No. 4 on the floor for JU Dolphins: Anakin Brown will wear his father Dee's retired number

Anakin Brown will wear No. 4 for the Jacksonville University men's basketball team this season.

Dad said it's okay.

Brown, the son of former JU great Dee Brown, will be a freshman guard for the Dolphins and has received his father's blessing to wear his retired uniform number.

The No. 4 worn by Dee Brown at JU from 1986-1990 is one of seven retired numbers in school history, along with 3 ( Ben Smith ), 24 ( Rex Morgan ), 32 ( Otis Smith ), 43 ( James Ray ), 52 ( Roger Strickland ) and 53 ( Artis Gilmore ).

Dee Brown said there's no pressure on his son

Dee Brown, a senior associate athletic director at JU, said he asked JU President Tim Cost about taking No. 4 off the retired list and Cost left it up to him.

Dee Brown also said his wife Tammy clinched the deal.

"She told me, 'he's wearing No. 4, right?," Brown said. "That was it. It was not a hard decision."

Brown said he ultimately left it up to his son, who wore No. 4 during his high school career.

"I want him to have his own identity and be his own person," Dee Brown said. "But he really wanted to do it. He doesn't see it as any kind of pressure or living up to me. He's always worn No. 4."

Anakin Brown will wear the number for the first time on Friday at Swisher Gym for JU"s annual "Phin Fest."

Dee Brown played in the NBA for 12 seasons

Dee Brown averaged 13.9 points, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game for his four-year career at JU, and was drafted in the first round by the Boston Celtics.

He averaged 11.1 points and 3.7 assists in 12 NBA seasons, for the Celtics, Toronto and Orlando. He was also noted for winning the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, despite being 6 feet, 1 inch.

Anakin Brown (6-3) committed to JU after averaging 19.9 points for Bolles, his father's high school alma mater. He transferred to Beachside and averaged 21.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Barracudas last season.

Dee Brown's daughters also favored Dad's number

He’s not the only member of the family to arrive at JU this season. His sister Lanni, who played basketball at William & Mary, is in a graduate program at Jacksonville and is an assistant with the school’s career management office.

Dee Brown’s oldest daughter, Lexie, has played in the WNBA for seven seasons. She averaged 8.1 points in 16 games this season for the Los Angeles Sparks.

Lexie Brown wears No. 4 for the Sparks, as did Lanni for William & Mary for her four years there.

"It's going to be pretty cool to see at No. 4 with the name 'Brown' on the back, running around out there," said Dee Brown.

And just for some more numerology, JU opens its season at Swisher Gym against Trinity Baptist College — on Nov 4.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: No. 4 on the floor for JU Dolphins: Anakin Brown will wear his father Dee's retired number