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Top 2015 recruit Jaylen Brown is considering Michigan along with California, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.

(Michael Ciaglo | AP Photo)

ANN ARBOR -- The great chase to land 2015 star prospect Jaylen Brown is entering its final turn.

And Michigan, relatively out of nowhere, might be gaining steam toward the front of the line.

In a Monday morning interview with Scout.com, the nation's top unsigned 2015 recruit said, "Michigan is definitely going to be in the front runner of things," when it comes to him making his final college choice.

Landing Brown would rank among the top coups in modern Michigan basketball history, right up there with Chris Webber, Jerod Ward, Juwan Howard and Mitch McGary.

As of now, Brown is considering the Wolverines along with California, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Kentucky, which has long been believed to be the favorite for Brown's services.

The 6-foot-7 small forward from Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler High School is ranked No. 2 among 2015 prospects in the 247 Sports Composite ranking and rated No. 1 overall by Scout.com.

Despite not being recruited by U-M until this past September, Brown's interest in Michigan stems from his mother, Michelle, being a Muskegon native, and him having family still in the area. Those roots and Michigan's ability to produce five NBA draft picks in the last two years have the Wolverines well positioned.

"I'm based in Michigan so I could deflect a lot of stuff because my family is there, so Michigan is definitely going to be in the front runner of things," Brown told Scout.com. "Talking to coach (John) Beilein, he's like an offensive genius the way he gets these guys that aren't really ranked high to be lottery picks in the draft is amazing. It's definitely something that drew my attention.

"Also Michigan is a great education school. They have one of the top public universities in America with Cal-Berkeley, UCLA and North Carolina."

Brown spoke at length about each of his remaining suitors, calling Kentucky, "Probably the best basketball program in America," and saying Kansas is "like a family environment" that reminds his mother of her hometown in Muskegon.

Most interestingly, Brown -- projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA draft by multiple mock drafts -- said there's no guarentee he'll be a one-and-done college player.

"People say I'll be ready next year," he told Scout.com. "To do what I want to do, I think it'll take me at least two years. I don't want to come into a situation like the NBA and have to develop for two or three years. When I come in I want to be a superstar. Coming in I want to be on superstar status. Coming in I don't want to have to wait two years.

"It's going to take development and it's going to take hard work. I know I can make the business move and be a top five, top 10 or top 15 draft pick if I just had a solid year in college and left. I love the game too much to chase after the money. I know your heath is not secure, but I love the game. Your heath is never secure. You could get hurt anytime. I just want to develop and be the best player I can be. When I'm ready, I'm ready."

On Sunday night, Brown told the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader that he has "about a month" to go in his recruitment, but could decide sooner than that, based on circumstances.

"If I choose a school within the next two weeks that I think I like the most, and they don't have any NBA guys, then I won't have to wait until whatever the NBA deadline is," Brown said. "But, if I do, then I'll probably wait."

If Brown does wait until current college players announce their NBA decisions, that means any chance of him choosing Michigan will likely wait until after junior guard Caris LeVert announces his future intentions.

The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is April 26.

Brown's senior season at Wheeler ended with him leading his team to the Georgia Class AAAAAA boys state championship game, being named a Naismith Award finalist and earning a spot on the McDonald's All-American team.

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball and football. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com