According to a Twitter report by Mark Giannotto of The Washington Post, Robert Brown has decided to transfer.
Giannotto spoke with Brown’s father, who confirmed that his son requested his release from his scholarship. He is expected to transfer to a school closer to home. Brown is originally from Clermont, FL, which is just west of Orlando.
Brown was a top 100 recruit out of high school. He showed promise as a freshman in 2011-12, averaging 6.8 points per game off the bench. He ended the season with a 16 point performance against Duke in the ACC Tournament, and he also got off to a hot start in his sophomore season. Brown scored 18 points against Iowa, another 18 against Oklahoma State, and 21 against West Virginia. Then his production dropped off the cliff.
From January through the end of the season, Brown was just 10-of-52 from three-point range, and had eight games where he scored four or fewer points. He was only 3-of-14 from the field in his final three games as a Hokie.
Assuming that this transfer becomes official, UNC-Wilmington transfer Adam Smith , a rising r-sophomore, will become the frontrunner to start at shooting guard for the Hokies next season. Smith averaged 13.7 points per game as a true freshman two years ago. He had 32 points against Wake Forest and 23 against Maryland.
Other candidates for the position include incoming freshmen Ben Emelogu and Donte Clark .
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I wish Rob nothing but the best. I’m sure MOST of our fans would agree (the message board fans definitely skew the figures lol).
RB had a very good start to the season and definitely suffered once our losing slide started. Wherever he goes, I hope he can learn to deal with adversity better and become a more consistent player. He has a great deal of potential.
I do really wish our fans would stop being so damn negative all the time. If that drove RB away, that is a SHAME. I watched all but 2 games this season and even though RB struggled down the stretch, I never reacted w/ such vitriol. I just don’t understand it at all. 🙁
So… is it that he wants to be closer to home or has the cold weather of late made him realize that Florida in the winter really ain’t that bad?
We wish you well, Mr. Brown.
One thing is clear. The more players that you have in your system that have played for 4 years, the better your team is. Virginia Tech has shown the ability to recruit farily well the last few years, but those players never mature to the point we have a “mature team”. It takes a while to mess into a consistent day in and out team.
This is one of the reasons for the football’s sucess over the years with redshirt freshmen learning the system, growing stronger, and simply “being around” players that show the way for other players to play. Even in down seasons (such as last year), there is leadership there that allow the younger players to learn and grow.
Brown tried hard, We’ll leave it at that. Good luck to him in his Future endeavors, and if He ends up back in Florida, there is a good chance that He will actually be able to throw it in the Ocean. He was a Bust at Tech, and much like all of our Transfers and Dropouts, He’ll probably end up kicking some ass Somewhere!
Robert had the most hellacious dunk I have ever seen during a Christmas break game in 2011. I wish him well
FACT
I hope he under achieves as much for his next team…
I find it hilarious how every other midddle of the road College BBall has to xfer at least once in their career ~ ’cause they know they will never sniff the NBA ~ might as well make a 6 year vacation out of college….
Way to bust on a 20-year old kid who wants to be closer to home, Brave Hokie. You’re all class.
Idiot.
I might not agree with the idea some bball players intentionally look for 6year careers but Brown’s court awareness and basketball I.Q. was terrible and he was terribly inconsistent. I watched everygame, and if you did too, you would be honest and agree there were many times where Brown was lost and just didnt have a clue what was going on, how to score, and how to protect the ball. He was a liability Coach JJ just does not need next year.
While I don’t agree with Brave’s assessment, I’m also not completely convinced that he wants to be closer to home. That’s often the reason given publicly, but the real reason is often conflict with the coach or lack of playing time.
