HighSchoolElite.com's Player Journals- Brown 1

Frank's notes:
Growing up on the West Side of Chicago, Proviso East’s 6'0" Daniel “Dee” Brown attended the same junior high school, Bethel Christian, as Whitney Young's Marcus White, Crane’s Lorenzo Thompson and former King player Imari Sawyer (DePaul). By the end of Dee's eighth grade year, his Bethel team was 80-0.

Following graduation, Dee and his mother Kathy packed up and moved to the suburban town of Maywood, right outside of Chicago. Since their move, Dee has been playing with the Proviso East varsity and such former Pirate stars as Perry Smith (NIU) and Steven Hunter (DePaul/Magic). Starting the summer going into his freshmen year, he was thrown right into the fire and had the starting spot at point guard since day one.

Having a tremendous junior year, Dee was honored with all-state honors while averaging 19 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals for a team that is a strong favorite to advance downstate this year.

During this summer, Dee has spent many days with his former teammate Hunter. This fortunate friendship has landed Dee at Hoops the Gym--a downtown gymnasium/workout facility--for the past month. While Hunter shares the same trainer, Tim Grover, as Michael Jordan while he attempts his second comeback, Hunter could be found working out and playing pickup games with Jordan on a regular basis. Now, that same blessing has been put on Dee.

With a star studded group of players such as A.J. Guyton (Bulls), Omar Cook (St. John's), Juwan Howard (Mavericks), Tim Hardaway (Heat), Penny Hardaway (Suns), Hunter and another former Proviso East star in Michael Finley (Mavericks), among others, it is basically a who's who of NBA basketball.

Finally getting invited to participate in an actual game this past week, Dee had a memorable experience while meeting many great players and learning several tricks of the trade. Bonding especially close with Akron, Ohio high school junior LeBron James, Dee and him have formed a close bond and have the rest of the week scheduled to hang out.

It is a delight to announce Dee as High School Elite's 2001-02 Player Journal writer for Class AA.

Hi, my name is Dee Brown and following my senior year of high school at Proviso East, I have committed to attend the University of Illinois on a basketball scholarship. I committed to U of I because it was the best situation for me. The campus was beautiful the coaches were down to earth and cool. The players were great and Illinois is a big time program.

I think a player should commit to the school that you feel is right for you and not for your friends or coaches. Also, make sure you think about your family. My mother had a big part in my decision as well as my grandmother. They can come see me play and its not that far away from home and since I’m an in-state boy, all my fans and friends can watch me, so Illinois was a great situation for me.

My Spring and Summer went great. I feel my stock went up because I played with some great players like James Augustine (Lincoln-Way/Illinois), Elliot Poole (Farragut), Jason Smith (Farragut), Anthony Maestranzi (Bartlett), and others. My AAU team did well as we traveled around the country. We had fun while going to places like North Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky, and others. I made All-tournament at all of those events. I played against 50 of the best high school guards in the nation and held my own. At some tournaments no one could stop me! Some games I was a true point and some games I was a scorer, depending on what my team needed out of me.

But back to me, I love to hang out with my friends like Shannon Brown (6’2” junior), Charles Richardson (5’8” junior), Art Talley (6’4” senior). Also, I love to work out in the weight room and love playing Shannon in full court one-on-one games. Also, in my free-time, sometimes I just love to relax, watch a movie or play a game with friends or my girlfriend, kick my feet up in the air, drink a cold drink and laugh all night long.

I lift weights as much as possible because I’m going to play in the Big Ten and point guards take a punishment--I learned that at Hoops the Gym, playing with the college and NBA players (I'll talk about that more in next Player Journal). I just love basketball, but hate to lose. If you ask anyone who played with me or currently plays with me, they will tell you I hate it with a passion. I play my hardest every time I hit the court, no matter who I am playing against. That’s just the way I am because if I don’t play my hardest, someone may have a good game and after the game is over people will say he killed me and I wasn't even guarding him.

I began to lift weights and use finger weights to improve my range on my jumper and my ball handling. When I’m hitting my jumper, no one could stop me. I mean no one!

However, there are some days that I play extremely well, but other nights I play like garbage, and a lot of players can agree with me when I say that. That's why its hard to be a basketball player because everyone has an opinion and as a basketball player you have to be strong, keep your head up and focus on getting better. You see some people get better and some players remain the same and don’t get better, so as days go by I try my hardest to get better and improve, because if I don't work out, the next player is. Believe that!

So, in closing, I love basketball and I take care of my business in school--3.7 GPA and passed the ACT with an 18. Also, I focus on getting better on the court because one day with the help of God, I can make money doing something I love: playing the game of basketball. Stay focused on your dreams.

I’m out, holla.

Daniel "Dee" Brown #11

PS I just turned 17 on August 17. Leos in the House....