BERKELEY — On a Friday evening early this fall, Mohamed Muqtar poked his head into one of the gyms at Cal’s student recreation facility and was greeted by a mix of activity. An indoor soccer match was being held on one side of the room and a 4-on-4 basketball game occupied half of the other court.
Taking jump shots at the other end was Jaylen Brown, the former high school All-American forward who will make his freshman debut for the Bears on Friday night against Rice. Brown was sharing the space with two female students in street clothes who were hoisting up shots.
Muqtar, director of student services for Cal athletics, took Brown aside at one point and suggested the basketball program will have its own practice gym someday.
“I didn’t come here for a practice facility,” Brown told him. “I’ve seen schools that have all that stuff.”
During the recruiting process, Brown, who came to Cal from Marietta, Georgia, was lured by slick facilities and palatial arenas on campuses across the country. A consensus top-5 national prospect, the 6-foot-7 youngster had his pick of virtually any school.
So why Cal, which hasn’t challenged for a Final Four since 1960?
“The kid is looking for a path,” Muqtar said. “He told me, ‘I can play in the NBA. But I’m looking for something.’ “
Brown’s coach at Wheeler High — the same school that sent Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Cal — said Berkeley’s environment is an ideal place for that path to begin.
“Education’s always been instilled in him from an early age by both his parents,” said Doug Lipscomb, who has known Brown since he was an eighth-grader. “He was with a highly intelligent group of kids. They could hold a conversation about things other than basketball. Everybody likes to be around people they can relate to.”
Brown seemingly relates to everyone. He gets along well with his new teammates, but he also hangs out at a campus café whose customers are mostly professors and grad students.
“He studies there and eats and people leave him alone,” Muqtar said.
Senior point guard Tyrone Wallace was immediately struck by Brown’s willingness to speak up in a way he never did as a freshman. Brown has shared his interest in meditation, philosophy, vegetarianism and his belief that handguns should not be legal.
“He really likes it around Berkeley, the atmosphere and the things that are kind of norms around there,” Wallace said. “He’s very smart and his way of thinking is a lot different than a lot of people. One of the things he says is if you want to hide anything in today’s society, just put it in a book. A lot of people don’t read how he feels they should.”
Said junior guard Jordan Mathews, “He’s a very diverse person. He’s not really into things that normal freshmen are into.”
Say, for instance, taking a postgraduate class during his first semester in college. The class is part of a Master’s degree program on Cultural Studies of Sport in Education.
“I told him several times I didn’t think it was a good idea,” said professor Derek Van Rheenen, who teaches the class and has never had a freshman — athlete or not — take one of his postgraduate courses. “He really was persistent. I kept saying no. But I said if you’re really serious about this, talk to the dean.”
Taught to speak up
Brown, who declined a one-on-one interview request for this story, said in a recent group session with the media that advocating for himself was something he was taught by his parents and grandmother. His parents now are divorced, with his mother living in suburban Atlanta and his father in Hawaii.
“If we wanted something, we had to explain why we wanted it,” said Brown to the group, giving an example of the time his grandmother asked him and his brother to write a paper explaining why they needed a new Xbox 360. “We came up with some lame excuse like eye-hand coordination.”
Convincing the dean he was ready for a postgraduate course probably required a bit more finesse, but Brown got the OK.
“I didn’t quite know who Jaylen was,” said classmate Hammed Suleman, a 25-year-old grad student and former Cal track and field athlete. “He’s younger than most of us, but it does not have an impact on the way he relates or understands the material. He’s up there with the best of us.”
Van Rheenen, who also directs the Cal athletic student center, said he spoke on the phone with Brown before he arrived on campus — as he does with many prospective athletes.
“I came away feeling this is an incredibly mature, interesting young man,” Van Rheenen said. “He chose Berkeley because he really believed he’s going to get a first-rate opportunity. And he’s doing everything to make sure that happens.”
Won’t be at Cal long
The consensus opinion is Brown won’t be at Cal long enough to complete his degree before heading to the NBA. The website nbadraft.net projects Brown as the No. 3 pick in next year’s draft.
Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said the topic will be discussed at the appropriate time.
“To his credit, he’s never once said anything to me about one-and-done or leaving college,” Martin said. “Never once brought it up.”
Those who spend time with Brown — on and off the court — are impressed. “He’s built like a grown man and he talks like he’s a 40-year-old who’s running for office,” said Muqtar.
Martin was the coach at Tennessee when he first began recruiting Brown as a ninth-grader. He knew right away Brown had more to offer than basketball talent. Brown wanted to be known as a student.
“It’s how he was raised to understand, ‘I’m not just an athlete,'” Martin said.
Lipscomb said Brown grew up without the sense of entitlement that is prevalent in some high-profile athletes who are accustomed to special accommodations.
“His family’s not selfish — they don’t think the world revolves around their son,” Lipscomb said. “Most important, he listens. As teenagers, some think they know everything. He’s going to work.”
When basketball ends for him, Martin is convinced Brown’s journey will be just beginning.
“Now sports is his stage to do what he needs to do to maintain his voice,” Martin said. “I think when it’s all said and done, he’ll impact the world in other ways.”
For more on Cal sports, see the Bear Talk blog at ibabuzz.com/beartalk. Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter at twitter.com/Jeff Faraudo.
