By ADAM ZAGORIA
UConn has landed its big man of the future
Javonte Brown-Ferguson, the 7-foot, 240-pound 16-year-old big man from Thornlea Secondary School in Ontario and the Under Armour Canada Elite AAU program, has committed to the Huskies, he told ZAGSBLOG.
“I’ll be going to UConn,” he said by phone. “There are a lot of reasons why I’m picking them.
“Me and my family believe that UConn was the best fit overall. There’s a lot of buzz around them since they’re going back to the Big East [in 2020] and that will bring a lot of attention around my name.”
Brown-Ferguson plans to reclassify from the Class of 2021 to 2020. He chose UConn over Kansas and Texas A&M.
“Yeah, I will [reclass],” he said. “All I have to do is get some extra credit classes and sign a paper and I’ll be fine.”
UConn has already landed wing Andre Jackson from Albany Academy and needed a big man to cement their class and position them to be a Top-25 team upon their re-entry to the Big East in 2020. On the day Jackson committed to UConn, head coach Dan Hurley and his staff went four deep for Brown-Ferguson in Canada. “They say I’ll be blocking a lot of shots, rebounding, running the floor, playing a pivotal role in the offense by making high/low passes,” he said. UConn re-joining the Big East and playing the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden was also a major factor in his decision. “That’s a big reason because my family can drive down,” he said. “It’s a five-hour drive. Playing at Madison Square Garden, that’s just crazy thinking about it. “ Brown-Ferguson hopes to follow the wave of Canadians in the NBA, including forwards Kelly Olynyk of the Heat and Tristan Thompson of the Cavaliers. Thompson played for Hurley at St. Benedict’s Prep. “The only [Canadian] bigs I know of are Tristan Thomposn and Kelly Olynyk and I’ll probably surpass them,” he said. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter And Like ZAGS on FacebookThank you UCONN for a great weekend!? #notcommitted pic.twitter.com/irePyCXK2G
— Javonte Brown-Ferguson (@lanxxjay) October 21, 2019
