Pitt Basketball: Gilbert Brown says academic suspension taught him a lesson
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After an uneven career with the Panthers, Gilbert Brown is back in line to be a starter this season.
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Flip through the 2009-10 Pitt basketball media guide, and it's hard to find evidence that Gilbert Brown did in fact play on the team last season. Brown's biography and pictures were eliminated from the publication after he was given an academic suspension that kept him out of the team's first 11 games. The only mention of Brown in the media guide is in agate type where the team's 2008-09 statistics were printed.
One year later, it's a much different story. Brown is featured on the cover of the 2010-11 media guide along with fellow seniors Gary McGhee and Brad Wanamaker.
"Being out for the first semester last year, it was a life-changing event that helped me out of a lot," Brown said. "I took it for what is what it was worth. I treat every day like it's my last now. You can't take anything for granted."
Brown's career path could best be described as uneven. He came to Pitt as a consensus top 100 recruit and started 15 games as a redshirt freshman. But the past two seasons he has been relegated to a reserve role.
In the 2008-09 season, Sam Young moved from power forward to small forward, which forced Brown to the bench. Last season, despite being the team's third-leading scorer, Dixon never turned to him to be a starter after his suspension.
Now he is in line to be a starter again. The Panthers have four returning starters, and it is likely that Brown, who played backup power forward last season, will start at small forward with Wanamaker moving from small forward to shooting guard.
Brown, a 6-foot-6, 215-pounder who is among the best athletes in the Big East, is looking to finally reach his full potential. Last season he doubled his scoring output from his sophomore season despite averaging only four more minutes per game.
Brown averaged 10.7 points per game, behind only Ashton Gibbs (15.7 ppg) and Wanamaker (12.3 ppg). By playing his natural position and earning starter's minutes, it's not hard to imagine Brown's scoring average increasing again this season.
"He's gotten better each year, and I think this year will be his best year," coach Jamie Dixon said.
The only criticism of Brown's offensive game last season was his consistency, or rather his lack of it. He was a force at times and invisible in other games. He reached double figures 12 times, scoring 16 or more points on eight occasions. But he failed to score more than six points in nine other games, which was a maddening development for fans of the team.
First Published October 17, 2010 12:00 am
