Before first stepping onto the floor at Auburn Arena, Bryce Brown had meant to play in Charlotte.
The Stone Mountain, Georgia, native averaged 25 points, six rebounds and four assists while playing for Tucker High School. As a three-star recruit, Brown was only offered by two in-state programs: Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern.
Prior to official visits at Florida International and Charlotte, Brown attended the Auburn Tigers Elite Basketball Camp.
It was there that Auburn’s first-year head coach Bruce Pearl had an opportunity to view the shooting guard. Brown had impressed by displaying his abilities as a combo guard.
“I really liked him,” Pearl said. “ I liked him a lot.”
Pearl had initially offered Jacob Evans, now the leading scorer for Cincinnati, and told Brown that if Evans did not accept the offer he would offer Brown instead.
During late September, Evans chose Cincinnati over Auburn.
“Of course, we contacted [Brown] and said [the scholarship is] yours if you want it,” Pearl said. “At that point, he had already verbally committed to Charlotte.”
Pearl waited until Brown reopened his recruitment, and on Nov. 14, 2014, Brown signed his letter of intent to return to The Plains.
Since then, Brown has consistently stationed himself beyond the three-point arc while maintaining a menacing presence on defense.
During the 2015-2016 season, Brown became Auburn’s first freshman to average double-digit scoring since Rasheem Barrett in 2005.
Brown averaged 10.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.7 rebounds per game while averaging 24.7 minutes. He finished the year 33.9 percent from the floor while shooting 37 percent from three-point range.
And then Brown faced a sophomore slump.
Averaging 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists, Brown lost playing time with the emergence of newcomers Danjel Purifoy and Mustapha Heron.
Despite falling behind early with inefficient shooting, Brown finished the season shooting 48.3 percent (43-of-89) from beyond the arc.
Quickly, Brown had shifted into becoming a three-point specialist while launching nearly double his previous season’s three-point attempts.
Entering his junior season, alongside the absence of Austin Wiley, Purifoy and T.J. Lang, Brown was given the green light to shoot even more.
Through 19 games this season, Brown has already shot 167 times from three -- 27 more attempts than he had his entire sophomore season -- while leading the team in scoring at 16.4 points per game.
Those attempts have come on a career and team-high 31.6 minutes per game, nearly 10 minutes more than his sophomore average.
While trailing Georgia at halftime by 14, Brown had just three points on 1-of-4 shooting from three. The same player that had struggled during his second season had returned to Auburn Arena.
And then the new Brown emerged into national consciousness, leading Auburn to a 53-point second half and a 14-point victory with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three.
“Speechless,” Heron said. “I’m speechless, just like you guys. They couldn’t do nothing with him. It was fun watching him.”
Brown currently ranks sixth in the SEC in scoring while first in three-pointers made. He also boasts the fourth-best three-point field-goal percentage at 48.1 percent against in-conference opponents.
“I started feeling [more confident] ever since after the summer,” Brown said. “I know I put in the work and my teammates always talked as a team how we were as a team, how we played together. Just playing with these guys gives me the confidence and ability to do a lot on the court.”
Though the pair might not have come together had Evans not chosen Cincinnati, Pearl has high praise for his first-year pickup.
"[Brown] has gone from being one of the best defensive guards in the league to being one of the best guards in the league,” he said. "It’s a strong statement, and I wouldn’t make it unless I thought he was getting there.
"He’s becoming one of the best guards in the league. He can shoot at all levels. We already know how great of a defender he is. He’s a great guard. He’s not afraid. I’m very proud of the way he’s developed."
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