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The Ducks picked up an important verbal commitment in the 2014 class this evening as wide receiver Jalen Brown announced via Twitter that he would attend Oregon:
QUACK QUACK! #WTD #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/eOYB9SfJMy
— Jalen D. Brown (@jdbrown2014) October 15, 2013
Brown is a consensus four star receiver from Phoenix, Arizona. He had kept his recruitment very close to the vest so his commitment comes as somewhat of a surprise. However, he is known as a mature kid with good academics (he also boasted an offer from Yale University) and the type of mental makeup that the Ducks covet.
Brown is listed at 6'2, 187 lbs by 247Sports. The Arizona Republic reports that he will graduate early and enroll at Oregon in time for Spring practices. He is Oregon's first wide-receiver commitment and chose the Ducks over offers from over 20 schools nationwide, including Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida State, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
Following his commitment, current Ducks receiver Devon Allen and 2014 QB commit Morgan Mahalak tweeted their support:
Congrats to my boy @jdbrown2014 for committing to be a duck! Gonna be teammates next year!! Duck fans show him love!!! #2Live
— Devon Allen (@DevonAllen13) October 15, 2013
Congrats to my boy @jdbrown2014 on his commitment. Made my night bro!
— ⚡Morgan Mahalak⚡ (@MorganMahalak) October 15, 2013
With Brown's commitment, Oregon rises to #39 in 247Sports' composite team recruiting rankings. While Ducks fans may look askance at that ranking, it is worth noting that every single team above them (save Virginia, which also has 10 commits) has MORE recruits than the Ducks, which pads each team's overall ranking.
Oregon is putting together a very good class that includes seven players who are ranked four stars (or more) by at least one of the major recruiting outlets. Not only that, but the Ducks are in very good shape with a number of other highly ranked recruits. Stay tuned and in the meantime, check out Jalen Brown's Junior highlight video below.