Western Kentucky redshirt junior linebacker Eli Brown talks with members of the media Monday during a news conference at E.A. Diddle Arena.

FRISCO, Texas – Western Kentucky’s defense got a significant talent boost last week when the NCAA declared Eli Brown eligible to play in 2018.

The new Hilltopper linebacker, formerly with Kentucky, “fits in perfect” with his new squad, cornerback DeAndre Farris said.

“We run a 4-2-5, so our linebackers are in space a lot,” Farris told the Daily News on Thursday during Conference USA Media Days at The Star.

“He’s a smart football player and he’s played at a high level. I think he’ll fit right in with our defensive scheme.”

WKU announced July 13 that Brown was immediately able to play for the Toppers. While the NCAA typically requires transfers to sit out for a season, he was granted a waiver to play right away because his move from UK to WKU was due to a family situation.

In Brown’s case, he looks after his younger sisters, who were previously in foster care. The Warren East High School graduate has more family support and resources to raise them in his hometown of Bowling Green than he did in Lexington.

Brown met Monday with local media and told his story of dealing with an adverse family situation while also playing FBS football.

“Man, I’ve been going through adversity all my life,” said Brown, who dealt with instability as a child before moving from south Florida to Bowling Green. “Basically, I’ve always been against the wall and found a way to get out of it.”

Thursday marked coach Mike Sanford’s first time talking publicly about Brown. The linebacker announced his intentions to transfer to WKU in March, but the school waited until his NCAA clearance to officially add him to its roster.

Sanford said Brown’s addition to the team has “been incredible,” especially for its locker room culture.

“Eli is special,” Sanford said. “I think he’s genuine.”

The new Hilltopper said Monday that when he was at Kentucky, some of his teammates were more focused on NFL futures than on team goals.

“It’s more of an I-thing than a team-thing,” Brown said of his time as a Wildcat. “When I got here, I had to change the way I thought.

“Players here, they were all like, ‘We’re trying to win as a team.’ I haven’t heard anyone say anything about the NFL once since I’ve been around here.”

Sanford echoed that sentiment Thursday.

“I think that was a change for him to be around a culture where it’s not ‘I’m just going to get myself ready to play in the National Football League,’ ” Sanford said. “He’s starting to walk into a room and a culture where the players, they care deeply about each other.

“They care deeply about winning as a program.”

Brown is the type of defender who can certainly help in that pursuit of winning football games.

Recruiting services labeled Brown a four-star prospect coming out of Warren East in the Class of 2015. Ohio State and Penn State were among the schools who offered him.

Brown made a combined 62 tackles the last two seasons at UK, helping the Wildcats to back-to-back bowl berths in 2016 and ’17.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Brown has worked this offseason on adding weight to his frame. His speed is comparable to that of former Tops star and current Chicago Bears rookie Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Sanford said.

“That dude can run,” Sanford said of Brown. “I watched him in skill development. Iggy was such a powerful player and also could run. Eli is probably longer, has longer arms and probably runs every bit as good if not better than Iggy does.”

Brown’s addition gives defensive coordinator Clayton White more options as to which linebackers he can have on the field at a given time.

Returning starter Masai Whyte, Ben Holt and Der’Quione Mobley can all rotate with the newcomer and keep fresh legs at the position.

“He’s a versatile guy,” Farris said of Brown. “You can run him off the edge. He can drop back into coverage.

“He’s a guy that can do a lot of things for us and bring a lot of things to the table.”{&end}