D is for the delight that shows on Illinois freshman point guard Dee Brown’s face when he’s playing basketball. It’s a delight even the fans up in the cheap seats have seen this season at the Assembly Hall.
“He loves basketball. He breathes it,” said his father, Fred H. Brown. “It’s his whole world, his life.”
D is for the dizzying way he darts down the court–and dashes back again–like a young man in a hurry, which he is.
“I have no idea where my quickness comes from,” Brown said. “I just get the ball and go. I ran the 100, 200 and two relays in high school, but I was like the fifth fastest on my squad. With track you have to have technique. I was faster on the football field.”
D is for the deft touch he exhibits while driving the lane or dishing off to senior forward Brian Cook for a wide-open jumper or to guard Luther Head for an alley-oop slam dunk.
“Freshman and sophomore year in high school, I was fast but out of control,” Brown said of his days at Proviso East. “I got a lot of charging calls, but playing in the West Suburban Gold taught me to be disciplined.
“I’ve only been called for charging once this season. Once I get into the lane I read the defender and I either jump-stop or I slow down. Depending on what he does I either pull up or kick it out. When I get close to the hole I’m cautious; you can’t run over somebody.”
D is for the Detroit Pistons, the team his idol, Isiah Thomas, starred for when Brown was 7 years old. Brown wears No. 11. Why? Because Thomas did.
“Why Isiah?” said Fred Brown. “Because Isiah was the short man, but he was clever, a leader on the court. He was also a hustler and his team looked to him to make plays. Plus, Isiah never took unnecessary risks. He was able to play with the big guys because he used what God gave him. That’s what I tell Dee. You don’t have to be 6-6; use what you have.”
D is for the drive and determination that have enabled the 6-foot, 175-pound Brown to deliver most everything that was promised when he became the fourth straight Illinois Mr. Basketball to sign with the Illini. Thanks in no small part to his enthusiasm, quickness, poise and leadership, Illinois is 6-0 and ranked 15th heading into Saturday’s game against Temple at the United Center.
“How many freshmen in America can go into a program where they’ve won back-to-back Big Ten titles and in his own way have everybody, after six games, thinking this is the leader of the team?” Illinois coach Bill Self said. “I don’t want to say he’s the leader over Cook, but the way he communicates, and with his bounciness, there is no question he dictates our mood on the court.”
Finally, D is for Daniel, the given name of a kid who is on his way to becoming one of the most exciting and productive players ever to wear the orange and blue.
“To say he’s the next Isiah, that’s a little strong,” Self said. “He was one of the best players ever. Isiah won a national championship as a sophomore. But I can see similarities. At Illinois, Dee is probably as important as Isiah was at Indiana. They both have speed and they’re both right-handed. But Dee’s game can still grow a ton.”
So far, though, there doesn’t appear to be much Brown can’t do.
His assist-turnover ratio of 3-1 (31 assists to 10 turnovers) leads the Big Ten, mostly because he rarely turns the ball over. His scoring average of 13.3 ranks second on the team to Cook’s 19.5. He has a team-high 13 steals, is the third-leading rebounder with 26 and shoots like a shooting guard when he’s hot. Against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday night, Brown was 10-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Brown is a star in the classroom as well. At Proviso East High School in Maywood he had a 3.7 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. In Champaign he’s an academic adviser’s dream: a student-athlete who tries to be one.
“He’s a thinker,” Fred Brown said. “I tell him, `Never think with your emotions; think with your intellect.’ As a child I used to ask him strange questions like, `Do you want jelly on your toast or toast on your jelly?’ He never latched on to that street mentality. Even now he’s always asking a lot of questions.”
When his head isn’t in a book, that is.
“The guy is so competitive,” Self said. “We require guys to go to 10 hours of study hall a week. Dee’s going to 15 or 16. He gets those 10 hours in the first three days. That rubs off on everybody.”
But what Brown may be best known for is what his father calls his “gift for gab.”
Gift? Teammate, roommate and running mate Deron Williams wouldn’t mind if Brown was sometimes a little less giving.
“Living together helps you develop a relationship that can carry over to the court,” Williams said, “but it does get a little cramped sometimes–because of his mouth.”
Brown said he and Williams, who both played on the the USA Basketball Men’s Junior World qualifying team last summer, clicked from Day One.
“I think we have great chemistry,” Brown said. “I figured why not room together and get to know each other as soon as possible, because we’re going to be here awhile.”
Brown is like that with everybody. The “one-man fast break” makes friends fast.
“Dee has a way with people,” Self said. “He talks smack all the time, but not in a bad way. In fact, he talks in a way that builds you up. You end up saying, `He got on me, but I feel a lot better about myself. How did that happen?'”
Brown apparently comes by his personality naturally.
“It runs in my family,” said Brown, who has been known to talk to himself when there’s no one else around. And pity the poor basketball that makes the mistake of hitting the rim. Brown has been known to give errant balls a piece of his mind as well.
Brown wants to play in the NBA someday–like Isiah–and lead his team to an NBA championship–like Isiah. He’d also like to own a team–like Isiah. What is it they say about little guys?
“A lot of people think I’m 5-9,” Brown said. “I’m 5-11, 6-0 with my shoes on. But if you play hard and show a lot of heart, your size is not a factor. I don’t worry about my size.”
Fred Brown, a machinist who recently remarried Dee’s mother, Cathy, says his son has only begun to show the world what he can deliver.
“He has always been able to do anything he set his mind to,” Fred Brown said. “He loves a challenge, and he is not easily intimidated. He hates to lose, and I don’t blame him. I don’t quit until I win, and that’s his attitude too. One of his destinies is to be great at playing ball, and when he is done with that he will make his mark in something else. I see greater things coming for Dee. This is only the beginning.”
In fast company
After six games, Dee Brown is leading Illinois with 31 assists and 13 steals and is second on the team in scoring average and third in rebounds. Brown’s fast start compares favorably to other top performances over an entire freshman season by these famous Illini.
PLAYER YEAR PPG RPG APG
Kiwane Garris 1993-94 15.9 3.5 3.8
Cory Bradford 1998-99 15.4 2.6 1.9
Deon Thomas 1990-91 15.1 6.8 0.6
Dee Brown 2002 13.3 4.3 5.1*
Efrem Winters 1982-83 12.4 6.9 0.6
Mark Smith 1977-78 11.6 6.0 1.3
Frank Williams 1999-2000 11.4 3.4 4.1
Bruce Douglas 1982-83 9.4 2.7 5.9
Brian Cook 1999-2000 9.0 4.5 0.8
*Averages through 6 games.
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