Junior John Brown is the second junior-college signee to join the University of South Alabama men's basketball program for the 2014-15 season. The Charlotte, N.C. native spent the last two years at Olney Central before signing in April. He sat down with USAJaguars.com and talked about the influence his father had on his basketball career and how his time in junior college helped his development as a player.

When did you start playing basketball?
I started playing around six years old. My father was hard on me when I was little—every day, every night, we were in the gym playing basketball.

Take me through your journey to get to South Alabama
I went to Olympic High School in Charlotte, N.C. I had a lot of junior colleges looking at me, but I chose Olney Central to get away from all the distractions, get my mind right and concentrate on basketball more. It's a small town; coming from Charlotte, N.C. and going to a small town like that is something you have to get used to. Coach Dan Matic used to coach at Olney a few years ago, so when he left, we're good friends so we kept in contact and he brought me here.

Why did you choose South Alabama?
It's a nice fit and I like it out here. It's a good environment and the coaching staff is great. The players made it feel like a family.

How did your time in junior college help in your development as a player?
In high school I was more of an athletic type of guy that just jumped around. Junior college makes you think about things so I started thinking about how I could improve my dribbling and shooting skills, so any free time I had was spent with my coaches shooting and doing all kinds of drills.

What part of your game improved the most in junior college?
My ball handling and shooting.

What will be your biggest adjustment to the Division I game?
The competition and the speed—everybody is quicker and stronger now and there's a big difference from junior college. Everybody isn't as quick or as strong; in Division I, everybody is quick, strong and athletic.

How would you describe your playing style?
Athletic, quick on the floor, quick on my feet. I'm a good defender and getting better at my lateral movement.

What do you consider to be the strongest part of your game?
My energy. I bring a lot of energy to the court. It starts off on defense—defense wins a lot of games, so if you have a lot of energy on defense, your team comes together. If they can feed off my energy, it can lead to good defense.

What do you try to accomplish during the offseason workouts?
Just hard work. The coaches push you all day, every day and I didn't have that in junior college so this is a new beginning, a new page in my book.

What do you enjoy the most of the game of basketball?
I love the games.  This will be my first time in a big arena. I'll have some butterflies in the beginning, but I'll get over it.

Who has had the biggest influence on your basketball life?
My father. If it wasn't for him, I probably never would have been introduced to the game of basketball. He was really hard on me. When I say day-and-night in the gym, it was really day-and-night in the gym. I had no childhood life—I was always playing basketball or working out. When he was little, his dad pushed him a lot, so he passed that on to me and made me work.

What do you expect of yourself this season?
I just want to improve my game and get a lot of wins as a team. I want to get stronger and quicker, develop my jumpshot and ball-handling skills, and be the best leader I can be.

What was your relationship like with Coach Matic during the recruiting process?
Coach Matic is like a good friend; you can talk to him about anything. So I talked to him almost every night. He helped me with my school work a lot. I was short classes at my junior college, so if it wasn't for him, I would have never known. He was keeping up with me and making sure I did things right.

What professional player do you try to model your game after?
Jamal Crawford, with his ball-handling and how smart he is on the court.

Quick hits:
Favorite NBA team: Miami Heat
Favorite college team growing up: UNC Tar Heels
Favorite sport other than basketball: College football
Favorite musical artists: Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Chris Brown
Favorite class: Math
Favorite movie: The Waterboy

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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