Nov. 19, 2002

By Jonathan Gust, Villanova Media Relations

The United Parcel Service (UPS) asks the question, "What can brown do for you?" Villanova senior wide receiver Shaz Brown has the answer. Not in his deep, soft spoken voice, but rather with his dependable play on the field as one of Villanova's top offensive playmakers.

Brown was always a football fan from his earliest memories as a child growing up in Baltimore, Md., although it was not until the ninth grade when he started playing competitively. It took him that long to convince his mother to let him play.

"I had to talk my mother into letting me play," said Brown. "I was a baseball player because she wanted me to play something that was a little safer. So I had to convince her in high school that I was going to be alright and that I was not going to get hurt. I just really loved football."

How did he go about convincing his mother to let him play on the gridiron?

"Actually I told her I was going to be a kicker, and she didn't know anything about football at the time," said Brown. "I told her I was going to be kicking and I ended up playing running back."

Brown was switched from running back to wide receiver early on in his career. He had tremendous success right away and even his mother got used to the idea of her son making plays on the football field rather than the baseball diamond.

"Because I never played football before, things like learning the terminology and formations were tough," said Brown. "But I was blessed with pretty good speed, so I just took the ball and ran."

Run he did - all the way to All-County and All-City honors in 1997. The college coaches that Brown said were at his games to watch other superstars on the Mount St. Joseph High School team couldn't help but stop and taken notice of the speedster.

"I was pretty fortunate to be on a good high school team," said Brown. "We had a couple of guys who went to Maryland, and we had a great quarterback, so coaches would come watch them play. But when they showed up to watch them play, I was able to get them to notice me."

Brown had a number of options, including Atlantic 10 rivals James Madison and Villanova. During his senior season of 1997, one school in particular rose to the top of his list.

"When I was being recruited, Villanova was in the midst of the 1997 season when they were undefeated and No. 1 in the country," said Brown. "That right there sold me. You did not have to tell me too much more than that. They had the reputation of being the No. 1 team in the country."

The transition was a smooth one for Brown, despite going from being his team's top receiver in high school to being redshirted as a freshman at Villanova.

"I knew coming in that they had some receivers coming back," said Brown. "If I had stepped in and played it would have been great, but I needed to learn the complicated offense. I know it would take some time to get the terminology down and things like that."

"Older players like Steve (Ward) and Murle (Sango) helped me out a lot," added Brown. "They were great guys who came to practice everyday, worked hard, and didn't want to miss a game. I tried to pick up on that."

Brown began the 1999 season strong, adding depth to an already strong receiving corps. In the first five games of the year, he caught a combined six passes for 72 yards and returned three kickoffs for 55 yards. A torn ACL in Brown's knee ended his season prematurely.

"I was glad to get out there and play after redshirting the season before," said Brown. "The low was when I hurt my knee in the fifth game and had to have surgery and miss the rest of the season. Coming off of ACL surgery, I was uncertain if I would be able to coming back and play, and if I was going to be the same.

"It was a lot of hard work," explained Brown about his comeback. "Five hours a day, five days a week, five months of the year. But I never really questioned anything. Being at practice everyday and not being able to play was frustrating, but I took it as a challenge and never gave up."

Brown got back on the field in 2000 but never felt fully recovered from an injury many specialists say takes a year and a half to fully recover from. None-the-less, he caught eight passes for 85 yards and gained a great deal of confidence heading into the 2001 season.

The 2001 campaign was a breakout campaign for Brown, who burned opponents all season long with his speed and pass catching ability. In an offense filled with a number of other stars including Brian Westbrook, Murle Sango, Brett Gordon, and fellow wide receiver and good friend Brian White, Brown still found ways to make plays and make a name for himself in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

White set career-highs in every statistical category last season, catching 37 passes for 499 yards and two touchdowns. His breakout game came against Richmond when he made nine receptions for 123 yards and a career best two scores.

"Last year I was fortunate to have Westbrook, Sango and White in the same offense," said Brown. "A lot of teams were not focused on me and I was able to step in."

The arrival of Brown as one of the conference's top playmakers helped the Wildcat coaches worry less about the losses of Westbrook and Sango during this past off-season, and more about finding different ways to get the ball into the hands of players such as Brown.

Brown is ready for the challenge of being one of the focal points of the Villanova offense in 2002.

"Being a fifth-year senior, I have to take a lot more responsibility on myself," said Brown. "We have been here before, we know what to expect and all worked really hard in the off-season to make sure that there was no complacency from last year's Atlantic 10 Co-Championship season."

Despite all the success, there is a bad taste in Brown's mouth that still lingers. He made the decision to come to Villanova when the Wildcats were No. 1 in the country hoping to add to that tradition. Thus far in his career, however, the `Cats have yet to make the playoffs; and as a fifth-year senior and one of the leaders of the team Brown knows it is on his back to help bring the Villanova program back to where it belongs.

"A lot of people looked past us this year because of the players we lost on offense," said Brown. "As a team, our goal is to match what we did last year and take it a step further with a trip to the playoffs."

"I think that as long as I continue to improve and give 110 percent, then the team will benefit from that," added Brown. "I am not really a rah-rah guy. I just go out and show the young guys that effort is more important than any physical aspect. You give 110 percent every down."