Alabama CB Zabien Brown Speaks on Mater Dei Roots, Comparisons to Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— What's one thing sophomore Alabama cornerback Zabien Brown and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young have in common?

Both came to Tuscaloosa from the Mater Dei Monarchs, a prestigious high school program in Santa Ana, California. Brown is from Santa Ana and talked Tuesday about similarities he sees between the prior stop on his journey and Alabama.

"Mater Dei, it's a really elite school, top notch, and it really prepares us good," Brown said. "It's got a lot of good resources for us, and we take advantage of it."

Young spent his junior and senior seasons at Mater Dei from 2018-19, passing for 58 touchdowns and more than 4,500 yards during his final season. Both Young and Brown could have stayed close by and gone to USC (Young originally committed there); both came to Alabama.

Brown earned Freshman All-SEC honors last season as a breakout player and tied for a team-best three picks. He cited competitiveness and level of opponents as one of the prevailing common denominators between the Crimson Tide and the Monarchs.

"Every position, each position got a lot of good guys," Brown said. "A lot of unique guys got different qualities in their game that makes it real competitive."

Mater Dei, which has no shortage of facilities and resources, won the California Interscholastic Federation state title last fall. For his part, despite having honed his game there and being successful at the beginning of his Alabama career, Brown wants to keep improving in a talented secondary.

"I would say I think my freshman start, I had a good start to my career, but I'm just looking forward to keep growing and keep building," Brown said. "[I want to] play faster in general... It's a new team completely. Everybody moving around different and talking different. We've got a lot ahead of us."