It’s Bad, Bad Luthur Brown

Luthur Brown entered his senior season with so many expectations heaped upon him, it seemed he was destined to fail no matter how he played.

Recruiting services rated him as one of the hottest college prospects in the country, fans watched and waited for him to make a superhuman play, coaches asked him to lead Lakewood from the defensive side and teammates looked for Brown to carry them in tough games.

Brown, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker and The Times’ back of the year, somehow managed to exceed those expectations. He found a way to dominate games even though he rarely touched the ball, led a defense that gave up only 8.6 points per game and finished with 83 tackles even though opponents often devised game plans to avoid him.

“He had a lot of pressure on him coming into this year, but he handled everybody’s expectations very well,” Lakewood Coach Mike Christensen said.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a defensive player who was able to control a game the way he could.”

Brown teamed with fellow all-star linebacker Adrian McCovey to lead a Lakewood defense that posted three shutouts, gave up more than a touchdown in only five games and propelled the Lancers to the Division I semifinals.

Brown remains among the top recruits in the nation and is deciding among USC, Oklahoma, Miami and Louisiana State.

“He had a great high school career, but he’s ready for bigger and better things,” Christensen said. “Whoever gets him is getting a very special player.”