Recruiting Report: Keaston Brown (2019)
Henry Clay High School is home to some of the best basketball tradition in Lexington and they have a chance to get back to Rupp Arena in 2019. If they can make it, Senior Point Guard Keaston Brown will be a key reason why. Brown is one of the top Point Guards in the 2019 class who is at his best as a penetrator who can kick to open shooters or finish at the rim. Brown is also a good shooter who is more than capable of taking and making the big shot when needed. As Keaston enters his last summer of basketball before his senior season officially begins, his recruiting is picking up steam and coaches haven taken notice of him as part of Manimal’s 17u team. Last week I caught up with Keaston to discuss his Junior season and hopes for his senior year.
PHKY: Describe your game for people who may never have seen you play. What are your strengths? What do you need to improve?
KB: I would say I’m a playmaker that can take care of the ball and make players around me better. I can shoot from the 3 or mid range but I think I need to get better at shooting the 3.
PHKY: Reflect on your high school season. Were you happy with your individual performance? Were you happy with your team results?
KB: My junior year was an alright season. I had no time to work on my game over the summer because of a shoulder injury that took 6 months to recover from. I got back about 3 weeks before season started and I was really out of shape. I hadn’t played in awhile but with that being said I think I adjusted and put in a lot of hard work to improve over the season.
PHKY: Who are you playing AAU with? How is your season going so far?
KB: I’m playing with team Manimal Elite on the Adidas Gold Gauntlet. We are doing pretty decent. We have beat some really good teams and lost to some good teams.
PHKY: What schools are recruiting you? Any offers? If you have offers, do you have a leader right now?
KB: I don’t have any offers but coaches have talked to me. I went on an unofficial visit to Tennessee tech. The following schools have contacted me or my dad: American University, Bethune-Cookman, Northern Kentucky, Brown University, Louisiana-Monroe, Barton(NC), Findlay (OH), Embry-Riddle and Campbellsville
PHKY: What can you take from your AAU season and apply to your next high school season?
KB: Playing the top players in the country really helps improve my game. I start to play at my own pace and use a basketball IQ mentality. There are people that can guard better, score better, etc on the Gauntlet than in Lexington and the state of Kentucky. This summer is really going take my game to the next level because I need to step my game up to compete against those guys.
PHKY: What are your goals for your next high school season?
KB: My goal for the next season is to make it to state. I want to be able to experience going to state with my dad as the coach and we are going to have a nice team next year so I’m excited about that.
PHKY: Is it difficult to have your dad as your high school coach? Why or why not?
KB: I wouldn’t say difficult. You always are going to get hate towards you because of it. Last year during a free throw, a student section chanted “daddy’s boy”. You kinda just get used to it and I’ve always been reminded by him that I have to earn my spot and it’s not just going to be given to me because I’m his son. It just makes me work harder to prove to people that I deserve to be the starting point guard and not because my dad is my coach. It’s also hard to see your dad as the coach. When he starts yelling and coaching me sometimes I get frustrated because I see him as dad but I just have to remind myself that he’s my coach in between the lines.
Keaston Brown has long been mentioned as a top point guard in the 2019 class and he continues to prove worthy of his accolades and reputation. Henry Clay could and should be considered a sleeper team in the 11th region for the 2018-2019 season. If they are able to get to Rupp Arena, it will almost definitely be in large part to the play of Keaston Brown. Brown creates most of the Blue Devil offense off his ability to penetrate the defense and kick to teammates for open shots. This time next year Brown should be signed for college and ready to start what will certainly be a productive college basketball career.