News Sentinel Top 10 in Tennessee, No. 1: Marlon Brown of Harding Academy

Photo by Nikki Boertman

Harding Academy football star Marlon Brown.

Tennessee fans are not going to like what they are about to read about Marlon Brown.

First, Brown is one of the elite prospects in the nation and the News Sentinel's selection for the No. 1 prospect in the state.

Rivals ranks the Harding Academy receiver from Memphis as the No. 2 receiver in the nation and the 17th-best prospect overall. Scout ranks Brown as the country's third-best receiver and the 27th-best prospect overall.

Wait, what's wrong with that? Just wait Vol fans.

Brown has visited West Coast schools, such as Southern Cal, UCLA and Stanford. All have offered him a scholarship, along with countless other schools.

Brown's recruitment is eerily familiar to that of Patrick Turner, the receiver from Goodpasture High School in Nashville who picked Southern Cal over UT in a heated recruiting battle in 2005.

Like Turner, Brown is highly rated and strongly considering USC.

Think distance is a factor?

"Not at all," the 6-foot-5, 205-pounder said. "I just really don't care about going far for college."

Of course, no two recruiting battles are exactly alike and UT has as good a shot as any school to land Brown.

Brown had Tennessee among 10 schools that last week he put on a short list of considerations. The list also includes Southern Cal, UCLA, Stanford, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU, Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma.

"I love them actually - a lot," Brown said of the Vols. "They have a good head coach."

Let's assume that Brown means head football coach Phillip Fulmer. However, Brown also could be referring to head basketball coach Bruce Pearl considering Brown plans to play both sports in college.

Thanks to UT's basketball success, it's no surprise that the Vols' new marquee program has made an impression.

"Big-time," Brown said of Pearl's crew. "It's amazing."

Amazing is one of the many adjectives Harding Academy coach Ryan Derrick could choose to describe that moment last season when he realized he had something special lined up at wide receiver.

Harding Academy called a screen pass to Brown. After breaking a handful of tackles, finding nearly imperceptible running lanes and sprinting past defenders to the end zone, Brown led Derrick to re-evaluate his game plan.

"We had to change our offense and find ways to get this kid the ball," Derrick said.

That meant handing Brown the ball on end-arounds and reverses and lining him up at tailback and quarterback, a la the Arkansas Razorbacks' "Wild 'Hog" package. The last thing Derrick could let happen was for the double and triple teams at receiver to continue.

It worked. Brown caught 41 passes for 870 yards and six touchdowns and rushed 56 times for 640 yards and 10 touchdowns. (And, by the way, Brown also had a touchdown on an interception and a fumble return).

On the basketball court, Brown is a double-double man, averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Still, Brown doesn't carry any delusions where his athletic future lies. He's the first to admit that he's better at football than basketball. Why?

"I'm 6-5 and I'm a receiver," Brown answers matter-of-factly, trying not to imply that a dumb question has just been asked.

Derrick agrees that size is the difference. He's seen all too many swear that Brown must be 5-11 - not 6-5 - after seeing him on tape.

"He's one of the most skilled kids you're ever going to see," Derrick said. "Obviously what makes him unique is he's that skilled in a 6-foot-5 body.

"You just don't see a kid that size make those moves. That's why he's getting the attention he's getting."

Brown said he's considering USC, UT, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and UCLA. Like Turner, UT fans will have to wait until after his senior season to hear Brown's decision. He said he's not making any announcement until National Signing Day, which is Feb. 4.

Brown, who was selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando, Fla., in January, has been to Knoxville twice this summer, yet said he has no idea where he'll take his official visits this fall.

And when it comes to the prerequisite that Brown is looking for from a school, he said, "Good coaching. That's about it."

It will take that aforementioned good coaching - and good recruiting - for UT's coaches not to feel a sense of deja vu.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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