Elijah Brown transfer: New Mexico grad looking at Gonzaga

Elijah Brown, a graduate transfer from New Mexico, has declared Gonzaga as one of the schools he is looking into.

The 6’4 guard was a big scorer with the Lobos, averaging 18.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In that regard, he is pretty good. On the other hand, Brown has some issues that might not make him fit best into the lineup.

Issue #1) until anything changes, Gonzaga doesn’t have any scholarships to give.

Issue #2) Brown just isn’t a very good shooter at all. He hits his free throws at a good clip, shooting 85 percent on his career. But he is also a sub-40 percent shooter from the other areas of the court over his career, and turnovers have always been a problem. Brown’s career offensive rating of 106.9 would put him last on Gonzaga’s roster last season.

This would be the second transfer in Brown’s career, and it seems a good chance that he possibly ends up on Saint Mary’s. Saint Mary’s offered him way back when he was originally applying to schools.

Otherwise, there probably isn’t much to read into this one. Brown’s high volume, low reward style of shooting just doesn’t fit in whatsoever with the model the Gonzaga Bulldogs like to send out. Granted, that model might shift if Nigel Williams-Goss and Zach Collins depart, but it doesn’t seem like Brown fits into the style of player that Mark Few and the coaching staff would pursue. Especially considering the Bulldogs already have essentially four versions of Brown in Silas Melson, Josh Perkins, Zack Norvell, and Bryan Alberts.

Still, interest is interest, so this is one worth looking out for.