Dee Brown (basketball, born 1984)

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Daniel Brown
Position Point guard
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
League TBL
Team Galatasaray Café Crown
Born August 17, 1984 (1984-08-17) (age 23)
Jackson, Mississippi
Nationality American
High school Proviso East
College Illinois
Draft 2nd round, 46th overall, 2006
Utah Jazz
Pro career 2006–present
Former teams Utah Jazz (2006–07)
Awards Illinois Mr. Basketball (2002)
2005 All-American Team
Bob Cousy Award (2006)

Daniel (Dee) Brown (born August 17, 1984 in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player. Brown played at the University of Illinois from 2002 to 2006, receiving many awards and accolades. Brown was selected in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, and currently plays for Galatasaray in the Turkish Basketball League.

Contents

[edit] High school

Brown graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, where he excelled not only athletically but also academically, finishing with a class rank of 16th out of 382 graduates. Brown was a star on Proviso East's basketball and football teams. He played quarterback for the football team, passing and rushing for more than 1,800 yards and 16 touchdowns in seven games during his senior season. His play at quarterback garnered the recruiting attention of many major collegiate football programs, including Florida State University and the University of Nebraska. His play on the basketball court, however, led Brown to be considered one of the best high school basketball players in the United States for his class. Brown was named Illinois Mr. Basketball and was a McDonald's All-American, and many recruiting analysts ranked him in the top 20 high school players.

[edit] College

[edit] Freshman year

Brown was named a starting guard for 31 of 32 games in his freshman season at Illinois. He led the Big Ten Conference in steals per game (1.9) and averaged 5.6 assists, second to teammate Deron Williams; a contribution that helped the Illini finish second in the Big Ten regular season standings and win the 2003 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

[edit] Sophomore year

In his second season, Brown shared duties at point guard and shooting guard with Deron Williams. He started every game of the season, averaging 13.3 points per game and ranking second on the team in assists with 4.5 per game (behind Deron Williams). Williams and Brown, combined with talents of junior shooting guard Luther Head and the frontcourt tandem of Roger Powell and James Augustine, helped the Illini to a 13-3 Big Ten Conference regular season record, enough to win the school's first outright Big Ten Conference Championship since 1952.

In the NCAA Tournament, Brown helped the 5th-seeded Illini to an opening-round 72-53 victory over 12th-seeded Murray State. In their second round game against the 4th-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats, Brown scored 14 points and accounted for 8 of the team's 26 assists in a 92-68 victory, the Illini's first ever NCAA Tournament victory over a higher-seeded team. Illinois finally lost to top-ranked Duke, 72-62, in the regional semifinals.

[edit] Junior year

In the 2004-2005 collegiate basketball season, Brown was one of a celebrated trio of guards (along with Deron Williams and Luther Head) that led the Fighting Illini to a 37-2 record and a second-place finish in the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Brown was named a 2005 Consensus First-Team All-American, he was a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award finishing third, and was named the National Player of the Year by The Sporting News.

After the 2004-2005 season, Brown considered declaring his eligibility for the NBA Draft. However, Brown broke his foot during the NBA pre-draft camp for draft-eligible players, and opted to not enter the draft and return to Illinois for his senior year.

[edit] Senior year

With Williams and Head in the NBA, Brown and fellow senior James Augustine led the Illini to a 26-7 record. Brown had played shooting guard for his first three years at Illinois. But since Deron Williams, who played point guard in his years at Illinois, had left for the NBA, Brown returned to his primary position of point guard for his senior season. His last game was the 67-64 loss to Washington in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. After the season, Brown was named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press. He received the sixth-most votes, making him the leading vote getter on the second team.[1] Also, he was named the winner of the Bob Cousy Award for 2006, given to the nation's top collegiate male point guard.

Memorable games included 34 points at home against Michigan State on January 5, 2006, and 14 points in a win on the road against UNC in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (avenging the loss in St. Louis). Dee led in the Fighting Illini in points (14.2), assists (5.8), steals (1.6) and minutes (35.8)

When he retired his famous orange headband, he ended perhaps the finest four years in the school's history. Dee is the winningest player in Illinois history (tied with James Augustine) with 114 victories, leads in all-time minutes (4,698) and started the most games (136) of any player in school history. Played in 137 games during his career, the most in school history (tied with James Augustine) Third on the Illini all-time scoring chart with 1,812 career points and second in school history in career 3-pointers (299), career assists (674) and career steals (231. His career assists total ranks fifth in Big Ten history, while his career 3-pointers and career steals totals rank sixth in Big Ten history. Dee is also Illinois' record holder in the NCAA Tournament for career points (179) and career field goals(64).

[edit] NBA

During the 2006 NBA Draft, Brown was selected 46th overall by the Utah Jazz but was not offered a guaranteed contract. Brown attended the team's training camp in the fall, where he and various undrafted players competed for a roster spot. On August 29, 2006 Dee Brown signed with the Jazz and was reunited with former college teammates Deron Williams and Roger Powell, who also signed with the team.

On November 14, 2006, Brown scored his first points in the NBA with a pair of free throws against the Los Angeles Clippers. Through the first month of the NBA season, Brown played off the bench in eight of the Jazz's seventeen games.

[edit] Statistics

Last updated February 11, 2008

SEASON TEAM GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006-07 UTA 49 0 9.2 0.327 0.214 0.649 0.8 1.7 0.4 0.1 1.9
Career 49 0 9.2 0.327 0.214 0.649 0.8 1.7 0.4 0.1 1.9

[edit] Turkey

On September 22, 2007, Brown decided that he would play the 2007-08 season for Galatasaray Café Crown in Turkey rather than try to make the Jazz's roster in training camp.[2] He played in the 2007-08 European All-Star game.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Fightingillini.Com // The Official Site Of University Of Illinois Athletics
  2. ^ Brown accepts offer to play with Turkish club Galatasaray, September 24, 2007

[edit] External links

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