Syracuse basketball 2022 big-man commit hauls in Va. player of year prize

Syracuse basketball 2022 three-star commit Maliq Brown and his high-school teammates in Virginia put forth a tremendous 2021-22 season, as their squad claimed a fourth state championship in a row.

According to an announcement from Brown’s team, the Blue Ridge School in St. George, Va., the 6-foot-9 power forward has been on a title squad at his school for all four seasons, which is tremendous.

In early March, the Blue Ridge School defeated the Highland School in Warrenton, Va., by a final count of 67-50 to win the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (“VISAA”) Division II championship.

Brown, by the way, tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds in that triumph. Per the MaxPreps Web site, he averaged a double-double in the 2021-22 stanza, and Brown recently picked up a huge honor in Virginia that we’re going to discuss here.

Three-star big man Maliq Brown is part of a five-member 2022 class for Syracuse basketball.

According to the VISAA Web site, Brown has been named the Division II Player of the Year, and he’s also on that Division’s All-State first team. Blue Ridge School power forward Houston Emory is also on the All-State first squad, while Devin Walker, a guard for this team, made the All-State second unit.

In 2021-22, the Blue Ridge School finished with a record of 30-5, including an 11-0 mark in the Virginia Independent Conference. At the time of this writing, MaxPreps had the Blue Ridge School rated No. 4 across all of Virginia.

Brown’s bio on the MaxPreps Web site says that he averaged 15.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest. Those are some awfully strong numbers.

Since the Orange coaching staff started recruiting Brown a while back, I’ve read a bunch of stories about him from national recruiting analysts. I’ve gotten to see him play (not in person, but rather via streaming online).

I believe that Brown is vastly underrated on a national scale. He is athletic and physical. He excels on the glass and on defense. Brown is a good offensive player who I’m sure will continue to refine his skill-set on that end of the court.

Brown’s national rankings, to me, don’t reflect his talents. In looking at the primary recruiting services, I don’t see him rated higher than around No. 220 overall within the 2022 cycle.

Rivals.com does have Brown listed as the No. 32 power forward in his class. Regardless of these sorts of rankings, he has been magnificent in his senior year for the Blue Ridge School, and I’m excited to see Maliq Brown arrive on the Hill in a few months’ time.