Seasoned UCLA basketball fans have discovered what it would take for the Bruins to land another dominant 7-footer from New York.
When Brown tallied 19 points and 17 rebounds against Purdue at Fort Wayne earlier this month, he became the first Bruin to reach those figures in his college debut since Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) collected 56 points and 21 rebounds as a sophomore during a romp over USC in December 1966. Freshmen were barred from playing varsity at the time because of NCAA rules.
Nobody is forecasting Brown as a threat to surpass Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, but the 7-foot-2 freshman center has given the Bruins a shot-blocking, rebound-snagging, dunk-hoarding presence they have lacked in recent years.