Penn guard Sam Brown says he will enter the transfer portal
A second team All-Ivy selection, Brown cited Penn's firing of coach Steve Donahue as a reason for his decision.
Sam Brown, a sophomore guard at Penn, announced Monday that he is entering the transfer portal.
A second-team All-Ivy League selection, Brown said on X and Instagram that the program’s recent firing of coach Steve Donahue led to his decision.
“A few weeks ago I never could have imagined finishing my college career anywhere other than the University of Pennsylvania,” Brown wrote. “The recent coaching change has led me to consider whether there might be other options to combine my passions as a student, athlete, and competitor. Coach Donahue and his staff have been some of my closest mentors and advocates and a huge reason I chose Penn.
“I plan to utilize the transfer portal to see where I might be able to best grow as a student-athlete and continue to channel myself at the highest level. That could very well still be here at Penn, a place I love and for which I am deeply grateful.”
Brown averaged 13.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for Penn this season. After starting the season in a considerable slump, the former Lower Merion High star turned around his year in league play. He scored a career-high 42 points against Columbia and averaged 19.3 points against Ivy opponents.
“I think it was just a testament to all the work that I put in,” Brown said after his 42-point performance. “... I’m proud of the internal resilience that I’ve shown. I’ve definitely grown from that.”
Still, Brown’s late-season surge was not enough to lift the Quakers into Ivy Madness. Penn finished the season with an 8-19 record, 4-10 in the Ivy, and fired Donahue earlier this month.
Brown is the son of former 76ers coach Brett Brown. While his father coached the Philadelphia franchise, Sam Brown played for Lower Merion and left as the school’s all-time leader in made three-pointers (245).
“[Sam] was raised in a gym,” Brett Brown said in 2024. “For the most part he was raised in the NBA. We’re so privileged to have the resources that we have, and the scheming and the game-planning and all that type of stuff.”
Two seasons ago, Penn brought in Brown alongside another impressive freshman guard in Tyler Perkins. After the 2023-24 season, Perkins transferred to Big 5 rival Villanova.