So my guess, and I have NO inside info, is that RB wasn’t meshing with JJ very well, or he regularly saw Adam Smith in practice and said “damn….I won’t be starting over him”. Maybe he’s homesick somehow too, but I’m skeptical of that as the deciding factor
If I had to do it again, I would stay in College for 6-10 years, it’s a Country Club. As far as Hokie Stud’s observations, Brown sucked and He’s leaving, Big Deal. Rick Razzano was the only HokieStud I knew, maybe Mickey Fitzgerald. Hokie Stud probably played the Tuba in the “Marching Virginians”- a real “Tough Guy.”
That’s one of the reasons he’s leaving. No support. None from the coaching nor the fair weather so called fans. Wow, then u wonder why hokie basketball is n the state it’s in. Stand by ur players,coach and ad. It’s a long ride. Enjoy the effort it’s only a game people.
Not happy to see him go. I had high hopes that next year would be his year and that this year was a fluke. The change of scenery could be quite good for him. Just look at Ty Garland, he is happy, he is getting floor time, he is scoring points, he is close to home and he is playing for a team that has made it to the Sweet 16. You can bet there are no regrets on his part about his decision to leave Tech.
Don’t like this trend, DoDo, Ty and now Robert.
I’m with you, scary1, I thought he’d regroup and get his mojo back during the off-season and be a real contributor again next year. Hate to see him go, I just hope he finds the right place and doesn’t end up regretting this decision.
I hope Brown finds his bliss. Maybe, he needs to make a change. If your not happy your not happy. End of story.
Our program needs guys that want to be here and will stick it out for the long haul. I hope we find guys that appreciate VT.
Agree. I’ve always said, if a kid doesn’t want to be a Hokie, can’t buy into that for whatever reason, then I don’t want him. There are other kids that DO want to be a Hokie. The ones that want to be in B’burg will do better than the ones that don’t.
Thank u so much,it will be passed on to my son. Thank u hokie nation.
Wish him the best. Hope it works out where ever he ends up.
Sorry, it didn’t work out here, coachb. Wish he would have stayed, because the junior and senior years are the best, and VT’s not going to get the best.
If things stay true to form, Robert will be playing in the NCAA Tournament at least one of the next two years!
Ignore the idiots on here. I was hoping he came back and kicked butt. Good luck the next couple of years.
I hate to see him leave. I always enjoyed watching him slash to the basket. I don’t understand how he looked so good early in the season and dropped off, but always felt he had a lot of potential . He was getting plenty of playing time so he shouldn’t have a gripe there. I wish him good fortune and hope he finds some happiness elsewhere.
I wish Robert well. During his time away before playing for a new team I hope he learns to handle the ball and correct his turnover tendencies.
Wishing him well is the only decent thing to do and who could blame him for wanting out after the way he was vilified game after game when trying his best to excel was just so frustrating. But he had games in which he did excel and gave appearance that he could be a key part of future success. I hate the appearace of VT BB as a shuttle service of guys coming and going willy nilly. If there was ever a snake bit program, it has to be VT BB. Callaway, Chaney……don’t get me started. I don’t see it as a good thing for VT that he is leavng and sorry to see him go.
I think that saying he was “villified” is a little extreme. No doubt there were many VT fans who criticized his play this year, but that’s part of the game. Any D-1 player at a large school is going to draw some heat on the message boards if he’s not playing well. But while many were frustrated with his play (As you said, at times he looked like a really good player) I don’t think that very many fans ever made it into a personal dislike of the guy.
FGCU?
Is he good enough to play for a Sweet 16 team?
Well, apparently Ty Garland is!
Ty Garland played better at VT than R Brown
I would disagree with that. Brown had to play a much more prominent role than garland ever did.
I hate it when things don’t work out for guys at VT liked everyone had hoped, but sometimes a change of scenery is in everyone’s best interests. The past season had to be weighing heavily on Robert and he really didn’t look like he was having much fun out on the court. He seems like a good teammate and he represented our school and program well while he was here. I wish him well wherever he goes.
Well said.
agreed
I will always root for him wherever he plays. I appreciated his effort, and I always rooted for his team and his success. I’m saddened by his loss.