Virginia Forward Tyson Brown Commits to Robert Morris

On paper, Andy Toole returns a talented roster featuring many of the same pieces that earned Robert Morris the NEC Title and an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Men’s Tournament.

The Colonials added a new piece to the 2020-21 roster on Thursday night as they received a commitment from power forward Tyson Brown (6’9″, 200) from Massanutten Military Academy in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Brown becomes the fourth addition to Toole’s Class of 2020 at RMU joining Trayden Williams, Enoch Cheeks and Kam Farris.

Courtesy of Tyson Brown

Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with Brown to get his reason for joining Robert Morris and what led him to making this decision.

“I actually took my visit a while back (December) and they’ve remained very interested every since,” Brown told PSN. “I just saw everything that Coach Toole has done at Robert Morris in the past and with them winning the NEC this year, that was bigtime. It sucks that they didn’t get a chance to play in the tournament but I’m looking forward to winning the NEC Tournament again and that was a big reason why I committed.”

“Also, the atmosphere around the basketball program right now, especially with the new facility, I just saw it as a great place for me and a place that I definitely know that I can go to and get better.”

The basketball world is on hold right now with the coronavirus pandemic but Brown decided now was the right time to end his recruitment and excited the Colonials staff when he called to give them the news.

“Coach Toole was definitely hyped up when I called and told him,” said Brown. “Coach Dave (Fedor) was excited as well and Coach Andy was screaming and very excited on the phone, which was pretty funny. I told Coach Dave earlier in the day that I was going to be making a decision later that night and I made things official last night.”

“I made my official visit at kind of a weird time during December, right before kids went on break so it was kind of empty. But, I was able to get a visit to Pittsburgh, which was really nice. Then we went to the Duquesne Incline, where I took some nice pictures and that was cool. We then went out to eat at a nice restaurant in Pittsburgh and I loved it.”

In terms of the type of player Robert Morris just added, Brown tells me that he’s a really athletic forward that can put it on the floor, will make plays for others and can do just about anything on the court.

The 2020 Colonials front court will return AJ Bramah, Charles Bain and Ngonadi Olisa so the opportunity will be there for minutes so,  Brown plans on working hard and plans to impress Toole and his staff enough to find a spot in the rotation.

“My goal is to come in there and work as much and as hard for as much playing time as possible. I realize that nothing is given at this level so I need to work as hard as possible for playing time and I plan on doing just that.”