Months, check that years, have gone into the recruitment of
Jalen Green and
Greg Brown. For all of the work that programs have invested in recruiting them, it will all either pay off with commitments in the coming days, or leave programs scrambling to recover.
Green, set to commit sometime around April 15 will pick between
Auburn and
Memphis.
Fresno State,
Oregon and
USC are also options, as is the possibility of Green pursuing a professional career in the NBA's G League or overseas. Many presume that Auburn is the leader but I stand firm in my belief that Memphis is the team to beat. Green took his first official visit to the program during his junior year and his relationship with and trust in
Penny Hardaway and
Mike Miller may trump everything else on the table.
Could Brown join Green a week later by picking Memphis or, if I am wrong, Auburn? I wrote two weeks ago that
Texas had taken the lead but there have been whispers in recent weeks that Auburn has gained ground and taken the leader spot with just two weeks until his commitment.
Pairing Green and Brown at Memphis together alongside
D.J. Jeffries,
Boogie Ellis and
Lester Quinones would erase all of the anxiety the Tigers' fanbase had come to know throughout the winter. They both could also decline Hardaway’s pitch and join
Sharife Cooper at Auburn, giving
Bruce Pearl a national contender. Then again, they could go their separate ways with Green choosing the G League, Brown staying home at Texas, and leaving both sets of Tigers sorting things out with limited options available this spring.
