Miami High wins without star Zach Brown, who reportedly has transferred

Miami High’s boys’ basketball team persevered Tuesday night playing without star 7-foot center Zach Brown.

It appears the Stingarees will have to do so from now on.

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Brown, who recently committed to the University of Connecticut, had transferred from Miami High to Putnam Science Academy — a prep school located roughly 23 miles from the UConn campus.

Brown’s legal guardian, Michael Lipman, could not be reached by phone by the Miami Herald on Tuesday night.

“As of right now, all I can say is Zach is no longer here at Miami High School,” Miami High coach Javorie Wilson said. “I last spoke to him and his guardian this past weekend. But I have not heard from Zach since Sunday, and he wasn’t sure yet what he was going to do. As far as I know he was here [in Miami] Sunday.”

Playing without Brown and suspended guard Malcolm Nicholas Jr., Miami High (13-6) still managed to hang on for a 60-58 victory over Miami Springs in the quarterfinal round of the GMAC tournament.

Miami High advanced to play four-time reigning state champion Miami Norland Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in a semifinal at South Miami High.

Central will play the host Cobras in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

Brown, rated the No. 25 junior prospect in the nation by ESPN, won’t be there. Instead he is expected to join his new team this week.

Brown, who visited UConn over a week ago and attended the Huskies’ game against Tulane prior to committing, was averaging 28 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks per game before being suspended in December when he was involved in a skirmish during a holiday tournament in Kentucky.

Brown and Nicholas were reportedly involved in the incident, which occurred during a consolation game against Gainesville (Georgia) at the King of the Bluegrass Invitational.

Wilson said the team sat Brown and Nicholas for the past five games as it awaited a final ruling from the FHSAA on the incident.

“We still have not received a written report with some sort of ruling or judgment on what happened,” Wilson said.

OTHER GAMES

▪ Norland 72, Coral Gables 55: David Jean-Baptiste had 22 points to lead the Vikings (19-4) and Kennith Rolle hit six three-pointers to finish with 19 points. Tyrik Waite had 10 assists.

▪ South Miami 57, Hialeah-Miami Lakes 41: South Miami used a barrage of three-pointers to move on to the next round. The Cobras were led by junior guard Miguel Arnold, who scored 19 of the first 24 points of the game and had 34 total points to lead the Cobras.

▪ Central 61, Coral Reef 51: The Rockets were led by senior guard Anthony Wilson who led the game in blocks and rebounds and had a team high 19 points.

RUSSELL QUINOA

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 12:16 AM with the headline "Miami High wins without star Zach Brown, who reportedly has transferred."