The Players Tribe Q&A with 2024 James Brown

James Brown is a 6'8, 210-pound power forward from Chicago, attends St. Rita, AAU-Mac Irvin Fire. Brown's feel for the game is remarkable at his age, can play on the perimeter and get to the basket at will, with a variety of post-moves he uses.. His ability to get in the lane and finish through contact is impressive, moves really well for his size. Active defender and rebounds a bunch. He's also only going into his sophomore year of high school, easily one of the top prospects in the 2024 class. His mid-range is smooth, can be a scary player if he makes it reliable. Expecting his recruitment to grow these next few years, as he continues to improve his game.

What schools have been involved in your recruitment lately?

"Recently I've been in contact with Ohio State Purdue and Oklahoma. I will be visiting those schools also when I get back from USA basketball."

Recently you have been picked to represent the USA in the mini-camp...what does that mean to you?

It’s an honor to be selected as one of the few players to be able to participate in the mini-camp and the training camp I take great pride in being selected and hopefully representing the country!!

Cool, you’ve picked up an offer from LSU lately, what are your thoughts on the program?

"I think LSU is a great school both athletically and academically and I’m very excited to create a relationship with their program!!"

Illinois is not too far from you, what are your thoughts on Illinois?

"I think Illinois is a great academic and athletic school and I’m very grateful that they have reached out and offered me. Playing from my home school would be really cool and I would be opposed to attending the University of Illinois."

How did it feel to get your first offers last year (Sienna + Western Illinois) at such a young age?

"Getting those two offers from Sienna and Western Illinois was amazing. It was a great feeling for both me and my family and my coaches at Saint Rita. I was truly grateful for both coaching staffs and I was extremely humbled and proud of myself seeing that all the hard work that I’ve put in over the years is being noticed."

How was your summer? EYBL experience with Mac Irvin, how were your performances?

"My summer EYBL experience with Mac Irvin was a learning experience having it be my first time in the EYBL. I thought as a team we could’ve played better together and won more games than we did. Individually I feel like I could’ve played better and helped encourage my teammates and been a better leader so we could’ve played better together and won more games overall. Though, I’m happy that we were able to experience the EYBL and be competitive in most of the games we played."

Talk about your game, strengths, weaknesses…

"My strengths on the court would for sure be my versatility as a player, the ability to use my left hand and also with my right hand, also my rebounding, and defense. Some of my weaknesses would be shooting the ball consistently and also staying out of foul trouble."

When the time comes what things will be important when making your college decisions?

"When the time is right there are only three things that I look for when it comes to choosing college. The first thing is that it’s a great academic school. Me and my family take great pride in my academic success over these past years I’ve been in school. So, that is definitely something that I'm prioritizing when looking at different colleges. Secondly, I want to make sure that it’s a great athletic program as well. I want the coaches to push me, to make sure that I’m getting better every single time I’m with the team or training by myself..and finally, I wanna make sure there’s a great family atmosphere whether that’s with the team or just at the school in general. Family is something that I take very seriously and very important so I obviously want the same thing in college."