NEW YORK — Josh Brown is sticking with his first choice.
After decommitting from Temple in June, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound St. Anthony point guard decided to recommit, choosing Temple over Rhode Island, Penn State and Providence.
“I’ll be a Temple Owl,” Brown said in the SNY studio Monday. “I can’t wait to go down there and play in the backcourt with Quenton DeCosey, Will Cummings and Daniel Dingle. I also get a chance to be coached by one of the most underrated coaches, coach Fran Dunphy and his staff. And I’m going to be in Philly, a great place to be.”
Brown’s decision was a sentimental one. He chose Temple in part because his late mother, Kimberley, who died when he was 1 year and three months old, went there.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that the decision that he made is more of a sentimental decision,” his father, Richard, told SNY.tv. “He wanted to go to Temple because his mother went to Temple….It’s just an honor for him to want to commemorate her memory.”
Said Brown: “My mother went there also. It’s great that I get to go up there and follow her footsteps and lead, don’t be a follower up there.”
An Irvington, N.J., native, Brown initially committed to Temple, but decommitted to reconsider his options.
“I committed real early and talking to my recruiting advisor, Ed Bright, talking to my father, I didn’t want to have any regrets when it’s all said and done,” Brown said. “So I decided to decommit and weigh my options and see what else I could get. And finishing a great AAU season with Sports U, I got a few offers which made it really interesting. So committing back to them now knowing I have no regrets, it feels great.”
He will join Temple in 2013 just in time for their entrance into the Big East Conference. Memphis, Houston, UCF and SMU will also join then for basketball.
“I always want to play the best competition, I’m a competitive guy and the Big East is where it’s at,” Brown said.
Brown thanked St. Anthony Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, as well as Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley, Providence coach Ed Cooley and Penn State coach Pat Chambers for recruiting him.
He averaged 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists last season at St. Anthony, while playing alongside current UCLA freshman Kyle Anderson.
Like Anderson, Brown is 65-0 in his St. Anthony career and has won back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles.
This summer on the AAU circuit, Brown and his Sports U team won five events and reached the final of a sixth. He was named the MVP of the Pitt Jam Fest and the Rumble in the Bronx.
“What he brings to Temple is the intangibles, he’s a leader, he is arguably the best one-on-one defensive guard in America,” Bright said. “He’s long, he has range. I’m sure Coach Dunphy will know what he needs to develop offensively.
“And he’s a great kid.”
