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Zach Brown, the 7-foot center prospect who committed to St. John’s this fall, was reportedly arrested for petit theft yesterday.
The arrest was tweeted by Slater’s Scoops originally. The basic arrest information is available online as well.
As far as the response so far from St. John’s:
Zach Brown was arrested last night, source confirms. St. John's is gathering information on the situation, source says. #sjubb
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) January 9, 2017
Zach Brown was arrested on robbery charges late in the spring of this year as well; the 19-year old has had his struggles, attending multiple high schools and leaving one after an on-court fight. From the impoverished Liberty City section of Miami, Brown is a talented player who has seen his share of trouble.
This trouble, given his earlier criminal charges (that were reduced), does not bode well for his future at St. John’s or playing high-level basketball. Mistakes can be made, and we do not know the full story of the arrest. But for a player with a bright future who has received multiple visits from St. John’s in Miami after his commitment to show their support for him, this does not bode well.
Kudos to St. John’s for being actively involved in his life, but a player has to make his own decisions as well.
The charge is a misdemeanor, but Brown’s prior arrest has not been resolved as of yet (as far as we know), which will affect sentencing. And St. John’s may simply want to drop an unreliable player who finds himself a part of theft multiple times in the same year.
St. John’s has been actively pursuing forward Derrick Walker from Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas to fill a hole in the paint. But with Yankuba Sima transferring to Oklahoma State, the Red Storm were hoping for Brown to come in and fill a role as a defensively-oriented big man in 2017-18.