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Cal’s Jaylen Brown declares for the 2016 NBA Draft

By John Buhler

Dec 9, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears forward Jaylen Brown (0) takes a free throw against the Incarnate Word Cardinals in the first period at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears forward Jaylen Brown (0) takes a free throw against the Incarnate Word Cardinals in the first period at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /
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The California Golden Bears true freshman forward Jaylen Brown will forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2016 NBA Draft.

According to the California Golden Bears Men’s Basketball’s official Twitter account, true freshman forward Jaylen Brown will forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2016 NBA Draft.

Brown’s intentions to enter the 2016 NBA Draft don’t come as a huge surprise, as the 2015 McDonald’s All-American small forward from Marietta, Georgia ended up making First-Team All-Pac-12 in his lone year in Berkeley playing for Cuonzo Martin’s Golden Bears.

In 34 career games at Cal, Brown averaged 14.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game. Brown was a five-star recruit coming out of Atlanta’s suburban basketball powerhouse, Wheeler High School — other notable basketball alumni include Shareef Abdur-Rahim and J.J. Hickson.

Brown was considered one of the top two players of his recruiting class along with Ben Simmons, who ended up signing with the LSU Tigers. In his lone year at Cal, Brown helped lead the Golden Bears to a No. 4 seed in the South Region, but couldn’t prevent a first round upset against the No. 13 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors of the Mountain West Conference.

Even before signing with the Golden Bears, Brown was considered a certain top 10 NBA Draft pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. His 6’7″, 225 pound frame, basketball IQ, and raw athleticism should translate well to the next level. He’ll turn 20 years old by the time he begins his rookie season in the NBA in 2016-17.

It was more of a surprise that the Georgia native would leave the Southeastern United States to go play for a non-traditional power in Cal for his lone year of college ball. However, Martin did coach in the SEC region in Knoxville while leading the Tennessee Volunteers a few years ago. Expect Brown to be a top 10 to 12 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

For more posts on the 2016 NBA Draft, please check out our NBA Draft hub page.

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