The Mission Viejo, Calif. quarterback grew up a Sun Devil fan and may be closer than ever to fulfilling his dream of playing for Arizona State following an official visit to Tempe.
“Most of the stuff I saw I’ve seen before,” Brown said. “But to be there with coach Graham and coach Yantis, and I even met coach Napier…it was unbelievable. Straight out of a dream. My mom went to ASU her freshman year. My dad was born and raised in Phoenix and had season tickets until he was 16 and his dad kept season tickets for 30 years after that.
“I was just raised to follow Arizona State and not like the Wildcats.”
Brown said that head coach Todd Graham’s recruiting style was one of the aspects of the visit that resonated the most with him this past weekend.
“He’s very straightforward,” Brown explained. “He tells you that if you come here, this is what you’re going to get. He’ll let you know the way it is, he’s not trying to sell you some (nonsense) like other coaches do. He lets you know that if you come to Arizona State you’ll have to work hard and nothing will be given to you. They recruit you so if you come there and you work hard, you will have time to shine and a chance to play for the university.
“He harps on character and discipline and those are the things he wants in his team and in his players, academically and on the field. That was unbelievable.”
The signal caller was hosted by Bryce Perkins and Eno Benjamin and both conveyed the team culture which was synonymous with the message Graham had for him.
“The main thing I got from them is that everything is what you see,” Brown explained. “Coach Graham doesn’t sugarcoat anything. What he’s saying to you is exactly what you’re going to get. The coaches will push you harder than you’ll probably ever been pushed. Discipline and hard work is everything.”
Brown was also one of the first prospects to ever meet newly hired offensive coordinator, Billy Napier, and he was another coach on the visit the quarterback came away very impressed with.
“It’s pretty obvious that he and coach Graham share the same exact values,” Brown commented. “Talking as an Arizona State fan, I know he (Napier) will be a great fit. The way he talked and presented himself…just like an offensive coordinator should. It was an easy guy to talk to and he didn’t act all high and mighty.”
As a senior, the 6-4 192-pound Brown passed for 3,292 yards and 27 touchdowns and had 10 interceptions for Capistrano Valley High School. He also rushed for four touchdowns for the 13-2 Cougars. Brown was voted league MVP and both his passing yards and touchdown marks were a school record.
“I started being in contact with ASU late in the year,” Brown recalled. “I put together some of my senior highlights and sent them out to like 50-plus schools. I was lucky coach Yantis saw my video, liked what he saw and talked to (former offensive coordinator) coach Lindsey who also liked what he saw and called me. They wanted me to come out for an unofficial and that got the ball rolling.
“I unofficially visited for the UCLA and Washington State games. They realized I’m a legitimate 6-4 and they said that they wanted me as a preferred walk-on and they wanted me to come out for an official. I was a little scared when coach Lindsey left but I could tell that coach Yantis and the rest of the coaches were all behind me.”
Brown does a scholarship opportunity to play at Cornell and now has to decide between attending that school or walking onto ASU with the chance to possibly earn a scholarship down the road.
“I’m gonna speak to my family tonight,” Brown said, “and I think I have my decision pretty much made up. But we’re gonna talk this over to make sure that this is the right decision. Tomorrow I’ll call both schools and let them know what my decision was.”
