JERSEY CITY, NJ…For a quarter of a century,
CHARLES BROWN has served as a role model, mentor, and inspiration for hundreds of student-athletes, and lived his life as an example of everything that is right about intercollegiate athletics, on and off the court. A basketball icon in New Jersey for almost 50 years, having etched his name into record books as a player and coach, he has carved a legacy of winning at
New Jersey City University and across the state and nation. On Tuesday, after 25 years as head men's basketball coach at NJCU,
Brown has announced he will retire from the school that he has called home since 1962, effective September 30.
"I felt it was time,"
Brown said. "I've been doing this for 41 years between high school and college and
have been thinking about it for a while. People have been asking me for a while when I was going to retire. I just felt it was time. I feel comfortable with the program and I feel I have done as much as I can do with it. I'm satisfied. I am honored to have had the opportunity to coach here at the University for 25 years."
Alice De Fazio, Interim Director of Athletics, said: "
Charles Brown has represented both the NJCU athletic department and university in a most professional and forthright manner. He served as a role model and mentor to so many, but in my estimation his legacy is reflected more in his qualities as a person rather than a coach. He will be missed."
He completed his silver anniversary as head coach of the Gothic Knights during the 2006-07 season, and his 483-218 ledger through 25 seasons makes him the winningest men's or women's basketball coach in the
history of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, both overall and in league play (300-118). He is the second winningest men's college basketball coach in New Jersey history at the Division I, II, and III levels, just shy of the all-time record of 514. The 2006-07 season was his 41
st overall as a coach between the high school and collegiate levels.
Brown is the winningest coach in Gothic Knight history by more than 350 wins in a category that includes Hall of Fame coaches Larry Schiner (133), Ollie Gelston (126), and Paul Weinstein (115), and has more victories than all three combined (374).
His teams have qualified for the post-season in every one of his 25 years as head coach, including 12 NCAA Tournaments and 13 ECAC Tournaments. He has never had a losing season.
Brown guided the Gothic Knights to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1986 and 1992, losing to the eventual national champion each time in the national semifinal. He has led NJCU to five NJAC Championships (1986, 1990, 1992, 1995, and 2004), adding to NJCU's conference record of 11 overall titles.
Brown is a 1965 graduate of the University, and received a Masters in Administration/Supervision from the institution in 1985.
"This has been a special program for me," Brown noted. "This is my alma mater. I am thankful for the opportunity former President Bill Maxwell and former Athletic Director Larry Schiner gave me 25 years ago, and I'm thankful to the current administration— Dr. Carlos Hernández, Dr. Alene Graham, and Dr. John Melendez, who allowed me to come on board full time nine years ago."
"It's been a great experience, and what I've enjoyed most of all has been working with the student
athletes I've been fortunate enough to coach and befriend. This is a special place, and New Jersey City University will always have a special place in my heart. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be here all these years. The University has given me an opportunity to get a good education, to be a student athlete, and most of all coach with fine young men."
The 1986 Kodak Division III National Coach of the Year, Brown is a three-time National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Atlantic District Coach of the Year (1986, 2004, 2007), six-time New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Coach of the Year (1986, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2004, 2007) and three-time Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year (1990, 1992 and 2004).
In 701 career games, Brown owns a .689 career winning percentage. He entered his final season in 2006-07 ranking 14th among active coaches in career victories and 26th in winning percentage in Division III. Overall in Division III history, Brown is 26th in victories and 31st in percentage, prior to the 2006-07 season.
This is a major reason why the NJCU men's basketball program ranks among the 15 winningest programs all-time in winning percentage in Division III history.
When Brown finished his 25th and final season in 2006-07 with a 19-10 mark, the Gothic Knights secured their 37th consecutive non-losing season since 1970-71, and 32nd straight winning seasons dating to 1975-76—the second longest active streaks in Division III and the third longest ever in Division III history.
In 25 seasons at his alma mater, Brown averaged more than 19 wins per season, winning 20 or more on eight occasions (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2006).
