by Laura Amato
Moses Brown knows what you’re thinking. He’s tall—6 feet and 11 inches tall, in fact. He knows it’s a lot to take in.
But while the Archbishop Molloy junior appreciates the attention his height gets him, he’s spent the better part of his summer trying to prove that he has the talent to go along with it.
He did that by surprising the entire crowd at Rucker Park in Harlem Aug. 3 when he not only grabbed a rebound in the high school all-star showcase, but proceeded to dribble up the court, shoot and score.
There were a few gasps—the tall kid can move.
“Growing up I played with a lot of guards so they wouldn’t always pass the ball,” Brown said. “You had to get the rebound and push it up the court yourself. That’s the only way you’re going to get it.”
Brown’s height lends itself well to playing basketball. He barely has to get off the court to sink a hook shot, but he knows he’ll need more than that to interest some of the top college programs in the country.
And, right now, that’s exactly what Brown has been doing.
Brown is a five-star recruit, currently ranked as the top 2018 center by 247Sports and the 19th overall prospect in his class by the recruiting site. His recruitment has exploded over the last few weeks. Late last month he picked up offers from Louisville and Georgetown.
“I picked up two major offers,” Brown said. “Georgetown has always been a good school and they’ve got a good reputation for developing big men. It was also my first time speaking with Rick Pitino when I heard from Louisville, so I really had to humble myself.”
Brown knows not everyone is getting these kinds of looks, but he also isn’t letting it overwhelm him either. This has, after all, been his goal for years and he’s logged hours in the gym to prove just how hard he’s worked.
“I didn’t feel like it was a surprise that I’ve gotten as good as I have over the summer,” he said. “It was just a lot of hard work during the season and during the offseason. I really mentally prepared myself for the AAU season and getting ready for the last few weeks.”
In addition to Georgetown and Louisville, Brown also boasts offers from Arizona, UCLA, Maryland, SMU and Michigan.
The teams came calling because of Brown’s height, but they’ve stayed because of his game, one that he’s made sure is multi-faceted.
“The game is changing, no one plays back to the basket anymore,” Brown said. “You’ve got to be able to do everything.”
Brown knows he’s only got a few weeks left before he gets back into the high-school swing of things, but before he does that he’s making sure to relish these last few moments of summer hoops—particularly the chance to play at Rucker.
“I grew up watching games at Rucker so this was a really good opportunity to actually play in front of a big crowd,” Brown said. “This was one of the first times I got to play here and it was great.”
