Former Liberty County High School basketball star Rion Brown has signed a deal to play for a professional club in Belgium, his agent announced Saturday.
Seth A. Cohen, president and co-founder of Verus Management Team, wrote on Twitter, “Signed, sealed and delivered! Congrats to former @hornets SL Wing Rion Brown who inks a deal w club Basic-Fit Brussels #chapter2begins #VerusFam”
In an email interview with the Courier, Cohen wrote, “Rion and I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for Rion to showcase his talents, help his new team get some W’s and lead them in the right direction as they fight for playoff contention.
“Rion and I both feel strongly that this is the right situation to allow him to continue to mature his game and develop as a pro. Rion has a very bright future as a pro-basketball player, and this next stop in Brussels, Belgium, is the right place to continue his journey.”
Brown’s first game with his new club will be Tuesday, Cohen confirmed.
Basic-Fit Brussels plays in the Scooore League in Belgium, according to Eurobasket.com. The league is the top league in Belgium, Cohen wrote, and is “recognized all over the world as a great league for American rookies.” Basic-Fit Brussels has six American players before Brown’s arrival, according to Eurobasket.com, including Brown’s college teammate Julian Gamble.
Brown starred at LCHS before moving on to a strong college career as a wing player at the University of Miami, Florida. He also played in the NBA’s Vegas Summer League for the Charlotte Hornets’ team.
Shortly after the Summer League, Brown signed with Hapoel Tel-Aviv, a club in Israel’s top basketball league. Brown played five games with Hapoel Tel-Aviv, averaging 22.6 minutes, 6.8 points, four rebounds and two assists per contest, according to Eurobasket.com.
Brown left Hapoel Tel-Aviv in mid-November, Cohen wrote, adding that the situation with the Israeli club “was not the right fit.”
Brown’s father, Tico Brown of Hinesville, played in Belgium during his professional-basketball career.
“The fact that one of his former teammates at The University of Miami currently plays on (Basic-Fit Brussels), along with his dad having played a significant part of his professional overseas career in Belgium, are coincidental, but nonetheless added bonuses, you can say,” Cohen wrote.