What the addition of Jordan Brown means for Nevada

5.14.2018  |  Liam Blutman

Jordan Brown was offered by Nevada back in April of 2015, his first offer. Fast forward to May 11th, 2018...

Over 3 years after receiving that offer, Brown committed to Nevada over Arizona and Cal. Other schools to offer that were in the mix for Brown were among: Gonzaga, St. John’s, UCLA, Oregon, and UL-Lafayette. He’s the highest ranked recruit Nevada has ever gotten as he’s ranked #17 on 247 and top 20 on numerous sites. Luke Babbitt was previously the highest as he was ranked #18 in the class of 2008. Also like Babbitt, Brown is just the 2nd McDonald’s All American to play for Nevada.

Jordan is a 6’10”, 205 pound power forward that played high school ball at Prolific Prep and won gold medals with Team USA. At Prolific Prep, Brown averaged 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and added 1.8 blocks per game in his senior season. He is a good inside scorer who can step out and hit the mid-range jumper. Despite not being an elite defender inside his presence down low is just what Nevada needed. The Wolf Pack desperately needed a big man after playing last season without a true big, they played Jordan Caroline at center who stands at 6’7” and Cody Martin also 6’7” was playing the four before he moved to point guard after Lindsey Drew went down with injury. Expect to see Nevada’s defensive efficiency rise from the number 108 spot with the addition of Jordan.

Brown joins a Nevada team that made the Sweet 16 last season before falling to Loyola-Chicago. What did Nevada miss so desperately in that game? A true big man down low to help stop the Ramblers pesky reverse layups. Time and time again it hurt the Wolf Pack and is a crucial reason as to why Nevada was in a hole early in the 2nd half. Nevada currently has 15 scholarship players and needs to cut that down to 13, common perception is that Caleb and Cody Martin are likely headed to the NBA. But don’t be surprised if the twins return and two or more players transfer away from Nevada or if a scholarship or two is cut to meet the requirement of 13. Eric Musselman will find a way to make this work.

This Nevada team will be better than the 2017-18 Sweet 16 team and the scariest team in the history of the program. Returning to Nevada are: Lindsey Drew, and Josh Hall, then awaiting confirmation from Jordan Caroline, Caleb Martin, and Cody Martin. Then we have the transfers, what Musselman has built Nevada on… Jazz Johnson, Nisre Zouzoua, Corey Henson, Ehab Amin, Tre’Shawn Thurman, and Trey Porter. Throw incoming freshman, Jordan Brown, Vincent Lee, and K.J. Hymes in the mix and you have a Final Four threat. There’s so much talent on this roster led by an up and coming coach who has shown he’s a great coach. If you love watching college basketball early on like me, look at for these early season Nevada non-conference games as they host Pacific, Little Rock, Cal Baptist, and South Dakota State. SD State will be a great matchup for Jordan Brown as he’ll go toe to toe with Mike Daum, the elite point forward who averaged 23.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season. Nevada travels to Loyola-Chicago to rematch the Ramblers on November 28th. This game is going to be amazing and the matchup of Jordan Brown vs Cameron Krutwig will be outstanding. Nevada also plays in a small tournament in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Invitational. They’ll play Tulsa game one and await the winner or loser of Southern Illinois or UMass. Another intriguing game the Wolf Pack will play in comes at the Staples Center on December 7th against a power 5 school yet to be named.

All in all the addition of Jordan Brown to an already loaded Nevada team is scary regardless of if the Martins return or not. This is not a team to mess with, this is a team that has all the potential in the world to make a Final Four run. Eric Musselman has a special opportunity to turn Nevada into a powerhouse.


Liam Blutman is a first-year student at Santa Monica College bringing a series of articles and editorials about collegiate athletics and young athletes in professional sports. A natural Bruins/Angels fan and solid sports gamer, look for more content coming soon and follow Liam on twitter. It's a pleasure to have him join our writing team.

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