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Oregon Basketball: New Mexico transfer Elijah Brown commits to Ducks

By Carmine Carcieri

Feb 18, 2017; Fresno, CA, USA; New Mexico Lobos guard Elijah Brown (4) shoots the ball over Fresno State Bulldogs guard Deshon Taylor (21) in the first half at the Save Mart Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2017; Fresno, CA, USA; New Mexico Lobos guard Elijah Brown (4) shoots the ball over Fresno State Bulldogs guard Deshon Taylor (21) in the first half at the Save Mart Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oregon basketball has grabbed a valuable graduate transfer in Elijah Brown, who committed to the Ducks on Monday morning.

The Oregon Ducks have lost four of their five starters from last season’s Final Four team and are expected to head into 2017-18 with a rebuilding roster that isn’t likely to compete atop the Pac-12 standings.

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However, on Monday morning, the Oregon Ducks eased the burden and made their team a bit more competitive by snagging New Mexico graduate transfer Elijah Brown.

Brown, the son of Golden State Warriors assistant coach and former Cleveland Cavs head coach Mike Brown, will be immediately eligible in 2017-18.

The 6’4″ shooting guard originally started his college career at Butler before transferring to New Mexico after a freshman campaign in which he averaged 6.8 points in 18.8 minutes per game. After sitting the 2014-15 season, Brown put up 21.7 points on 43 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc in his redshirt sophomore year.

His numbers dropped off a bit in 2016-17 — as New Mexico struggled in the Mountain West — but he still added 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 38 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and 83 percent from the free throw line.

While Brown struggles with his shot selection and his defense can be questionable at times, he will give Oregon an immediate scoring punch alongside the Ducks’ only returning starter Payton Pritchard. He can create off the bounce, score at all three levels and will provide Oregon with the experience necessary to have a shot at defeating some of the best teams in the conference.

And Oregon desperately needs that experience after losing Jordan Bell, Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey to the NBA Draft, Dylan Ennis and Chris Boucher to graduation, and steady point guard Casey Benson and former JUCO big Kavell Bigby-Williams to the transfer market. Six of their top seven scorers have departed (Pritchard is the only returning player) and will need better production from Keith Smith and Roman Sorkin as potential starters.

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In addition to Brown, Oregon is bringing in a recruiting class that includes five-star small forward Troy Brown Jr., four-star shooting guard Victor Bailey Jr. and four-star small forward Abu Kigab. Brown and Bailey are ranked in the top 100, so they could have an immediate impact at the college level.

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