I’d like to let our fans know that I have not made any decision on my basketball future.
Junior guard J’Covan Brown has not yet decided if he will forego his senior season at Texas, thereby making the leap to the NBA, but a decision is coming.
The University released this statement from Brown on Thursday.
“I’d like to let our fans know that I have not made any decision on my basketball future. The main thing I’ve been focused on after the season ended has been getting caught up with my academics. Just so everyone knows what I’m doing, I’m heading home for the weekend to spend some time with my family and talk with them. Then I’ll talk with our coaching staff here at Texas when I get back. I also plan to get some info from the NBA on where I might be picked, if I decide to enter the draft. When my decision is made, I’ll let everyone know.”
Brown, a Port Arthur product, led the Big 12 in scoring this season with 20.1 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field. In the Horns’ 65-59 loss to Cincinnati in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, Brown led all scorers with 19 points while picking up six assists and five rebounds.
The talented offensive playmaker went through a series of hurdles with the NCAA Clearinghouse before arriving on the Forty Acres in 2009. After committing to the Longhorns in 2007, it took Brown two years to obtain clearance to join the Texas program. And after improving his numbers each year for the past three seasons, Brown has developed a skill set that should warrant some buzz at the next level.
If Brown does indeed declare for the draft, combining with the departures of graduating seniors Clint Chapman and Alexi Wangmene, it will usher in a distinctly different era in Longhorns basketball. Minus seniors-to-be walk-ons Dean Melchionni and Andrew Dick, Texas will feature and all-sophomore lineup next season in addition to its incoming recruiting class.
One other Longhorn who is rumored to be testing the NBA waters is freshman point-guard Myck Kabongo. The highly touted ball-handler out of Toronto, Ontario—though he had his expected share of bumps this season—could be another Texas product to leave the program early in search of an NBA career.
Though Kabongo’s decision is purely speculative right now, a potential one-and-done career at Texas could put the Longhorns in yet another track of uncertainty next season. The freshman flashed his speed and athleticism throughout the year, but his offensive shortcomings and decision-making could raise questions about his NBA readiness.
Kabongo averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 assists per game in his first—and possibly only—season in burnt orange.
Should both of these backcourt talents make the jump to the NBA, the Longhorns will have just five scholarship players on their roster before adding five more with their 2012 recruiting class.
But as of right now, both players are chalked up for another season at Texas.
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