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Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler's Jaylen Brown holds court

There are many good basketball players. Some are really good basketball players. And a few are really, really good basketball players.

Then, there is Jaylen Brown.

He’s spectacular, amazing … pick any adjective that depicts one heckuva basketball player and high school student.

“He’s NBA-ready physically now,” said Clark Francis, a basketball talent scout from Louisville, Ky., after watching this Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler senior play his first game in the 42nd annual Culligan City of Palms Classic.

City of Palms Classic: 2014 tournament schedule

Brown is a 6-foot-7, 220-pound guard/forward, who because of NBA rules can’t jump immediately to the pros. He can go to college anywhere he pleases. He’s narrowed his field to many of the traditional basketball Valhallas — Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina, Michigan as well as Georgia Tech and Georgia.

Who he will pick remains a big question mark. He’s already made official visits to Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and Michigan. He and his family said a decision won’t come before April 1.


Makhai Eastmond dribbles the ball during Wheeler’s game against Paul IV Catholic School Saturday night.

“I will go where I am most comfortable,” Brown said. He said he watched Kentucky’s blowout victory over UCLA Saturday. “It was good to watch,” he said, adding that the outcome would not affect his final college choice.

Coaches are putting the full-court press on Brown. What came about Saturday is just one example.

After North Carolina played Ohio State in Chicago, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams hopped on a plane and jetted to Fort Myers, especially to watch Brown play. He arrived at the Classic midway through the second quarter.

Brown is rated in the top five in the country by most of the collegiate scouting services. Scout.com has him No. 1. Francis’ Hoops Scoop lists Brown at No. 5.

Just why is he so highly coveted?

“He’s a great physical specimen and a phenomenal athlete,” Francis said. “His skills allow him to play above the rim. He gets to the basket and dominates a game.”

In Wheeler’s opener Friday night, Brown did just about everything. He dunked, he 3-pointed, he rebounded, he stole the ball. His only rival in this tournament is Ben Simmons, the 6-foot-10 Montverde behemoth who is also ranked in the top five in the nation.

Brown has been going virtually nonstop all year. After his junior season at Wheeler, Brown played in several AAU tournaments and made the United States 18-and-under national team. Then it was right into his final season with Wheeler, a perennial high school powerhouse in Georgia.

Saturday evening he scored nine points in the first quarter on drives and dunks.

City of Palms Classic tournament updates

Francis has watched Brown improve since he was a sophomore. “I may have even seen him play in middle school,” Francis said.

His critique of Brown: “Needs more consistency and work on his outside shot. Tendency to not always bring it.”

To improve his strength and endurance, Brown has embraced “hot yoga” since his sophomore year. Here’s how he described it:

“I go to hot yoga class twice a week and it’s really, really hard. We do different stretches and different poses. … The temperature is 102 degrees and you have to bring two bottles of frozen water in there. … If you bring cold water it’ll he hot as soon as you are ready to drink it.

“It helps flexibility mostly. I’ve done research on it and they’ve been doing yoga since 10,000 B.C. The different stretches and different poses unlock energy reserves in your body. I can definitely say that I’ve seen a difference I’ve been doing it.” Since taking it up, Brown said Saturday, he’s not been injured.

History is Brown’s favorite subject. “I love to pick the brain of any older player I run into,” he said. “Just the other day one of my teachers was talking about Pistol Pete Maravich. (Maravich was the highest-scoring college players in history at LSU.) He was talking about a game when he scored 61 points and there was no 3-point shot. He might have scored 85 points.”

No wonder Roy Williams was so eager to fly 1,500 to watch this Adonis perform.

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