Mikel Brown Jr. won't be among Louisville basketball's all-time greats

Mikel Brown Jr. is one of the greatest basketball talents to ever play for Louisville and should be the first top 10 NBA Draft pick the Cardinals have had since Samaki Walker went ninth overall in 1996. Yet Brown won’t be revered as a UofL legend and his lone season won’t be remembered very fondly.

At this point, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be loved as a Cardinal at all. Brown officially declared on Tuesday he’ll enter the draft after his freshman season at UofL. That much was expected from the moment he committed and became the Cards’ highest ranked recruit since Samardo Samuels in 2008.

What could not be anticipated was the back injury that made him miss a total of 14 games and the backlash that followed for him missing said games. It’s almost like college players getting paid has ruined college basketball. Just not in the way that you think.

Players making money has led to a sense of entitlement from fans who feel like the players owe them something more. I get it, many schools are asking the average fan for more in terms of a bigger donation for the right to purchase seats or just increasing the amount for season tickets in the infinite pursuit to generate more revenue. All players owe is their effort, but that apparently wasn’t enough for Brown.