Outlets Like The Way Brown Will Fit In At U-M, Analyze The Role He'll Play
New Michigan Wolverines basketball guard Chaundee Brown is viewed as a massive pickup for head coach Juwan Howard and his program, with outlets all around the nation explaining the impact the former Wake Forest guard will have in Ann Arbor.
The main question that now surrounds Brown is whether or not he'll be allowed to play for the Maize and Blue next season as a senior; we've taken a look at what publications have said this week about his waiver appeal, the kind of player he is on the court and much more below.
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“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. 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.”
• Brendan Quinn, The Athletic: Michigan Dips Back Into the Transfer Market for Wake's Chaundee Brown
"According to a source, Michigan will file a waiver request for Brown to gain eligibility for 2020-21, skipping the mandatory sit-out year required of transfers in men’s basketball.
"The waiver will be tied to the coaching change at Wake Forest, despite the fact that Brown entered his name in both the NBA Draft and the NCAA transfer portal on April 15, 10 days before [former Demon Deacon head coach Danny] Manning was fired.
"Transfer situations involving a coach being fired present a gray area. The NCAA has not traditionally granted waivers in these cases. This was much-discussed recently when [center] Olivier Sarr, Brown’s teammate at Wake Forest, transferred to Kentucky after Manning’s dismissal.
"Sarr said he was transferring under the presumption he will gain immediate eligibility and, if he doesn’t, will opt to turn pro or head overseas. One significant difference between Sarr’s case and Brown’s case is that, unlike Brown, Sarr entered the transfer portal after Manning was fired and new Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes was hired.
"Regardless of eligibility, Brown’s addition, once made official, will claim one of two available scholarships held by Michigan."
"I pulled up a handful of Wake’s games from last season and kept an eye on Brown. It’s actually not too hard to find full ACC games on YouTube, so I could actually curate a balanced sample.
"I didn’t want to just catch Brown on a good or bad day, so I went through his game log and went off his stat lines, picking out three games which seemed like they would showcase a reasonably broad spectrum of his impact against different qualities of opposition.
• Feb. 11 vs. North Carolina: 11 points, 4-of-8 shooting, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks
• Feb. 25 vs. Duke: 24 points, 8-of-12 shooting, 7-of-8 free throws, 9 rebounds
• Feb. 29 vs. Notre Dame: 15 points, 4-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
"There’s not a team in America that wouldn’t be made better by inserting Brown into its rotation. He has three years of power conference experience, can play three positions well, is elite in at least one area (rebounding) and has a malleable game that doesn’t demand X number of touches per contest to make an impact.
"The only question is if Michigan will reap those benefits next year or the year after. And that question is a reminder that even those the Wolverines have filled their last remaining scholarship, their offseason is still far from over."
"Brown is widely regarded for his balanced game. He can produce offensively, but can also clean up on the defensive boards when he needs to. It’s a nice boost for a guy playing on the wing.
"For Michigan, this is a significant addition. The Wolverines had a number of open scholarships after suffering some recent roster attrition and fans were wondering how things would look in the years to come.
"And while Brown is expected to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules, he should provide a valuable boost in 2021-’22. It seems more than reasonable to think Brown could earning a starting spot then.
"Juwan Howard and his staff still have a few more months to figure out the rest of the team’s roster, but this is a nice start."
"Having Brown sit out a year wouldn’t be the worst thing. He’d get familiarity with Howard and Michigan before being expected to make an impact the following season. Yet, if Brown is able to play immediately, he should find his way into the starting lineup.
"[Junior forward Isaiah] Livers, [freshman guard Franz] Wagner and [junior guard] Eli Brooks are all starters in my mind. Center will come down to [incoming freshman] Hunter Dickinson, [redshirt junior] Austin Davis and possibly [sophomore forward] Brandon Johns, leaving one starting job at shooting guard or point guard.
"Brown isn’t a point guard, but Brooks proved he can play both spots last year and with Brown at the two, I’d expect to see Brooks at the one, with Mike Smith getting plenty of minutes off the bench.
"Brooks is a solid defender and he came to Michigan as a point guard, only moving to shooting guard to start alongside Zavier Simpson. [Guard Mike] Smith scored over 20 a game for Columbia last year and his scoring ability will be needed.
"However, I always felt he was better suited to coming off the bench. It’s hard to guess how Smith’s game will translate from the Ivy League to the Big Ten, but expecting him to play 30 minutes a night and score in double figures is unrealistic.
"Brown, on the other hand, averaged 11.9 points as a sophomore and 12.1 as a junior in the ACC. He’s a former top-40 recruit who started 73-career games in a big-time conference, so there won’t be an adjustment to the level of play."
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