2006 recruiting breakdown: Brown

The recruits:
F Colin Aldridge – 6-6, 220 lbs – The Peddie School (Colts Neck, NJ)
Aldridge made an early commitment to Brown back in the fall of 2005 while at Peddie, where he was a teammate of Penn’s Darren Smith. As a junior he was named Second Team All-Nonpublic by the Star-Ledger. Aldridge has good size, rebounds well in the post, and can play rugged defense, but he also has the athleticism and outside shot to play small forward.

F J.J. Anderson – 6-5, 210 lbs – Torrey Pines HS (Del Mar, CA)
Anderson was another fall commitment for the Bears last year before a torn labrum suffered in a holiday tournament ended his senior year prematurely. He underwent surgery in late January and was cleared this summer to return to the court. Anderson is billed as having versatile inside-outside game, but prior to his injury he had struggled with three-point shooting last year, hitting at just an 18-percent clip from the arc.

PG Steve Gruber – 5-11, 180 lbs – Whitefish Bay HS (Whitefish Bay, WI)
The final addition to Brown’s Class of 2010, Gruber decided on Brown late in the spring after receiving recruiting interest from Cornell and UC Irvine. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel speculated about an offer to walk on for family friend Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, but the 5-11 point guard ultimately decided Brown was the place for him. He is the consummate floor general with a good handle and strong passing skills after starting at the point all four years of high school. Blessed with good quickness, Gruber defends well and has a nice outside shot, hitting 40 percent of this three-pointers as a senior. He averaged 14.1 points and 8 assists per game last year.

SF Matt Jones – 6-5, 205 lbs – St. Ignatius Prep (San Raphael, CA)
Jones received by far the most attention from national recruiting websites of any of the Brown recruits. His verbal commitment to Brown back in October received a fair amount of attention in the Bay Area because local school San Francisco was also in the mix for his services. Like Anderson, Jones also dealt with an injury during his senior campaign, as a severe thigh bruise sidelined him for over a month. Jones is extremely athletic and can play above the rim, with much being made of his 40-inch vertical leap. He rebounds and defends well, and while his shot has been described as “erratic,” he excels at getting to the basket with his driving ability.

PF Matt Mullery – 6-8, 230 lbs – St. John Vianney HS (Englishtown, NJ)
The big man chose Brown in November over offers from Monmouth, Mount St. Mary’s, and Quinnipiac of the Northeast Conference. He’s widely considered underrecruited, with a number of Ivy League assistants indicated Mullery was a steal for Brown. Big and skilled, he is an effective scorer in the post, thanks to a soft touch and solid footwork. Mullery played both inside and outside in high school, but he needs to work on his outside game. He was named the Monmouth County Player of the Year and Second Team All-Nonpublic by the Star-Ledger this spring after averaging 22.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game as a senior. Mullery led St. John Vianney to a 23-5 record, the most victories in school history and finished his prep career with a school-record 1,522 points. He tore both his ACL and MCL in August 2004, but came back to play well in his junior season that winter.

The fit:
Had this group included the ultra-athletic Andre Wilkins — who announced his commitment in the winter, but never got the thumbs-up from admissions — it would rank among the better classes of 2010 in the league. However, in light of Glen Miller’s departure to Penn and the late hiring of Craig Robinson, it’s impressive simply that all five admitted recruits kept their commitments to Brown. They’ll be joining a young, crowded program that graduated just one senior this spring.

Mullery should fill a void in the middle, as Brown has been looking for a quality big man ever since Alai Nuualiitia became an alumnus in 2003. Mark MacDonald has shown promise, but took a step back last year after battling mononucleosis in the preseason and failing to re-gain his freshman form. Mullery will be vying for minutes with Sam Manhanga, Aaron Jimenez, and Nathan Eads. That’s a lot of bodies competing for the center and power forward spots, but if Mullery is as good as advertised, he should see his share of playing time.

Brown uncharacteristically struggled with its shooting last year, and will need to improve in that department this season in order to fare well in Robinson’s Princeton-based offense. This should help Gruber and Aldridge, as they are the three-point threats in the Class of 2010. Marcus Becker is the incumbent at point guard, but if he doesn’t improve his marksmanship, Gruber’s outside shooting could make him an attractive option to Robinson. Jones told the San Francisco Chronicle that Miller recruited him to play point guard, but with Gruber in the fold, Jones’s athletic slashing game might work better elsewhere on the floor. However, with Keenan Jeppesen playing major minutes, and sophomores Scott Friske and Chris Skrelja and junior Mark McAndrew all boasting experience, playing time may be tough to come by this season for Jones, Aldridge, and Anderson.

The five-man class appears to contain two future starters in Mullery and Gruber, with Jones a wild card due to his raw athleticism and what appears to be a less-than-optimum fit with Robinson’s Princeton-derived offense. It will be interesting to see what Robinson does differently from Miller with the returning players and how he uses the recruiting class given him by Miller.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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