Player Spotlight /// Mikel Brown Jr /// Team Loaded
To put it plainly, Mikel Brown Jr of Team Loaded and formerly Overtime Elite and now DME Academy is one of the most dynamic guards in the country. Too often, evaluators and scouts assign tags and buzz words to kids who haven’t really made the consistent impact to attach such expectations to them. Not only does Mikel live up to them, he far and away exceeds them! The C/O 25 guard currently holds offers from some of the top programs in the country which include Villanova, Kentucky, Arizona, Florida and Kansas to name a few. Coming into the Adidas 3 Stripes Select Basketball Championship session, he was fresh off a stellar performance with Team USA’s U18 squad as well as Adidas athlete and NBA Superstar Donovan Mitchell’s inaugural “SPIDA ELITE CAMP.”
I came into Rock Hill wanting to see if the hype was real. I never come in with any preconceived notions about players and nor do I come in with expectations. I always start with a blank canvas and just report on what I have observed out there. I made it a point to watch several of his games to see how he faired and I was blown away by his performance. I rarely attach the pro label to kids but Mikel just plays at a level that was above everyone else’s on the court. He’s got the “IT” factor and it’s very easy to see. I don’t think there’s a true one to one comp of him. He’s his own prototype whose game is evolving and expanding far beyond his years.
He’s 6’3 with a wiry frame and he’s deceptively athletic. Watched him on more than one occasion during the week, take on a bigger defender and either lay him up or sneak a dunk on them. He routinely got to his spots on the floor at will and despite being a main scoring option for Team Loaded, there really wasn’t anything defensively, that teams did to make him truly uncomfortable. He was often doubled and tripled team and still made the correct reads to get his team buckets. You can’t leave him open for jump shots either. Hand down, man down was a common theme for Mikel. I watched him pull up for 3 with ease and knock them down consistently when the defense fell asleep. He really demorizaled quite a few of his defenders and entire teams out there.
Mikel is a dynamic playmaker, shot creator, willing defender and passer. He made some passes that a lesser player and PG just couldn’t make. He has eyes in the back of his head and he sees the game a few steps ahead of everyone else. His basketball IQ is off of the charts and he continued to make winning plays. If you’re open and he trusts you, he will find you. There was one game where some hero ball came into play. His team was down and they needed buckets to stay in the game. He relied on it a little too much down the stretch but based on what was happening on the court, you can understand why he did it. His teams shot just wasn’t falling and he took it upon himself to try and bring them back. Depending on who you are and what you want out of a player, that can be a positive or a negative. What I do know is that he’s an absolute dynamo out there on that floor and you’ll be seeing him at the next level very soon!
The sky is the limit for Mikel Brown Jr!
