The other night, I was watching Dee Brown compete in the three point contest for college seniors, leading up to the Final Four, and it occurred to me that it would be the last time I'd see him in that Illinois #11 jersey competing on the court. I thought it would be a good time to write a goodbye for my favorite player of all time.
Since I started following Illini basketball, there's been a lot of good players. No doubt that Dee is among the best of them, but I don't think anyone could say that he was the best on the court. Up until this year (the weakest Illinois team during his 4 year career), Dee Brown has never been the best player on the court. For one, his backcourt partner from day one of stepping on campus as a freshman, ended up being the #3 overall pick in last year's NBA draft. But even if you don't count Deron Williams, he also was far behind Luther Head, now on the Rockets, and Brian Cook, now on the Lakers.
Dee's never been our greatest 3 point shooter, rebounder, passer, or dunker. He was usually the shortest guy on the court too, which is kind of a problem when you play basketball. The one thing he was known for was being fast, with the nickname "one-man fast break". But being fast alone doesn't explain how he got to be so popular.
It's impressive, if you think about it. Growing up around here, everyone's favorite player was Michael Jordan, no question about it. But that makes sense because he was by far the best player in the league. Yes, he had the personality too, but if he wasn't the runaway MVP every year, he wouldn't have been as universally worshipped.
Some people just have that extra charisma that you can't necessarily explain. Dee is obviously one of those people. It's not like other players haven't worn headbands before, or worn long socks, but so many of us have come to almost seen it as a Dee Brown trademark. Other players have popped their jersey for the camera in the past and gotten criticized for taunting - when Dee does it, people love it so much that it ends up on the cover of Sports Illustrated:
I guess what I'm saying is, there's no single thing about Dee Brown that makes him my favorite player, and such a great representative of our University. I loved watching a lot of Illini players over the years, and I was always sad to see each one of them go. Not only the future NBA players I mentioned before, but also guys like Marcus Griffin or Sean Harrington too. And if you ask me, nobody was more exciting to watch on the court than Frankie Williams. Even this year's other senior, James Augustine, for all his frustrating foul trouble, will be missed a lot for his flashes of brilliance and how he seemed to win the opening tip every single game.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Dee is a god or anything. He's had his share of frustrating moments, taken his share of terrible shots, and I can't argue with people who say he's overrated, because he probably does get more credit for some things than he deserves.
I don't know if he'll succeed in the NBA, either. Not only because of his height, but his shot is too inconsistent and his midrange game is too weak at this point. At the same time, he has so many intangibles that I wouldn't be surprised if he worked his way into a star. Right now it doesn't look good though.
But when all is said and done, I don't think I'll miss any player more than Dee. We will get players with more talent, who will put up much better numbers and may even lead us to a National Championship someday, but nobody can ever replace #11. Goodbye, Dee, and good luck in the NBA. Whether you make it or not, you'll always be our beloved Illini.
