Florida got a little glimpse of what its Brown brothers can look like together, and it came on a fast break that sounded just about as familiar as it looked.
During a closed scrimmage 10 days ago against North Florida, AJ Brown picked off a pass in the second half, pushed the ball in transition and delivered it ahead to Isaiah Brown streaking down the left side. Isaiah finished the play with a right-handed dunk and took enough contact to bang his head on the bottom of the backboard on the way up. He made the free throw after the dunk, and Florida rolled on in the empty O’Connell Center.
“Next thing I knew, I was banging my head on the backboard,” Isaiah Brown said.
That kind of connection used to be routine back when the brothers were teammates at Orlando Christian Prep. Now it has a chance to become part of Florida’s rotation in a way that matters once the games count, starting with Sunday afternoon’s exhibition against Baylor at VyStar Memorial Coliseum. The Gators and Bears will play in front of fans, or the game will be available on SEC+, and the Browns are hoping the moment is a preview of what comes next in 2026-27.
“Just playing basketball here is a dream come true,” AJ Brown said. “To play with my brother, that’s a blessing.”
Florida may already be on the verge of making that blessing a regular thing. AJ and Isaiah were teammates last season, but they were not on the floor together the way they should be this year. With just over two weeks left in preseason work, both brothers are trending toward being in the lineup when Florida opens the regular season Nov. 2 against Miami in Tampa.
That possibility exists because Florida’s core is already in place. Four starters are back from the 2026 Southeastern Conference championship team, Denzel Aberdeen has returned after transferring in from Kentucky, and Urban Klavzar has already locked down his role after being voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year in ’26.
Isaiah Brown, who developed into a dependable 14-minute reserve in his sophomore season, also had his spot. That left Todd Golden and his staff sorting through the next layer of the rotation.
AJ Brown made a strong case for himself against UNF.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard scored 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting from deep, added three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and didn’t turn it over in 15 minutes.
“The gravity that AJ provides on the court, that showed up,” Golden said, using a term (“gravity”) he reserves for floor-spacers. “When you have guys on the floor that the other team is afraid to leave, it provides a much easier path [for playmakers in the post].”
Brown’s resume backs that up. He averaged 11.4 points per game and shot 37% from 3-point range across three seasons at Ohio U. from 2022-25, but last season was wiped out while he recovered from shoulder surgery. He used that year to preserve his final season of eligibility under the medical redshirt rules, then came into this season with the same steady approach that teammates and coaches saw all last year.
“AJ is always the same guy,” UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman said. “Same every day.”
Brown knows exactly what he’s supposed to bring.
“Everybody on this team scored 30 in high school, so not everybody is going to be the guys taking all the shots,” AJ said. “Somebody has to play defense, rebound, get loose balls, do the little things that help the team win.”
He had competition on the wing, with CJ Ingram dealing with injury, Alex Lloyd searching for consistency and international newcomers Domen Petrovic and Arturas Butejevas still adjusting to the high-major game. But Brown was the most dependable of the group, and his age and experience helped. At 23, with 64 games and 46 starts behind him, he had the edge in steadiness.
“I love seeing him play and prosper in that role,” said Isaiah Brown, who is two years younger.
AJ has been a major part of Isaiah’s support system through all of this. Last season, while Isaiah was fighting through his own rocky stretch, AJ was there as the loudest believer and the one who could help him sort things out when the game wasn’t going his way.
Isaiah, known as “Zay,” barely played as a freshman during Florida’s 2024-25 national-championship season, but he did handle emergency minutes when Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin were hurt. He was expected to grab a place in the 2025-26 rotation, but his summer never really got on track and that carried into the fall.
For a while, he was in a bad place. He said family conversations, talks with coaches and his faith in God helped bring things back into focus.
As AJ put it, “His identity is not defined by anything he does on the court. It's defined by Jesus.”
The breakthrough came in January. After the staff cycled through several players trying to find reliable wing minutes, Isaiah stepped in and held onto the job. In SEC play, he averaged 6.6 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting nearly 51% from the field and 42% from 3, and he had four double-figure scoring games.
“I really thought about my own journey and understanding myself and what my role on this team had to be,” Brown said. “It was about just getting better at everything, but also the little things and getting to that mindset of being 5% better than the day before.”
That work showed up again over the summer. Brown played for a Puerto Rico national team in an international tournament, then returned to campus six pounds lighter at 6-5, 206 and in the best shape of his life. The shorter haircut only sharpened the look of a player built to get downhill.
When Isaiah has a runway, the athleticism jumps off the court.
“You just don't see a lot of guys who can cover ground and take off like he can with that kind athleticism and force,” said UF assistant coach Taurean Green, who oversees player development. “No one wants to get in his way.”
Not even a collision with the backboard can slow him down for long.
“This team has set high standards,” Isaiah said. “And we all have our role to meet those standards.”
Having both brothers in the mix gives Florida one more layer to work with. For Isaiah, it also makes the whole thing feel familiar again.
“It just feels normal again,” he said.
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