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DL Andrew Brown |
In a week-and-a-half’s time, consensus 5-star defensive lineman Andrew Brown will bring his recruiting process to a close. The 6’4″, 290-pound rising senior revealed Tuesday night that he will announce his college commitment on June 29, one day before he heads to Oregon for the start of Nike’s The Opening, an invite-only combine event featuring 162 of the nation’s top prospects.
Brown’s decision to commit early is a reversal from what he has said in recent weeks, when he indicated he would take all five official visits before ending his recruitment. Additionally, the Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) star has whittled his list from eight to five. Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio State have been eliminated, and the 6’4″, 290-pound rising senior will choose from Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Brown intends on graduating from Oscar Smith in December with the intent of enrolling in college in January of 2014.
Rated as one of the top 10 overall prospects in the nation by ESPN.com, Rivals.com, and 247Sports.com, Brown totaled 84 tackles with 14 tackles for loss and 11 sacks his junior season. The 2012 season was his first at Oscar Smith, where he transferred after spending two years at Indian River High School, which is also in Chesapeake.
“He has a combination of size and speed and quickness and athletic ability that doesn’t come around that often,” Oscar Smith head coach Rich Morgan said of Brown. “He has great agility, great speed and quickness. He’s getting better at using his hands and playing low. His body has transformed. He doesn’t look like a kid who weighs 300 pounds.”
Virginia currently has seven players committed from the class of 2014. One — Bayside (Va. Beach, VA) safety Quin Blanding — is also a consensus 5-star prospect. The Cavaliers also boast two prospects — linemen Steven Moss and Will Richardson — ranked on the 4-star level by at least two of the national recruiting outlets.
The Consensus Favorite: UVa
UVa is the consensus favorite to land Brown. Thirty-five analysts/reporters/contributors from national network 247Sports.com have made their predictions, and 100-percent of those predictions are for the star defensive lineman to choose the Cavaliers on June 29.
Virginia was thought to be the favorite for quite some time before recent comments, in which Brown indicated UVa would not be one of his five official visit destinations, cast some doubt. He told TheSabre.com on June 6 that Virginia would still be in the running regardless of if he took an official visit to Charlottesville or not. At this point, most, including me, feel Virginia is the likely choice.
