A California State University press release from this morning is announcing that UC San Bernardino center Brandon Brown has signed a contract with Lithuanian side KK Šiauliai and thus will not be playing his senior year for the CSUSB Coyotes.
Brown transferred from Holmes Community College in Mississippi in 2008 to join the Coyotes with most of its schedule remaining and was nothing short of a major stud for the Division II team. With 200 rebounds in just 24 games, Brown ranks ninth all-time at the university in the category. He notched four games of 30 or more points for the Coyotes (including one 39-point effort), was named California Collegiate Athletic Association player of the week four times, and ultimately received the CCAA’s newcomer of the year award at season’s end.
Brown explained the career choice as necessary because “I had to make some money to support my family.” Coyotes coach Jeff Oliver is reportedly disagreeing with the decision, reckoning that Brown could have used one more year in college: “Physically he was ready to go pro,” opined Oliver, “but mentally he wasn’t.”
KK Šiauliai posted a record of 15-5 last season to finish in third place in the Lithuanian national league behind Lietuvos Rytas and Zalgiris – a position the team has achieved eight times this decade.
The CSU press release informs that “Brown will be joined on [Šiauliai] by two other Americans, Matt Kingsley and Stephon Hannah,” and helpfully adds that “Lithuania is located on the east side of the Baltic Sea between Latvia on the north and Belarus and Poland on the south and the Russian Federation on the east.”
