After a highly-successful career on and off the court, Kobe Brown of the Missouri men’s basketball team was recognized as one of the nation’s elite on Friday, earning NCAA Today’s Top 10 accolades.
The NCAA Honors Committee selects 10 recent student-athletes as the Today’s Top 10 awardees, recognizing their outstanding achievements as athletes, students and contributors to their campuses and communities. Brown is the first-ever Mizzou student-athlete to receive the recognition, which was first introduced as the Today’s Top V Award in 1973.
On the court, Brown enjoyed one of the most successful careers in recent Mizzou history. A two-time All-SEC honoree – including unanimous honors as a senior – Brown became the 16th player in school history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft when he was picked by the Los Angeles Clippers in June.
Overall, Brown led Mizzou with 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds during the 2022-23 campaign. The senior’s 15.8 points are the most by a Tiger in five seasons, while leading the team in scoring on 16 occasions with nine 20-point games and 24 contests of double-digit points. He finished the season ranked seventh in the SEC in scoring, 10th in rebounding and third in field goal percentage (55.3%), while his 3-point clip (45.5%) was the sixth-best mark in the program’s record book.
Brown also excelled off the court during his senior season. He was the first Tiger to be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while becoming just the third student-athlete in program history (and the first in 40 years) to earn Academic All-America accolades.
A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Brown participated in a pen pal initiative that allowed student-athletes to keep in touch with local youth. He has also volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club, the Food Bank of Central Missouri and the Ronald McDonald House. Brown made numerous visits to Children’s Hospital in Columbia and to local elementary schools to interact with youth within the community.
The awardees each have completed their undergraduate studies and their athletics eligibility and are pursuing successful futures. The awardees will be celebrated Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the NCAA Convention Welcome and Awards Presentation in Phoenix.
