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| Jared Brownridge - A Star in the WCC |
The much ballyhooed freshmen class of 2014 came into college with significant
fan fare and hype. So far, so good as Andrew
Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, and Aaron Gordon have lived up to the lofty expectations placed on them
by fans and media. Along with the Big 4, other freshmen have emerged including
point guard Tyler Ennis, power
forward Noah Vonleh, and center Joel Embiid. Each week, Jeff Goodman of
ESPN.com presents his Top 10 freshmen listing and while there isn’t much
movement at the top of the list there is usually at least one lesser known
player to sneak in. First it was big man Eric
Mika from BYU, then Isaiah Taylor
from Texas, and January 5 it was San Jose State freshman Rashad Muhammad, also known as the younger brother of Shabazz At
the time Goodman wrote “yes, I’m giving a mid-major player some love in the
10th spot. Muhammad scored 20 in a loss to Utah State over the weekend and has
made 45 percent of his shots from behind the arc.” While Muhammad has been
having a solid season for the Spartans averaging 17 points per game it is
another mid-major freshman in California that has been flying way below the
radar. That freshman is Jared Brownridge
of Santa Clara.
The 6’2” freshman shooting guard hails from Aurora, IL and is
currently averaging 16 points a game on 48% shooting and 45.6% from behind the
arc. In West Coast Conference play, Brownridge has scored in double figures six
out of seven times including the Broncos’ first two conference wins in which he
hit a three pointer as time expired to beat St. Mary’s for the first time since
2009. To go along with his 23 points and 6 rebounds against the Gaels,
Brownridge was also coming off a career high 29 point performance against
Loyola Marymount. At one point in non-conference play Brownridge was the
freshman leader in offensive efficiency. While he came back down to earth in
late December, he is currently sporting a 117.6 offensive efficiency rating.
Where did Brownridge come from you might ask? Well, he came from
one of the most fundamentally sound AAU programs in the Illinois Wolves. The first time I saw the Wolves play came in the
spring of 2010 at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina.
Led by Chasson Randle (Stanford) the
Wolves were dismantling more talented and athletic teams with their crisp
execution and offensive sets. Fast forward to 2012 and the Wolves were doing
the same thing to the Harrison twins in the NY2LA Summer Jam. The sharp
shooting Brownridge was a key component of the well balanced team that now
features a handful of freshmen making contributions to their teams all over the
country. The biggest name at the time was Top 100 recruit Kendall Stephens who now plays at Purdue. The 6’5 guard has a 118.6
ORTG and is currently playing around 17 minutes a game in Big 10 play. Freshman
guard Jalen James is playing 27
minutes a game for San Jose State and sweet shooting wing Nate Taphorn is averaging 11 minutes per game for Northwestern. Not
to be forgotten, David Cohn of
Colorado State. The 6’2” high scoring high school guard came off the bench for
the Wolves and now sports a 126.1 ORTG for the Rams.
The Illinois Wolves do not get the fan fare of AAU teams on the
Nike AAU circuit, but they do produce solid college players. The big names in the class of 2014 will continue
to receive the fame and accolades while drawing NBA scouts to their games but
don’t forget about Jared Brownridge who is quietly putting together a solid
freshman season in relative obscurity at Santa Clara.
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