Zach Brown in trouble again

[scotty0330]

From Jeff Borzello

ESPN 100 big man Zach Brown has been released from his letter of intent to St. John's. Was reportedly arrested for theft earlier this month.

No one can be surprised at this development

 

[UChusky916]

Bullet dodged by the staff.

Hope the kid can find help. I felt like he had a shot to turn things around here under KOs guidance with our team brotherhood. Unfortunately it didn't work out.

 

[Matrim55]

Absolutely sucks that the 5-star big man we managed to land turned out to be a criminal.

Hope the kid gets help, and am glad we parted ways.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Never understood being handed a winning lottery ticket and doing everything in your power to throw it away.

 

[scotty0330]

If you saw his family and upbringing at an early age you would hardly say he was handed a winning lottery ticket. Quite the opposite.

 

[TheChamps990411]

If you saw his family and upbringing at an early age you would hardly say he was handed a winning lottery ticket. Quite the opposite.

Many have faced the same situation and used it as motivation to get out of it. I had a tough hand dealt as a kid but its what motivated me to get up get out get it. No excuses. He knows right from wrong and knows the opportunity he has and chooses to do the easy thing instead of putting in that hard work.

 

[UCweCONN]

What happened to his rich friend and his friend's dad who took him in? Cut bait too?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Gotta really feel for the kid. Had a one-in-a-billion opportunities with countless people looking to take him from an awful home to a superstar. And at every turn, he sabotaged himself. Kid was too afraid of success.

 

[Northbound]

Sometimes you can't out run your environment, "friends", family, etc. I'm sure we've all seen talented people make poor decisions at 18 or so that has far ranging consequences.

I hope the kid finds his way in the world.

I was fortunate enough have had help overcoming my - let's call them transgressions.

 

[Dove]

No more chicken fried.
Or cold beer on a Friday night.

Dammit.

 

[joober jones]

Very, very sad news. There's not much else to say.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Many have faced the same situation and used it as motivation to get out of it.

What do you know about his situation?

 

[TheChamps990411]

What do you know about his situation?

Dont know and dont care because his situation is nothing that you cant come out from and is a piss poor excuse for making the decisions hes making . Why the .ck are people justifying his behavior? Is he the only thats had it tough?

 

[champs99and04]

Dont know and dont care because his situation is nothing that you cant come out from and is a piss poor excuse for making the decisions hes making . Why the .ck are people justifying his behavior? Is he the only thats had it tough?

The irony is that we can now use your tough upbringing to justify you being so obtuse about this.

 

[TheChamps990411]

The irony is that we can now use your tough upbringing to justify you being so obtuse about this.

What does this have to do with angles?

 

[ctchamps]

Dont know and dont care because his situation is nothing that you cant come out from and is a piss poor excuse for making the decisions hes making . Why the .ck are people justifying his behavior? Is he the only thats had it tough?

I'm happy for you and all the people who don't let their life's difficulties prevent them from making a better life. You should be proud of what you've done and not demean it by believing it is easy. It's not. Many people can't overcome difficulties. If that were possible everyone would be excellent at everything.

Zach is not the person or people who hurt you even though he may have some similarities to them. I could be off base on this and if so I apologize in advance.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I'm happy for you and all the people who don't let their life's difficulties prevent them from making a better life. You should be proud of what you've done and not demean it by believing it is easy. It's not. Many people can't overcome difficulties. If that were possible everyone would be excellent at everything.

Zach is not the person or people who hurt you even though he may have some similarities to them. I could be off base on this and if so I apologize in advance.

No need for apologies. I see your point but i disagree as i never said anything was easy. I also understand some people are unable to overcome believe me i know that first hand as half the friends i grew up with are in prison or dead. A couple did well as did i. The difference i found was the ones that made the change did so because they wanted to change while those that didnt did so because they either liked the lifestyle or just didnt have the skills/abilities/intelligence to change their lives. None of us had the opportunities available that this kid has. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way how people were so quick to say "oh poor kid cant get out of a tough situation" as if he has no choice in the matter. We all have a choice.

 

[ctchamps]

No need for apologies. I see your point but i disagree as i never said anything was easy. I also understand some people are unable to overcome believe me i know that first hand as half the friends i grew up with are in prison or dead. A couple did well as did i. The difference i found was the ones that made the change did so because they wanted to change while those that didnt did so because they either liked the lifestyle or just didnt have the skills/abilities/intelligence to change their lives. None of us had the opportunities available that this kid has. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way how people were so quick to say "oh poor kid cant get out of a tough situation" as if he has no choice in the matter. We all have a choice.

I sensed from your first statement you grew up in an environment that was filled with violence. Even though I don't know you, I am really happy you didn't fall victim to your environment. That's the most important thing in this thread. You're a success story.

I made an educated guess that this was personal for you. That it's not just about what you accomplished but that there is pain for you because people you cared for ended up as victims. Hopefully some day you can look back and have sympathy towards those who failed. When you can do this you will have healed your personal pain with this episode of your life. Good luck.

 

[boog204]

No need for apologies. I see your point but i disagree as i never said anything was easy. I also understand some people are unable to overcome believe me i know that first hand as half the friends i grew up with are in prison or dead. A couple did well as did i. The difference i found was the ones that made the change did so because they wanted to change while those that didnt did so because they either liked the lifestyle or just didnt have the skills/abilities/intelligence to change their lives. None of us had the opportunities available that this kid has. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way how people were so quick to say "oh poor kid cant get out of a tough situation" as if he has no choice in the matter. We all have a choice.

