Terrell Brown is an outlier on a Wildcats roster that returns few established starters, scorers

When Arizona coach Sean Miller warned last month that the 2020-21 Wildcats “might be the least experienced team I’ve ever coached,” the numbers bore him out.

Entering its scheduled opener Friday against Grambling State, Arizona returns zero regular starters from last season, and only two overall starts — both given last season to forward Ira Lee, who is not expected to play Friday because of a concussion. Even counting his two starts that’s the 11th fewest player-starts returned among the 353 teams who played in Division I last season.

Then there’s scoring. Arizona returns just 14.7% of its scoring, the lowest percentage in the Pac-12 and 16th least overall nationally. And some of its potential replacement scoring disappeared this week, when freshman guard Kerr Kriisa returned to Estonia while still stuck in the NCAA clearinghouse.

But those numbers don’t tell all of the story, either: The Wildcats actually have some sneaky-good experience in point guard James Akinjo, the 2018-19 Big East Freshman of the Year; forward Jordan Brown, a 2018 McDonald’s high school all-American; and, especially, in 22½-year-old guard Terrell Brown, a grad transfer from Seattle U who was an all-WAC pick last season.

“I don’t know how many games he’ll start but I know he’ll finish the majority of them, because of his experience, calm demeanor and leadership being that we’re our young team,” says UA assistant coach Jason Terry, Brown’s godfather and a longtime friend of his dad. “We don’t have a lot of experience: James Akinjo played at Georgetown but he missed last season, Jordan Brown didn’t play much at Nevada, (sophomore center) Christian Koloko didn’t play much last year, and all our other guys are freshmen. So we’re gonna lean on him for leadership for sure.”

It’s just taken a little time to adjust. Fortunately for Brown, the college basketball season was pushed back another 15 days because of COVID-19 precautions, giving him even more of a chance to mesh with all his new teammates.

“At first it was kind of hard being on a new team and being a leader,” Terrell Brown said. “But as you continue to play, you’re more vocal because of the experience you’ve been through. People kind of lean on you a lot. So that’s the role I have, to be a leader, but also with James Akinjo and Jemarl (Baker) and Jordan Brown — they are all leaders.

“I would say maybe even the younger guys are stepping up, talking, being more vocal and that’s the atmosphere that we want.”

Terrell Brown also has the credentials to suggest he can help take care of that other number, the one where Arizona returns only 14.7% of its scoring. Because he alone represented 27.5% of Seattle U’s scoring last season.

Brown scored an average of 20.7 points per game at Seattle U last season, taking the vast majority of his shots inside the arc and getting to the line often. He shot 41.1% overall (though just 29.1% from 3) while drawing six fouls per 40 minutes played, the 80th most in Division I, and made 78.4% of his free throws.

The presence of Akinjo, Baker and maybe Kriisa — along with UA’s bigger wings in Bennedict Mathurin and Dalen Terry — means Brown won’t have to average that much production for the Wildcats. But it won’t be a surprise if he hits 20 in any given game.

“One thing about transfers, if you really pay close attention, is they normally perform very similar to how they have at their previous place,” Miller said. “I don’t think he expects 21 a game here, nor do we, but he does have the ability to score. You see that in our practices.”

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Brown also has the ability to be flexible, because he’s played all sorts of roles already.

Surrounded by talent on powerhouse teams at Seattle’s Garfield High School, Brown first played college ball at nearby Shoreline Community College in an effort to elevate his profile. Despite averaging 30 points a game there, Brown still had to walk on at Seattle U as a sophomore in 2018-19.

Then he led the team in scoring (14.1) that season and turned himself into the WAC’s leading scorer last season.

“It’s definitely a road that’s less traveled, especially nowadays,” Terry said. “He’s just a hidden gem, I call him. All of it has made him stronger and it’s definitely prepared him for this level. He showed last year he can compete at a high level.”

While Brown played in a mid-major conference the past two seasons, his numbers did not drop against stiffer competition. He had 24 points against Washington State, 21 against Washington and 22 against Saint Mary’s.

All that established him as a high-major player. So when it became clear he could graduate over the summer, Arizona swooped in and Terry helped close the deal after he was hired.

“He means a lot to me,” Brown said of Terry. “He’s someone I can lean on. He’s family.”

While Brown was a big loss for Seattle U, Redhawks coach Jim Hayford told the Seattle Times this month that he was proud of him, saying that Brown felt transferring to Arizona was “the best step to reach his career ambitions.”

In the end, maybe it works well for everyone: Hayford gets credit for developing a high-major player, which helps him attract future recruits, while UA gets leadership and scoring it needs this season.

And Brown gets a chance to see what he can do regularly at an even higher level, on an even brighter stage.

“The first time walking into the arena was something special,” Brown said. “I’m just coming into the locker room seeing my own jersey, it’s kind of a surreal feeling because the history behind Arizona. They’ve had a lot of good guards, a lot of good players that came here. So it’s been really cool.

“I mean, you can just feel like the history here, like the great teams prior to me being here. Hopefully we can become one of those good, or great teams, this season.”