Barion Brown (Twitter Photo)
Pearl-Cohn (Tenn.) High School head coach Tony Brunetti says his star player, Barion Brown, is going to bring a lot to the University of Kentucky football program.
“He is dynamic. He plays a lot of positions, so you know how versatile he is, and can do a lot of things,” Brunetti said. “We have had a lot of good kids come through our program, but he’s just special. He’s a track star, so you know he has great speed.”
The 6-1, 173-pound Brown is rated as a five-star receiver and top 250 player nationally even though he was not featured in a passing offense and even played quarterback part of the season.
According to the Tennessee High School Athletic Association website, ran 62 times for 756 yards and seven touchdowns last season and caught 25 passes for 372 yards and four scores despite being limited by an ankle injury part of the season.
He also punted, returned kickoffs, returned punts, and played in the defensive secondary.
“He is just as good a defensive back as receiver,” Brunetti said. “God just gave him a lot of skills. He definitely has the ability to play on both sides of the ball in college.”
Those skills are why Alabama, Arizona State, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, TCU, and others wanted him but lost him to Kentucky.
“He just makes plays. He has great speed. His speed is unreal. He’s a long strider,” Brunetti said. “I don’t know how fast he can run. A lot of kids who run track cannot translate that speed to the football field. He runs just as fast on the field as the track and not everybody can do that.”
Brunetti says Brown will have to have patience in college and learn the game is different and harder.
“The other stuff on the field will take care of itself. He just needs to be stronger and stay patient,” Brunetti said. “He just likes to play and he likes to win. On the field, he wants to be the best player out there and wants to help win. He doesn’t care about rankings. He likes all the stars and stuff but that can add stress he doesn’t need.”
Brown will not enroll at UK in January. He will graduate in the spring, run track his senior season, and enroll at UK in June.
3 Responses
Glad to have you young man!
The bigger question is what position is he best suited to play in the SEC? It sounds like he could have the makings of a lockdown cornerback who could possibly get some minutes as a slot receiver too. You can’t coach speed…this kid could be a difference maker in a couple of years.
nice versatility to have