G
REG BROWN II was a standout
safety at the University of Texas
before stints playing in the NFL
and arena league. As such, he
views competitive sports
primarily through the lens of his
experience on the football field. Now, as
the father of a son who has developed
into a top-10 high school basketball
prospect, Brown admits that he doesn’t
always appreciate what he’s helped build.
And he’s fine with that.
“I think it’s been a good thing that I
don’t know how good he really is,” Brown
says of his son, Greg Brown III. “Like,
OK, you did a 360 windmill between the
legs, whatever, that was nice. But hey,
we gotta get back to work. I’m a football
guy. That’s kind of been my mentality
since Day 1.”
That mentality seems to be working
well for both father and son. Seven years
after he picked up the game at his dad’s
urging as a tall, skinny, out-of-shape
10-year-old, Greg Brown III is a 6-8
forward at Vandegrift (TX) High in Austin
and a top-5 prospect nationally in the
2020 class. He got there with countless
hours in the gym, and plenty of nudging
from his pops.
“He just worked his fanny off, man. I
think that’s what propels him more than
anything,” Brown II says. “He’s going to
outwork most kids.” Of that paternal
backing, Brown III says, “He’s always
pushed me to become my best, and noth-
ing less. I appreciate him for doing that.”
Both can regale you with stories about
what it took to get to this point, like going
to camps and tournaments as a middle
schooler, playing up against kids two or
three grades ahead of him. “I’d lie on the
forms,” Brown II says, “because I always
wanted him to be pushed. Either he was
going to step up and go at it, or he was
going to quit. And he always stepped upto the plate.” The result: After getting
tested and beat up but never backing
down, Brown III made a habit of dominat-
ing not only dudes his own age, but a
couple of years older. It’s no wonder that
few players on the prep level can hang
with him now.
Here, in his own words, is what
opponents face when Brown is on the
court: “Very versatile, extremely athletic,
can jump out the gym, pretty good
ballhandler, pretty good shooter, need to
work on ballhandling and IQ of the game
a little bit.” If that combination of length,
bounce and still-developing game brings
a current NBA star to mind, well, Brown
doesn’t mind the comparison. Asked
about players he’s trying to emulate,
Brown says, “Giannis. He’s so dominant. I
see myself as that type of dominant
player. I just want to model my game
after him, and put some pieces of other
players into my game, to make a whole
’nother beast.”
Greek Freak status might still be a few
years off, but he’s already got thepositionless mindset down, referring to
himself as a “shooting guard slash small
forward slash power forward.” He’s
got a sense for innovation, too: While a
number of other top 2020 prospects rep
the Unicorn Fam, Brown has given that
idea of young, unique, multi-talented
ballplayers a Sonic-inspired twist: “It’s
#HedgehogFam,” he says, explaining
that the tag applies to players who “do
something different, make somebody say,
Wow, I haven’t seen that before.”
Brown is still deciding which college
he’s going to bring his wow factor to in
2020, but given his Austin roots and
family connections, the hometown
Longhorns are on the short list of
favorites. Wherever he ends up, don’t
expect him to shy away from, well,
anything.
“We built him to take on any chal-
lenge,” his father says. “If there’s a kid
out there who’s supposed to be the
No. 1 guy, we’re going to find him, and
we want to play him. That’s been our
motto since Day 1.” SSLAMONLINE.COM 63AIRPLANE
MODE
Super-athletic Class of 2020 forward Greg
Brown III can straight-up fly, and soon
the Texas native will be soaring to new heights
during his senior season, then in college,
and then...well, you know.WORDS RYAN JONES // PORTRAITS JAREN COLLINS