Louisiana big man Jordan Brown will play for Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway next season.
The 6-foot-11 center announced his commitment Tuesday. Brown’s addition is the latest in the Tigers’ near total rebuild. The program has just one player (guard Jayden Hardaway) in line to return from last season’s roster which won 26 games, claimed the AAC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Memphis will be the fourth program Brown has been on in six seasons. He began his career at Nevada, where he was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year. He spent the next two seasons at Arizona, followed by two seasons at Louisiana. The Roseville, California, native was a McDonald’s All-American out of Prolific Prep.
In 2020-21, Brown was voted Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 9.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game at Arizona.
In two seasons at Louisiana, Brown played in 60 games (57 starts) and averaged 17.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Last season, he put up 19.3 points a game on better than 57% shooting from the field en route to first-team All-Sun Belt honors, the Sun Belt tournament MVP and the Lou Henson Award as the top mid-major player in the country.
Brown is the seventh collegiate transfer to join the Tigers this offseason. The team is also set to welcome four freshmen, three of which are already on campus. The lone holdout is four-star guard Mikey Williams. His future with the program remains unclear since he was arrested in April on six felony gun charges. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 12.
MEMPHIS BASKETBALL: St. John’s grad transfer David Jones commits to Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway
SIGN UP: Memphis Tigers Basketball Insider text group with Jason Munz
Memphis likely has two open scholarships remaining. If Mikey Williams fails to make it to campus, that would open up a third. Former Tigers star DeAndre Williams is making efforts to play another season at Memphis. If the NCAA grants him an extra year of eligibility, he would claim one of the remaining open scholarships.
As it stands now, though, Brown joins a frontcourt that includes newcomers Nick Jourdain (6-8 power forward) and Teafale Lenard Jr. (6-8 wing).
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Jordan Brown announces transfer to Tigers
