where Illinois first noticed his talent.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- The Official Website of Dee Brown
- DEE BROWN: My Illini Years by The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette, published by Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2006
- Player profile @NBA.com
- Biography at fightingillini.com
- Player Card at ESPN.com
- In-Depth Scouting Report at JustBBall's HoopsAction
| 2006 NBA Draft | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Round Andrea Bargnani | LaMarcus Aldridge | Adam Morrison | Tyrus Thomas | Shelden Williams | Brandon Roy | Randy Foye | Rudy Gay | Patrick O'Bryant | Mouhamed Sene | J.J. Redick | Hilton Armstrong | Thabo Sefolosha | Ronnie Brewer | Cedric Simmons | Rodney Carney | Shawne Williams | Oleksiy Pecherov | Quincy Douby | Renaldo Balkman | Rajon Rondo | Marcus Williams | Josh Boone | Kyle Lowry | Shannon Brown | Jordan Farmar | Sergio Rodríguez | Maurice Ager | Mardy Collins | Joel Freeland |
||
| Second Round James White | Steve Novak | Solomon Jones | Paul Davis | P.J. Tucker | Craig Smith | Bobby Jones | Kosta Perovic | David Noel | Denham Brown | James Augustine | Daniel Gibson | Marcus Vinicius | Lior Eliyahu | Alexander Johnson | Dee Brown | Paul Millsap | Vladimir Veremeenko | Leon Powe | Ryan Hollins | Cheick Samb | Guillermo Diaz | Yotam Halperin | Hassan Adams | Ejike Ugboaja | Edin Bavcic | Loukas Mavrokefalidis | J.R. Pinnock | Damir Markota | Will Blalock |
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Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1984 births | African American basketball players | American basketball players | Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players | Living people | McDonald's High School All-Americans | People from Jackson, Mississippi | Utah Jazz players
