NEW YORK – Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and assistant Kenny Johnson headlined a group of coaches who watched 7-foot-1 Class of 2018 big man Moses Brown and his Archbishop Molloy teammates on Thursday during an open gym.
Florida head coach Mike White and assistant Dusty May, as well as assistants from UConn, Indiana and Miami were also in the gym for Brown, 2018 wing Khalid Moore and 2019 point guard Cole Anthony.
Brown, who runs with New Heights on the Under Armour circuit, is ranked 19th on ESPN’s Top 60 for the Class of 2018. Kansas, UConn, Arizona, Florida, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, St. John’s, UCLA and USC have all offered.
He has visits set to Maryland (Oct. 1), Florida (Oct 15) and Indiana (Oct. 22). He also plans to see Louisville at some point.
“The first time I met with coach [Pitino] was right here the first Wednesday of the school year,” Brown said. “He said that he liked the way I developed footwork-wise. He sees me contributing big-time into their offense. He likes the way I can push the ball up the court not only be back-to-the -basket, but operate outside of what the usual big man does. And h realizes that the game is changing and he has big men that have the same body style as me, long and lanky. He focuses mainly on development and developing players, and getting them ready for the next level.”
Asked what it meant that Pitino took a private jet to see him, Brown said: “It’s just amazing. I really didn’t expect to blossom so quickly, but I was just tired of being the average big man. I was just in the gym. I didn’t want to be the average big man coming out of New York, I wanted to be special so I continue to be in the gym and I feel like I deserve it.”
Kansas assistant Norm Roberts was at Molloy last week and extended an offer.
“Kansas, they were like one of the first big-time schools to be in contact with me,” Brown said. “Them and Maryland. They finally offered me last week. Coach Norm Roberts said I had the best summer possible. He felt like I made up for everything I missed out on last summer following the injury [fractured tibia]. He likes my toughness. He likes that I’m stronger than I actually look, I play hard and I match my opponent’s intensity.”
Maryland has also been involved and head coach Mark Turgeon was in the gym this week.
“They’ve been here twice actually,” Brown said. “They came first day of school and then Coach Turgeon came Tuesday. He just was talking to me about how I’m doing outside of school. With them, it’s not only basketball. They say I’m their No. 1 priority, they want to get me back on campus to show me some love.”
St. John’s is also involved and Brown has worked out their several times.
“St. John’s, I actually like St. John’s,” he said. “I was in there two weeks before school started. I was in there to workout, they let me use the gym. They said I could go anytime to put up shots, me and my father, so that’s just a blessing, I could use the gym any time I want.”
Georgetown is among the other schools involved, and Moses’ father told me last week he likes their history of producing big men.
“I love Georgetown, it’s a big-man school,” Malcolm Brown said. “They basically said they were trying to build a team around him. They didn’t realize he has the post skills that he has.”
Brown, meantime, expects to grow beyond his current 7-1.
Asked how tall he might get, he said, “I got to get an X-ray soon.”
Molloy coach Mike McCleary says Brown’s upside is through the roof.
“He’s such a hard worker and he really came from nowhere because everyone thought he was basically a skinny kid who nobody thought could play, to the point now where he’s being recruited by Kansas and Louisville and all those great schools,” he said. “He’s really made himself that. And the same thing in the classroom, he really works at being a student. He’s willing to go to the study halls and do all the things so he does well
“So the sky’s the limit for a kid who doesn’t want to stop working.”
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