Brown and Coach Talk About Commitment to Cal

6-2/180 2019 4 star Brewster Academy point guard Joel Brown pulled the trigger for Cal today, two weeks before his upcoming official visit.

"For me, the perfect fit for me with Cal was that they made me a big priority," said Brown. "Coach (Wyking) Jones and Coach (David) Grace -I was able to have a personal relationship with them, on and off the court. They communicated with me and my family very well. And to be honest, the Pac-12 has been a conference I dreamed of playing in and with my skill set, should be able to excel.

"The opportunity they gave me at Cal was to be a huge part of the team and help them continue to improve. I have the opportunity to play behind and learn from Paris (Austin) next year and continue to grow in my game and ability to help the program."

As for his strengths?

"It's a different ballgame from high school to college but I'm looking forward to developing with the Cal staff, with them helping me to meet my goals of playing in the NBA," noted Brown. "I'm also looking forward to the great competition, playing against teams like Arizona, Washington, Oregon and playing against great guys on a nightly basis.

"I feel like mentally, I bring a lot of leadership qualities to the floor. As a point guard, I take pride in being a leader and a positive energy guy. And I take a lot of pride playing great defense. Being able to get into the lane and my passing ability and getting others involved and in the right spot are strengths of mine, too."

Brewster Academy coach Jason Smith echoes Brown's assessment and more.

"Joel's off the charts," said Smith. "He's the highest level of character and leadership. He'll be a great addition to the Berkeley campus.

"He has elite-level speed and quickness and a non-stop motor. He plays with great energy and passion, really defends for 94 feet and just plays super hard.

"At a program like Brewster, he's playing with 10 other scholarship level players, so we don't ask him to take on a big scoring load. He's doing just what we need for us for our program to succeed.  Donovan Mitchell played for us and averaged 13 points a game but averaged over 20 as a rookie in the NBA.

"The fact that Joel was All-New England Prep as a junior was a tremendous honor, as well."

The intangibles that Brown brings to the team harken to a Cal fan favorite in years past according to Smith.

"You can compare him to a guy like Jorge Gutierrez who played at Findlay Prep before Cal," said Smith. "He was tremendous. We played him in '08. He didn't put up big numbers at Findlay, but like Jorge, the intangibles that Joel will bring to any program are far outweigh his numbers."

Brown had some familiarity with the Cal roster, having met freshman Jacobi Gordon last year.

"I know Jacobi," said Brown. "He came to Aspire Academy the year after I left but he had an injury and his trainer was from Canada and I know him personally. So there was a time when Jacobi was in Canada working out and we met there."

The 4 star Brown played for St. Edmund Campion in Brampton, Ontario in Canada before transferring Aspire Academy as a sophomore and to Brewster as a junior and where he'll finish out as a senior.

Brown also played for Canada's U18 National Team and enjoyed the experience tremendously.

"It was a great experience," said Brown. "It was great to play at home in front of a home crowd. A lot of people don't get the chance to play for their country. So for me, it was an opportunity I couldn't take for granted.

"It's our goal to get to the World's next year, so I'm looking forward to that.

"Ultimately, it was a great experience to play against a lot of very good players internationally and build new relationships."

Brown, who sports a 3.6 gpa, is hoping to study business or economics at Cal.

The Bears beat out Arizona State, Minnesota, Clemson, Seton Hall, Boise State, Rutgers and several Ivy League schools for Brown's services.