Friday, February 04, 2000
Xavier meets the one that got away
Muskies recruited Brown, now he's nation's leading scorer
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Xavier Musketeers will play against the nation's leading scorer Saturday. They very nearly got to play with him.
Guard SirValiant “Val” Brown, who averages 25.3 points a game, was interested in Xavier before winding up at George Washington.
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Why SirValiant?
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Nobody within the George Washington basketball program calls him SirValiant, but that is Val Brown's name.
His father was a fan of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table and the comic strip “Prince Valiant.” Val has his formal name tattooed on his arm.
His younger brother Cody's middle name is SirLancelot.
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Xavier assistant coach Jeff Battle had written letters to Brown. Brown's father called before summer camps started in 1998 to say his son was interested in the Musketeers.
Battle saw Brown play for the first time at the ABCD Camp in Teaneck, N.J., then told head coach Skip Prosser he had to watch Brown, too. After one game, Prosser said: “J.B., it's a no-brainer; the kid's terrific.”
“I thought he was one of the best point guards that I had seen in a long time,” Battle said. “Physically and talent-wise, he had the total package.”
The Musketeers recruited Brown hard. They thought Brown's aggressiveness at both ends of the court would fit right in with XU's style and that Brown was a great person.
But as the process went on, there was a question as to whether Brown would be aca demically eligible. Xavier started to back off, targeting other point guards more likely to qualify. XU got the guy it wanted, 6-foot Lionel Chalmers from Albany, N.Y.
Ironically, Chalmers ended up ineligible. He practices with Xavier but can't play in games.
Brown, meanwhile, got the grades and test score he needed to be eligible, and he signed with George Washington.
The Musketeers (13-7, 4-4 Atlantic 10), coming off their overtime victory Wednesday over Dayton, will face Brown and the Colonials at 4p.m. Saturday in Washington, D.C.
“He plays with so much en ergy and fire,” Battle said. “I just enjoy watching him. He's like a poor man's Allen Iverson. He can really score; he's explosive; he can pass it; he can shoot. He's in a perfect system for him. He has a lot of freedom. That's a style that he's accustomed to.
“We're happy with Lionel Chalmers. We feel like we got a good guy, too. We wanted Lionel Chalmers. He was the best fit for us at the time in terms of academics and basketball.”
Brown is coming off a 36-point night Wednesday in an 84-76 victory over Duquesne. He has scored more than 30 points five times, including a career-high 42 against Siena. He has been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week four times.
The 6-1 freshman has attempted 460 shots, 258 more than anyone else on GW's team and 238 more than any Xavier player. Brown has attempted 190 3-pointers, 64 more than any Musketeer, and 187 free throws, 102 more than any Musketeer.
“He's a scoring machine,” LaSalle coach Speedy Morris said. “It's not going to bother him if he misses eight straight shots.”
Early in the season, second-year GW coach Tom Penders told Brown he would have to carry the Colonials' offense. So he did.
George Washington (9-11, 3-4), which had won non-conference games against Seton Hall, Maryland and at Clemson, then lost six of seven before starting a three-game winning streak.
During the past three games, Brown has shot less but with more accuracy (.474, compared to his season shooting percentage of .333). Penders said Brown would rather win than score.
“He can't wipe the smile off his face,” Penders said. “He's about winning. If we need him to produce, I'm sure he'll be willing to shoot and shoot from anywhere at any time.
“Yeah, he's shot some maybe he shouldn't have, but what I like is the courage the kid has. There's nobody in the league that's playing harder than that kid.”
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