Neighbor knew years ago that UK commit Anthony Brown was going to be special athlete

Ohio four-star receiver Anthony Brown had 29 scholarship offers but committed to Kentucky on Saturday. (Twitter Photo)

Getting a verbal commitment from four-star receiver Anthony Brown of Springfield, Ohio, obviously shows the belief high-profile skilled players have in the offensive system Kentucky coach Mark Stoops now has.

The 5-10, 170-pound Brown is rated as the eighth-best prospect in Ohio by Rivals.com in the 2023 recruiting class and nation’s 44th best receiver.

However, family friend Terrence Toliver knew years ago that Brown was special and his tweet Friday about Brown’s college choice the next day certainly caught my attention.

“So proud of who he has become. I remember his freshman year seeing him riding his bike to the field for workouts with his blue tooth speaker on the handle bars. I said to myself yeah he special!!” Toliver tweeted.

I reached out to Toliver, the head girls basketball coach at nearby Middletown High School, said.

“Anthony and his family live about a block and a half from where I live. I grew up with his mom and uncles. I would see Anthony when he was 12 or 13 years old at high school football games or around the neighborhood,” Toliver said.

“I walk and run daily and would always see him riding on his bicycle headed to the stadium to work out with older brother Michael, who plays for Minnesota. He would have that Bluetooth speaker that was almost bigger than his bike dragging it to workouts.”

“It would be 95 degrees and he was headed to work out. Now he is driving to the stadium. I still walk/run and he will drive by, roll down the window and ask me how I am doing. He never quits working. That’s why he’s special.”

Toliver has watched Brown play three years for Springfield High School and he has grown into another star football or basketball player the school has produced.

“He is probably one of the best I have ever seen at his position when it comes to speed, footwork, acceleration. He is just fun to watch,” Toliver said. “He puts on a show. When he catches the ball, nine times out of ten it is six (points).”

“He is really good at track, too. I saw him his freshman year when they were doing workouts and I could not believe how fast he was. I thought track might be his calling but he’s great on the football field. He is worth the price of admission.”

Brown had 29 scholarship offers, including Michigan, Oklahoma, Penny State and Cincinnati. He had 57 catches for 822 yards and seven touchdowns, including a 74-yard play, in 12 games last season. As a sophomore in 2020 he had 40 catches for 829 yards and nine scores in 10 games.

However, Toliver, a basketball coach for almost 30 years, says UK is getting more than just a great athlete.

“He is as humble as he can be. He is quiet. He’s not a guy of many words. He lets his work speak for him,” Toliver said. “Kentucky is getting a great young man with an impeccable work ethic.”

“He will produce highlight reels but he also has a great family. He’s very well grounded, very humble.”

That’s to be expected also because of his high school coach, Maurice “Mo” Douglas. He played 11 seasons in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and New York Giants after playing two years at Kentucky as a junior college transfer. He was a starter on UK’s 9-3 team in 1984.

“We have been blessed in Springfield to have somebody like Maurice Douglass come (in 2014) and take over football,” Toliver said. “He’s taken kids out of some predicaments and given them opportunities to change their lives. It’s monumental that one man can do that.”

“I coached with Mo his first two years at Springfield. It was awful. We were getting running clocked by everybody. To see where it is now is unbelievable because of what Mo has done developing players like Anthony.”

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Maurice Douglass sent two other players — Isaiah Gibson and Moses Douglass, his son, to play at UK. Gibson transferred to Marshall where he is a preseason all-conference defensive lineman pick and Douglass to Alabama A&M where he is also a starting defensive back.