Certainly applaud you for making a success out of a difficult situation. But you stated that many people you knew just didn't have the "skills, abilities, intelligence" to change. Doesn't Brown fall into this category? I mean, he's a basketball player and one who is only valuable because of his size as he is still incredibly raw (his ranking had gone from top 10 to 82). I see Brown as a kid who does not love basketball and does not see it as some golden ticket out of the true awfulness that has been his youth. I'm sure something clicked for you that made you want to escape whatever the environment is that you grew up in. Brown obviously has not found that motivation yet.

I would venture that he has never had a worthwhile role model in his life. Those who stepped in to "mentor" him saw the dollar signs and not the person; even the colleges that recruited him were most likely more concerned with his potential as a rim protector as opposed to his potential as a human being. Basketball has always been some sort of cushion for his indiscretions. Even now, depending on the punishment levied, I guarantee another school will inquire about how he is rehabilitated. We saw St. John's do it just a few months ago.

I truly feel terrible for the kid not because he is throwing away a basketball career, but because he is throwing away his life.

 

[CL82]

I sensed from your first statement you grew up in an environment that was filled with violence. Even though I don't know you, I am really happy you didn't fall victim to your environment. That's the most important thing in this thread. You're a success story.

I made an educated guess that this was personal for you. That it's not just about what you accomplished but that there is pain for you because people you cared for ended up as victims. Hopefully some day you can look back and have sympathy towards those who failed. When you can do this you will have healed your personal pain with this episode of your life. Good luck.

Kind of judgy, don't you think Fleud? I read his comments as espousing empowerment and self-determination. In my view he wasn't denigrating anyone but, instead, was conveying a message that overcoming environment is possible. I didn't read him as lacking sympathy or empathy.

 

[ctchamps]

Kind of judgy, don't you think Fleud? I read his comments as espousing empowerment and self-determination. In my view he wasn't denigrating anyone but, instead, was conveying a message that overcoming environment is possible. I didn't read him as lacking sympathy or empathy.

We're having a continued conversation. It could be construed as judgemental or reading too much into things if he and I weren't taking an intermediate step.

And I hope he didn't misunderstand my statement the way you have. I've come to the same conclusion you have regarding empowerment and self-determination. He should be lauded for that and I did that twice. I'm assessing that his history is still painful for him and he's in the angry faze of dealing with it. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes situations need us to be angry to cope. It's not mutually exclusive to be successful in overcoming something and at the same time not fully resolved in the pain that still lingers from the history that we left.

I would only be judgmental if I insisted he moves away from the pain or tell him his dealing with it was wrong. I'm not doing either of those things.

 

[CL82]

We're having a continued conversation. It could be construed as judgemental or reading too much into things if he and I weren't taking an intermediate step.

And I hope he didn't misunderstand my statement the way you have. I've come to the same conclusion you have regarding empowerment and self-determination. He should be lauded for that and I did that twice. I'm assessing that his history is still painful for him and he's in the angry faze of dealing with it. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes situations need us to be angry to cope. It's not mutually exclusive to be successful in overcoming something and at the same time not fully resolved in the pain that still lingers from the history that we left.

I would only be judgmental if I insisted he moves away from the pain or tell him his dealing with it was wrong. I'm not doing either of those things.

May I suggest that perhaps it is more appropriate to take his statements on face value and debate them on the merits, rather than assume that he is angry and needs to work it out on public internet board?

 

[ctchamps]

May I suggest that perhaps it is more appropriate to take his statements on face value and debate them on the merits, rather than assume that he is angry and needs to work it out on public internet board?

It's a decent suggestion. Have pm'd people in the past. If I assessed he was frail I most certainly would have done that. I could be wrong but I don't get that from him. And if you read the responses posters have made to his original contribution regarding Zach I determined they might get some benefit from my interaction with him. He's got nothing to be embarrassed about. I want to make that clear. He hasn't done anything wrong. But neither have they.
Furthermore, this reaction by him and towards him from other posters is echoed in this forum regarding this season. It's also on a national scale but that's cesspool stuff. So it's a subtle way to approach all of this. If I'm wrong I hope @TheChamps990411 will let me know about it and I'll delete my posts.

 

[CL82]

It's a decent suggestion. Have pm'd people in the past. If I assessed he was frail I most certainly would have done that. I could be wrong but I don't get that from him. And if you read the responses posters have made to his original contribution regarding Zach I determined they might get some benefit from my interaction with him. He's got nothing to be embarrassed about. I want to make that clear. He hasn't done anything wrong. But neither have they.

Agree but the choice of whether to make a topic for public discussion is his decision, not yours. It's also a bit off topic for the forum.

Thanks for being open to the suggestion.

 

[ctchamps]

Agree but the choice of whether to make a topic for public discussion is his decision, not yours. It's also a bit off topic for the forum.

Thanks for being open to the suggestion.

Even though I'm debating you I welcome your comments. I've debated with myself about this. I've marked his name so he can let me know if I'm off base.

Regarding this forum it certainly is different. I'm hoping to move the needle on one or two people who are not involved with this. If I can do that and minimize pain for anyone I've succeeded. We'll just let TheChamps tell me if I should remove my post or if its ok to leave it or if he feels the need to correct where I'm wrong.

I'm sure he appreciates you advocating for him. We all need advocacy at various times of our lives.