Duquesne mourns the passing of Coach Bill Brown
July 30, 1951 - February 15, 2023
Bill Brown, the all-time winningest coach in California University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball history, spent six seasons as volunteer director of community relations and player mentoring on Keith Dambrot’s staff prior to his passing on Feb. 15, 2023..
Brown, who served as a head coach for 30 seasons - the last 20 at Cal U, made an indelible impression on every member of the Duquesne program - from support staff, to coaches and most importantly to the student-athletes who had the pleasure to get to know him.
One of six coaches with over 350 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) wins, Brown won nearly 60 percent of his games (490-338) including previous stops at Sacramento State (1986-87) and Kenyon (Ohio) (1989-96).
He led Cal U to six NCAA tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2007-08. The Vulcans made 14 PSAC tournament appearances under Brown and earned at least a share of first place in the PSAC West eight times before the league expanded in 2008. Cal U won at least 23 games eight times and finished below .500 just three times in his 20 seasons.
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brown was named PSAC West Coach of the Year five times and NABC Regional Coach of the Year twice while at Cal U.
Brown, who coached 40 All-PSAC West selections, including 22 first-team honorees at Cal U, was awarded the prestigious NABC Guardians of the Game Pillar Award for Advocacy in the spring of 2012.
Brown spent eight season as head coach at Division III Kenyon prior to his move to Cal U, where he led the Lords to back-to-back 20-win seasons and NCAA tournament appearances in 1994 and 1995. In 1994, Kenyon won its conference tournament and earned the top seed in the NCAA tournament in finishing 24-4.
One of Brown’s recruits at Kenyon was guard Shaka Smart, who went on to join Brown’s staff as an assistant coach at Cal U. Smart eventually led VCU to the 2011 Final Four and his currently head coach at Marquette.
Brown began his head coaching career at Sacramento State where he helped the program transition to NCAA Division I. He followed his time at Sacramento State with a season as an assistant coach at Tennessee before moving to Kenyon.
A three-year starter, two-year captain and first team All-Mid-American Conference pick as a senior at Ohio U. (1974), Brown got his start in coaching as an assistant at his alma mater.
After four seasons at Ohio, Brown spent one year as an assistant at Kent State before accepting the top assistant position at Arkansas under Eddie Sutton - one of eight Division I coaches to post over 800 career wins. In each of Brown’s five years in Fayetteville (1980-81 to 1984-85), the Razorbacks made NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to round of 32 three times and Sweet 16 twice. Brown helped the Hogs to Southwest Conference titles in 1981 and 1982 and AP Top 20 finishes four times.
Brown and his late wife, Christy, raised two children, Aaron and Kerra, and have nine grandchildren. Aaron played for his father at Cal U from 2000-02 and helped the Vulcans to a pair of 23-win seasons.
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     "He taught me as much about coaching as really anybody that I've worked for or been around. And it starts with just how you treat people and how you conduct yourself, and he set a great example for me. There's still things that I might say, whether it's to our players or to our staff or just in daily life, that I catch myself and think, `I learned that from coach Brown.'"
                                                                     - Marquette University head coach Shaka Smart
