Louisville freshman Mikel Brown Jr. earns two ACC weekly honors
Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. will receive and share ACC Men’s Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week honors alongside Duke forward Cameron Boozer, as announced Monday.
The Orlando, Florida, native exploded offensively in the Cardinals’ 96-88 win over No. 9 Kentucky and then had another steady performance against Ohio. Against the Wildcats, Brown led all scorers with 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor. He dished out five assists, with just a single turnover, while also adding two rebounds. He played 33 minutes and was also 10-of-11 from the foul line.
Brown scored the fourth-most points by any ACC freshman against a top 10 non-conference opponent since 2010-11.
Versus Ohio, 19 points and seven assists from Brown propelled Louisville towards its fourth win of the season. He netted 3-of-6 attempts from 3-point range while adding a steal in 27 minutes of action.
Through the first four games of the season, Brown has led the Cards in points (19.2) and assists (6.8) per game, and the freshman has shot 36.0 percent from beyond the arc, 50 percent from the field, and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe.
Brown was the No. 7 overall recruit in the 2025 class and No. 1 point guard in the nation, and has been playing like it. After the most recent win over Ohio, head coach Pat Kelsey spoke of Brown’s recent performance.
“You look at Mikel. Mikel is hooping. You talk about some of those other guards who decide to go somewhere else, fine,” Kelsey added. “You come to Louisville, we’re gonna hoop, we’re gonna have fun, we’re gonna play fast, we’re gonna share it…why wouldn’t you want to play here?”
Louisville’s offense has been one of the best in the nation two weeks into the season. The Cards’ 103.0 points a contest is the third-best in the nation, and Louisville has won its first four games by an average of 32 points.
Duke’s Boozer was also a worthy recipient of the honor after shooting over 70 percent from the field and averaging 25 points over the Blue Devils’ 2-0 week. Brown and Boozer, two of the best freshmen, but also players in the ACC, will go head-to-head at least twice this season.
The Cardinals now sit ranked No. 6 in the country and travel to Cincinnati to meet a former Big East rival in Wes Miller’s Bearcats.
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