Wednesday Where Are They Now?: Dee Brown, Illinois

Ever wonder what happened to those college stars that couldn't catch on in the NBA? The guys that put up the great numbers or the guys that left early, and were never heard from again? Every Wednesday, we at BIAH will take a look at a former college star that never made it in the NBA, and we will update you on where he is playing or what he is doing. We're guessing the results will surprise you. To request a player, hit us up on twitter @ballinisahabit or via email at contactbiah@gmail.com.

DEE BROWN

Dee Brown was one of the best high school athletes ever produced by the state of Illinois. As a quarterback, he started in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, leading Proviso East with 1,800 yards and 16 TDs as a senior. He was good enough to earn offers from Florida State and Nebraska, who were both good back then.


But basketball is where Brown excelled. He left Proviso East, a school just west of Chicago that has produced basketball talents like Shannon Brown, Michael Finley, Doc Rivers, Sherrel Ford, and Steven Hunter, as the all-time leader in points, assists, and steals. As a senior, he averaged 25.6 ppg, 5.8 apg, and 2.9 spg while being named Illinois' Mr. Basketball, a consensus top 20 recruit, and participating in both the McDonald's all-american game and the Jordan Brand Classic.

Brown ended up at Illinois, where he and fellow freshman Deron Williams made an immediate impact for the Illini. Brown was named second team all Big Ten in his first season as he averaged 12.0 ppg and 5.0 apg (which led the conference) to lead the Illini to a second place finish in the Big Ten regular season and a conference tournament title. As a sophomore it was more of the same, as Brown averaged 13.3 ppg and 4.5 apg while once again being named second team all Big Ten. The Illini made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, a game farther than they did in Brown's freshman season.

In his junior season, the Illini were absolutely loaded. Playing in one of the best backcourts in recent history, Brown averaged 13.3 ppg, 4.5 apg, and 1.8 spg while being named the Big Ten player of the year. The award is all the more impressive when you consider that both Williams and Luther Head, his back court mates, were first team all Big Ten selections. Illinois would stay undefeated until the final game of the regular season, when they lost to Ohio State at the buzzer. After winning another Big Ten tournament title, Brown helped lead Illinois to the national title game, where they lost to Roy Williams and the UNC Tar Heels.

After the season, Brown entered his name into the NBA Draft. But after breaking his foot in the Chicago pre-draft camp, he was forced to take his name out of consideration. He was a fringe first round pick, at best, before the injury. It may have been a blessing in disguise, as Brown was able to exclusively run the point his senior season (he shared duties with Williams his first three years). As expected, Brown was once again brilliant, finishing the year with career high averages of 14.2 ppg and 5.8 apg while being named a second team all-american and winning the Cousy Award. But with Head and Williams both in the NBA, he just didn't have the same talent around him. As a result, Illinois lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Washington.

Brown was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 46th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft. Brown made Utah's roster, where he was reunited with Williams. He played in 49 games as a rookie, but after the season, he elected to go to Turkey, where he spent the 2007-2008 season with Galatasaray Café Crown. Brown averaged right around 13 points and 5 assists in '07-'08, which was enough to catch the attention of the Washington Wizards, who signed Brown to a partially guaranteed two-year deal as insurance for the injury-plagued Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels.

As luck would have it, both Arenas and Daniels got banged up early in the season, which pushed Brown into the starting role. He started the last 11 of the 17 games he played with the Wizards, but after Washington traded for Mike James and Javaris Crittendon, Brown was released. He was picked up by the Suns a few weeks later, but was let go once again after playing in just two games. Brown signed with Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Aviv for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season.

Brown signed on with Air Avellino of the Italian League for the 2009-2010. Playing alongside former college hoopers DeMarcus Nelson (Duke) and Chevon Troutman (Pitt), Brown has averaged 15.0 ppg and 5.3 apg for a team competing for a playoff spot in the highest division of Italian basketball.

Last week, Brown made some headlines for an off-the-court incident. After getting into a car accident with Troutman, Brown was arrested for resisting arrest (sic). He took to his blog to defend himself:

First off I want to thank GOD for keeping both parties healthy and safe. But I would never put my hands on the police, I would never do anything to disrespect them. I feel so bad about the situation I think the language barrier is another thing in this story that people don't understand, they don't understand me and I didn't understand them. With that said, a lot of the story just don't seem believable and thats not my character a lot of things went on that night. I don't want to talk about the beating I took during the situation thats why they are saying I attacked them to cover themselves from the situation. Yes they put their hands on me, but again thats a side of the story you will not hear about...