Arizona big man Jordan Brown wins second consecutive gold jersey

Arizona big man Jordan Brown is in the process of proving that a change of scenery did him good. The Nevada transfer was forced to sit out last season after his move from Reno to Tucson, but in his time away from the floor he has continued his development. That progress is now turning into production in a practice setting as the Northern California native earned his second consecutive gold practice jersey, the program announced Tuesday.

The gold jersey is awarded to the top performer each week once official practices begin and continues into the season. Brown has been awarded the honor in each of the first two weeks back on the floor for the Wildcats. The process is not based on the opinions of UA's coaches. Rather, it works off a points system that rewards players for positive plays throughout a given week of practice.

The player who earns the most amount of points is then awarded the gold jersey to wear for the week. It isn't the only thing to take into account when considering how productive a player will be in the games, but more often than not it is a strong indicator of what to expect once games begin.

Last year standout power forward Zeke Nnaji was a multi-week winner of the gold jersey before the start of the season.

That Brown has been successful to begin the preseason should not come as a surprise. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound big man has been generating plenty of buzz this offseason. He is someone both Sean Miller and the UA players have pointed to as a player who shined during practices last year. The Arizona head coach has continued to speak highly of Brown heading into the season.

"[He] was able to practice with us and work hard behind the scenes a year ago," Miller said about Brown last week during his virtual media day press conference. "Jordan not only knows our system better than a lot of players on this year's team, but he had a really good year. Like so many of our players, I would have loved to have had an April and May and three summer months, June, July and August, with Jordan here.

"Unfortunately he wasn't able to be in Tucson, but he's a great kid. An incredibly hard worker, great teammate, is very talented."

Miller added that Brown's opportunity to practice against UA's front court throughout last season also helped develop the big man while awaiting his chance to hit the floor once again.

"We had some great battles every day in practice," Miller said. "I think that helped Jordan a year ago. Not only was he working behind the scenes physically and on his game, but being able to practice and compete against a front court like that we had some great battles and I think that year of development has served him well.

"So, Jordan is one of the most experienced players on our team, and I think he's gonna be a very productive player. Not only in our program this year, but I think he's gonna go on and have a great career."

The Wildcats continue preparations for the upcoming season that is set to begin in late November although the program has not yet released its schedule for the fall.

****

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans Inside McKale

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)