Creighton, Wichita State and Wyoming all have fine basketball programs, but they couldn’t match what Danny Brown saw on his official visit to the University of San Diego.

“The Los Angeles Lakers train there, so he got to watch them practice for three days,” De Soto High coach Jason Generally said of Brown, a senior guard who will sign with USD on Thursday. “He got to meet the Lakers. He sat on the bench with Kobe Bryant. He can throw a rock in the ocean. The education out there is pretty good. He put that all together and made his decision. When he came back, he told me he had made a commitment.”

The week-long early signing period starts Wednesday.

USD had one other factor on its side. Brown’s older brother, T.J., who played at Texas A&M and Emporia State, is the head team manager for the Toreros.

Brown averaged 19 points a game as a junior. If the 6-foot-4, 175-pounder could match — or improve on — those numbers as a senior, he might have garnered offers from more elite programs in the late signing period. USD was 4-26 in an injury-plagued 2003-2004 season.

“They wanted him from the get-go,” Generally said. “He felt more comfortable signing early with them than waiting and signing with someone trying to jump in late and fill a spot. That also allows him to enjoy his senior season of basketball instead of being worried about who’s recruiting him.”