CHICAGO -- The spotlight landed squarely on the broad shoulders of Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler senior star small forward Jaylen Brown at adidas Unrivaled on July 10-13.
Brown entered the event the highest ranked player, with Rivals.com moving him up to No. 3 overall in the country in the class of 2015 in its last rankings update.
"I have a lot of good people around me that keep me grounded and don't let me feed into it," said Brown on handling his increased fame. "There are a lot of people who were top five that aren't in the NBA or didn't make it.
"I'm not worried about it. I want to be top five in the draft, if that is possible or No. 1 in the draft. I have to have tunnel vision and stay humble."
The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder is explosive going to the rim, and is strong enough to finish inside or draw a foul. He led the camp in free-throw attempts per game (4.8).
Brown finished tied for second in scoring with 16 points per game. Brown overcame a slow shooting start to score at least 19 points in three of his last four games, and added 16 in the all-star game Sunday.
A parade of head coaches came to watch him play at Quest Multisport. Brown is considering Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State and UCLA. Duke also checked him out in Chicago. The head coaches of all those schools checked out Brown at various points at adidas Unrivaled.
"I know for sure that I am visiting UCLA at the end of July after an adidas event," Brown said. "That will be unofficially. I also want to officially visit Kentucky and UCLA. Those are the two I know for sure."
Florida coach Billy Donovan coached Brown on the under-18 squad for USA Basketball at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships on June 20-24 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He averaged 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game for the victorious squad. Brown was one of eight class of 2015 prospects on the 5-0 team.
Brown also played internationally with a group of adidas All-Stars at Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy. Brown and Martinsville (Va.) Carlisle School junior power forward Thon Maker shared the scoring duties in early June.
"That was great because I had never been outside the country," Brown said. "The farthest I had been was Hawaii. To interact with the different cultures and stuff like that, and see a different style of basketball that they play, as they don't play the American style. They play more fundamental and a lot smarter. I think we competed pretty well."
Somehow, Brown also squeezed in the Kevin Durant Camp for wings that Nike puts on in late June.
"It has been a long spring and summer," Brown said. "I am just trying to push it out and get to as many events as I can. This is my last go-around for summer basketball. It has been a drag, but I am just trying to kick it out."
Brown has strong leadership potential and also hopes to be a good role model for people in his community.
"I try to do things the right way and play the game the right way," Brown said. "I try to treat everybody with respect and everyone equally. I don't know if I'm a role model or not, but I might be."
Jarron Cumberland gets hot on perimeter
Wilmington (Ohio) High junior shooting guard Jarron Cumberland took advantage of his four days at adidas Unrivaled.
The 6-4, 200-pounder proved to be one of the top outside shooters at the event. Cumberland went 12 of 32 from beyond the arc (37.5 percent) and averaged 13.0 points in six games.
"My shooting and driving went good, and I was ready to play," Cumberland said. "I'm showing my all-around game."
Cumberland wasn't exactly an unknown prior to arriving in Chicago. Rivals.com ranked the Ohio Basketball Club standout No. 62 overall in the class of 2016. Getting his first scholarship offer is another goal for Cumberland this summer.
"I haven't gotten any offers, but I have gotten interest," Cumberland said.
"I have gone to Ohio State, Dayton and Purdue," Cumberland said. "Purdue wants me to come up, and so does West Virginia."
Cumberland said events in Cincinnati and Las Vegas will be up next for the second and third evaluation periods respectively.
Payton Pritchard draws crowd
Few players at adidas Unrivaled drew a crowd of head coaches like junior point guard Payton Pritchard of West Linn (Ore.) High.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett and Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan both arrived Friday and made a beeline to Prichard's court. The odds are good that both coaches were there for Pritchard specifically rather than for some of the other players involved in the game.
The 6-1, 175-pounder was arguably the top point guard in the camp, and played up to his Rivals.com No. 34 ranking in the class of 2016.
Pritchard's played both backcourt spots at the NBPA Camp in mid-June at the University of Virginia, but flourished playing just point guard at adidas Unrivaled.