Doors open and close for Brown

The recruiting picture became a lot clearer for Andy Brown over the last week's time. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei had two major things happen in his recruitment.

The ripple effect of Lute Olson's retirement at Arizona was felt on the recruiting front, especially within Brown's household.

"I was planning on committing to Arizona either this week or next week then coach Olson retired. I thought coach [Mike] Dunlap was going to get the head coaching job. I talked to him many times and we have a pretty good relationship. I would have felt comfortable with him as the coach. When I found out that he declined the offer to be the interim, everything got screwed up," Brown said. "Now, I'd have to say Arizona is not one of my top schools anymore."

So what now? Brown said his recruitment is now down to Stanford and San Diego. He said Arizona isn't out of the picture completely but "I doubt I'll go there," Brown says.

As one door gets closer to closing, another door just swung open in a huge way. Brown said he found out on Monday that he was officially admitted to Stanford. With his admission into the prestigious Pac-10 school, Brown said he is very high on the school at the moment.

"Coach [Johnny] Dawkins is a great, great coach and a great person. Hopefully he can get things started there," Brown said. "It's Stanford and it's the Pac-10. Palo Alto is probably one of the nicest areas in the nation. It's a real athletic school. They love their athletics there. School will be tough there but I shouldn't have too much of a problem with that."

San Diego is very high on Brown's list, too, and the Toreros have impressed the three-star prospect throughout the process.

"I love San Diego because it's close, it's a great area down there by the beach. It's a WCC school so it's not as big as the Pac-10 but I think they are a program on the rise with coach [Bill] Grier there. I went down there and I felt good with the players and the coaching staff and students," Brown said. "I thought that it was a good fit."

Brown said he is done with his visits and now it is a matter of him talking things over with his parents and Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight.

"Hopefully I can decide by [Nov. 12]. My goal is to do it by then. If not, then I'll have to wait," Brown said.