Florida’s 2024 class has officially taken shape as they received their first commitment–guard Isaiah Brown.
Brown has been a player the Gators have had their eye on since coming to Florida and getting a lay of the land, offering him in the winter and remaining interested ever since. Originally from Pennsylvania, Brown now lives in Orlando where he attends Orlando Christian Prep.
When you look at Florida’s 2024 recruiting there are a lot of big names at the top of the rankings as the Gators’ new staff looks to make their imprint on college basketball and land some 5-star names. The Gators have reached out to a handful of top-10 players, and it looked a lot like the Gators were going to go star hunting almost exclusively, to then fill out the rest of the roster from the transfer portal. While that has looked to be the strategy, the Gators are trusting their evaluation skills with the Brown take.
Back when the Gators offered Brown he was a 3-star recruit with offers from Buffalo, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, and Ohio. However, since then Brown has steadily climbed up the rankings and now sits as the 112th ranked player in the class and has been bumped up to a 4-star ranking. As a 4-star guard at an excellent Orlando Christian Prep program Brown is far from a sleeper, but this staff is definitely banking on him making some big strides as they have made it known they are only going to take high school players if they think they are going to be big-time difference makers.
Standing at 6’4”, Brown has good size for the guard position and has generally played as an off-guard but is comfortable taking point guard duties. Florida particularly loves his feel for the game and the way that he can move seamlessly from a primary to a support role, fitting into any role his team requires in order to win. Brown also shows upside as a shooter, knocking down 39% of his threes last season while shooting 80% from the free throw line. Those highly efficient numbers, which are even more impressive when you factor in the generally lower percentages you see at the high level than college, show a high level of offensive IQ and touch that the Gators think will translate to the highest level of the college game. He might not be an elite athlete by SEC standards, but Brown certainly doesn’t lack explosiveness and versatility and when you add that to his 6’4” frame you don’t have to squint to see a high-major contributor.
Between Brown’s polished offensive skill set and his sneaky athleticism, his highlight tape is extremely fun to watch. It’s not just dunks or transition buckets, but actions where Brown keeps his head up to read defenders while going through dribble progressions that break down defenders with a methodical calmness. There is a maturity to Brown’s game that you don’t always see from similarly skilled scorers, and it could very well be the X-factor that propels Brown to a successful career.
During Brown’s recruitment, assistant coach Kevin Hovde took the lead from Florida’s coaching staff to secure the commitment.
Now that the Gators have a guard in the 2024 class, much of their recruiting effort will be geared towards an elite center–and this is where the Gators will be looking for a player of the 5-star variety.