Brown has visits looming

Two years ago, his phone was pretty silent as far as coaches calling. About to finish up his second year of junior college, Cerritos C.C. (Calif.) point guard Ken Brown is getting plenty of calls. Many times, it's never the same coach.

"Everyday it's somebody new calling me," Brown said. "I'll go anywhere. I just wanna play big. It's all, do they think they can get me or whatever. You know how recruiting works."

Brown played high school at Soldan (Mo.) then spent his freshman season at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis before transferring to Cerritos. Brown averages a team-high 14.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, to go along with 64 steals.

Now, Brown has so many offers it's hard for him to remember them all. Included in that bunch are WKU, Houston, USC, Utah, San Diego State, Wichita State, Portland State, Wyoming, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas Southern and Lamar. He's also gotten steady interest from Fresno State, UNLV, St. Joseph's and Tulsa. At one point this season he had an offer from UCLA, until the Bruins picked up another commitment.

But Brown has already sorted through the list for the most part. He said he's narrowed his top three choices to WKU, USC and Houston. Of the three, the Toppers look to be in good position.

"All I've done is talk to them right now," Brown said. "I haven't went on any official visits yet. I do know they play a lot of top 25 teams. That and they're good in the tournament."

Assistant coach Ray Harper has been recruiting Brown, who said he also liked the incoming group of signees.

"They got a lot of players coming, a lot of top JC players too," he said. "That's a good thing, too. I know I'm running with some horses."

With Houston, Brown said he thinks he could be the missing piece for there next season.

"They're in Conference USA," he said. "They've got one of the leading scorers in the NCAA on the team and he's leaving after this year, so they need somebody to fill those shoes. That's a good move there."

But Brown hasn't left out USC and likes the prospects of playing good competition.

"Everybody knows that's the Pac 10," Brown said. "That's every kid's dream, huh? I know they've got the penalties, but that's not a factor at all."

All three schools have been impressed by how much Brown has progressed since high school. But Brown has also taken advantage of a better opportunity to impress in junior college.

"I'd say I'm good with dribbling, my speed, my court vision and getting in the lane," he said. "For me not playing on the big circuits of AAU, it's really been a big help in JC.  It's helped me a lot in my recruiting and playing. It really shows people that I can play at a high level than just high school. They never saw me on the big AAU circuits."

Brown has already set up two official visits, to Houston March 5 and to WKU the following weekend.

"I'm working on a visit with USC," he said. "But I'll be making a decision most likely April 8."