ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando native and former Louisville guard Mikel Brown is preparing for this year’s NBA Draft, where he is projected to be a lottery pick on Tuesday night, and some mock drafts have him going in the top five.
Brown, who averaged 18 points and nearly five assists per game at Louisville, said consistency has been central to his preparation. That includes the same shot, release and mechanics, along with support from his father, Christopher Brown Sr.
“Some people don’t have that. I don’t take that for granted. So being able to have him, have my brother on the sideline, watch me work out,” Mikel Brown said. “And you know, having my father push me to the level that I can get to, like I said, I’m not going to take it for granted.”
Christopher Brown Sr. said the moment feels both real and unfinished as his son approaches draft night.
“It’s actually unreal — a little bit of, ‘This is really here’,” he said. “And the other part of it like, ‘Man, we got so much to work on before it gets here’.”
Brown’s father said he believes his son’s game is built for the NBA.
“He’s going to be better at the pro-level than he was at the college level because that’s what we prepared for,” he said. “Whatever the mock drafts are saying, I can almost guarantee Mikel is going to go much higher than people think he’s going to go.”
Brown’s best college performance came against NC State, when he scored 45 points. He tied Louisville’s single-game scoring record and broke the Cardinals’ record with 10 3-pointers in the game.
Brown missed the final month of the season and Louisville’s NCAA Tournament run because of a back injury, but he said he is fully healthy.
“I feel like myself again,” Brown said. “It hurt me not to play — going out and watching my teammates compete at the highest level without me being on the court. Just as a competitor, it hurt. But they were alongside me every step of the way throughout that whole process — my coaching staff was, my family was. They were all-in on just making sure I get healthy and achieving my dreams at the end of the day.”
As draft night approaches, Brown said he is especially looking forward to eventually playing inside the Kia Center, an arena he passed by often while growing up in Orlando.
“All of this work I’m putting in, all the hardships, all the frustration and all of the passion I put into this game, and to chase to where I want to be is to get into that arena,” he said. “So, I see it every time I’m driving down the highway. I look at it, like, ‘I’m trying to get there one day’.”
Brown said he’ll be in New York to shake NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s hand when his name is called.