Head coach Juwan Howard and the Michigan Wolverines’ basketball program received huge news today when Wake Forest transfer guard Chaundee Brown announced he'd be heading to Ann Arbor after averaging 12.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last year for the Demon Deacons.
Brown will be a senior next season, but will petition the NCAA for a waiver to be able to play right away on the grounds that his head coach in Winston-Salem, Danny Manning, was recently fired.
If Brown is allowed to play next year, he would provide an immediate boost to Michigan’s thin backcourt as a senior, and would give the unit a much-needed experienced presence.
So just what kind of player is Michigan getting in Brown? We spoke with Wake Forest insider Conor O’Neill of the Winston-Salem Journal for a thorough breakdown of the newest Wolverine guard, with the writer analyzing Brown’s skillset, and strengths and weaknesses after having covered him each of the past three years for the Demon Deacons.
“The first thing that strikes you about Chaundee is his physique, because he’s a legit 6-5, 220, and is pretty chiseled and lean,” O’Neill began.
“He uses it to his advantage, though you’re sometimes left wanting to see him use his body to get downhill and inside a little more. Chaundee’s best position on the court would be described as a wing.
"Wake was trying to implement a four-guard system his first year here, and he wound up being the biggest of the four guards on the court, essentially playing the four — that didn’t work.
“In the couple years since then when the team has had foul trouble or injuries, they’ve put him down inside out of necessity and he has answered the call for the most part. I don’t think playing down low is something he’d want to do regularly or something that would be good for him, but if the situation arose and you had to go to him in that spot, he would at least be serviceable in a spot situation.
“You want Chaundee on the wing, however. I don’t know how much of a two-guard he is either and whether he handles the ball well enough to be considered a two-guard. If he’s dribbling, it’s usually in transition or he’s going to the bucket.
"I’m not sure off-guard would suit him very well because I don’t think he’s a good enough three-point shooter [he shot 32.2 percent from deep last year] to be considered a shooting guard … if that’s even a position that still exists in this positionless basketball world.”
