Findlay Prep guard leaves team, returns to native California

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 | 11:13 a.m.

Findlay Prep basketball coach Mike Peck said Tuesday that junior guard Jabari Brown has left the team.

Peck wouldn't say why the 6-foot-4 Brown decided to transfer from the Pilots, but the Oakland Tribune reported Wednesday that Brown has returned to his hometown in Northern California and enrolled at Oakland High.

"It wasn't really working out," Brown told the Tribune. "I just decided it would be a good decision for me and the team and I decided to come home."

Brown had a season-high 28 points Saturday in the first game of the Hampton Inn & Suites Invitational, scoring 15 points in a four-minute stretch during the second half of a 109-68 victory against St. Andrews of Rhode Island. He hit four straight 3-pointers in the outburst and eventually was named to the all-tournament team.

"(Brown) just got into a groove and our guys recognized it and got him the ball," Peck said following the game.

However, Brown received limited minutes the following day and was pulled from the game in the second half apparently for not hustling back on defense. Peck immediately called a timeout to substitute Brown out.

Brown, who averaged 16.4 points per game for Findlay, also recently lost his spot in the starting lineup to Marko Petrovic.

The Tribune reports that Brown, who is rated as one of the top shooting guards for the class of 2011 by multiple scouting services, could be eligible by the end of the week.

"Jabari of course brings such an added dimension because everyone always keyed on T.J. (Taylor)," Oakland coach Orlando Watkins told the Tribune. "The funny thing is it's just so unexpected."

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected].