7-foot-1 Center Zach Brown Commits to UConn

The UConn Huskies have landed a big addition to open their Class of 2017 with the commitment of center Zach Brown, per ESPN's Reggie Rankin. Brown was at UConn last night, saying that he was close to making a decision with reports that things were looking good for Kevin Ollie and the Huskies.

Brown, from Miami High, is the 17th-ranked prospect and the first commit to the Class of 2017 for the Huskies. He figures to be the eventual replacement for 7-foot junior Amida Brimah, who has two years of eligibility remaining going into the 2015-16 season. After visiting UConn's First Night last fall, Brown has been a priority target for head coach Kevin Ollie and his staff.

The 250-pound Brown led Miami Beach to the Class 8A regional semifinals, averaging 18.4 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks, last season but recently transferred to Miami High. The Stings have won a Florida-record 18 state titles, but have not cut down the nets since 2005.

Brown received more than 30 scholarship offers, including Duke, Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas, UCLA, Miami, Ohio State, Memphis and Syracuse. His game has been compared to two former Georgetown big men, Dikembe Mutombo and Roy Hibbert, who went on to NBA careers.

Kevin Ollie and his staff have been immensely productive on the recruiting trail in the past six months. After adding immediate contributors in graduate transfers Shonn Miller and Sterling Gibbs, then securing verbal commitments from Diarra, Gilbert, Durham, and Jackson, as well as transfer Terry Larrier, they now have a very solid piece to get things started for the Class of 2017.

UConn still has a number of high-priority targets in play, including Putnam Academy's Hamidou Diallo, whose recruitment is still wide open.