Brown guided 12 teams to the NCAA Division III Tournament (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, and 2005). When not in the NCAA's, his clubs reached the ECAC Metro New York/New Jersey tournament on 13 occasions (1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007), winning five championships (1983, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2006).
Brown recorded his 400th career victory in memorable fashion on February 1, 2003 as his Knights rebounded from a 16-point, second-half deficit to slip by Rutgers-Camden, 66-64, in front of an
enthusiastic home crowd. He is one of only three coaches in NJAC history to achieve 400 wins. Ollie Gelston,
Brown's collegiate coach in the 1960s, who won 429 games at then-Jersey City State and Montclair State from 1959-1991, and active Richard Stockton College coach Gerry Matthews (405 wins in 20 years) are the others.
On December 4, 2004, Brown passed Gelston to move into third place on New Jersey's all-time wins list. When the Knights crushed the College of Staten Island, 92-60, on December 29, 2004, he won career game 432, passing former New Jersey Institute of Technology coach James Catalano for second place in state history.
Brown's career record of 300-118 gives him an amazing .718 winning percentage in among the most difficult basketball conferences in Division III. Despite the challenges of the NJAC,
Brown has guided
his program to the NJAC tournament in 19 of 25 seasons (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 (play-in game in 2002), 2004, 2006, 2007). When hired in 1982-83, he became the first African-American head coach in NJAC history.
In 2004-05, NJCU played an independent schedule, and won another title, when the Knights captured the inaugural Association of Division III Independents Men's Basketball championship. He was a unanimous choice as the 2005 Independent Men's Coach of the Year.
In addition to his other coaching awards, the Star Ledger tabbed him as the All-State Coach of the Year in 1986. He was MBWA Division III Coach of the Year in 1990 and 2004, sharing the award in 1992.
In recent years, he guided NJCU to the 2004 NJAC Championship after that team had been voted eighth in the pre-season poll. He nearly repeated that feat in 2007 when he guided a team that was projected to miss the NJAC Tournament in the preseason poll, all the way to an 11-2 conference mark, the NJAC North Division Regular Season title, the No. 1 overall seed in the NJAC Tournament, and
within a basket of another league title.
On January 25, 2004, Brown was inducted into the New Jersey Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame and presented with the "Coaching Legends Award" at its annual banquet.
On December 5, 2004, Brown was bestowed the first-ever "Jackie Robinson Role Model Award" by the Jersey City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was honored as part of the organization's 85th annual Freedom Fund Banquet.
In 2002, the Metropolitan New Jersey Collegiate Basketball Officials Association presented the Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award upon Brown's program, an honor presented annually to the school that demonstrates the highest degree of sportsmanship, character, and ethics among their players, coaches, administration, and spectators.
He was inducted into the Hudson County Athletic Hall of Fame on January 21, 1993. Among other honors Brown has received include the Jersey City Education Association Division III Coach of the Year, and 1989 and 1990 NJCBCA College Division Coach of the Year. He accepted the L. Harvey Smith Spirit Civic Association Community Service Award on September 16, 1994. Under his tutelage, the 1994-95 team led the nation in field goal percentage defense (. 370).
He coached the North-South All-Star game featuring players in Division I thru III in 1987, and led the
NJAC in the inaugural NJAC/CUNYAC Senior Challenge in 2001-02 in Jersey City, before again coaching the squad in its third year in 2003-04. In 2007, in what became his final career coaching duty, he guided the NJAC Seniors to a victory over the Skyline Conference Seniors.
Known for an up-tempo coaching style that stresses relentless defense, Brown played the way he coaches. As a lightning-quick point guard, he ignited Gothic teams that claimed back-to-back New Jersey Collegiate Athletic Conference crowns in 1964 and 1965.
He helped the 1964 team reach the NAIA National Tournament and earned Honorable Mention College Division All-America honors as a senior. He graduated as NJCU's all-time leading scorer, tallying 1,324 points in only three seasons of action from 1962-65, after transferring from Morgan State (MD). He still ranks 11th in program history in scoring.
Brown shot .497 in his career (534-1075) and .715 from the free-throw line (256-358) with 416 rebounds. He averaged 18.1 points and 5.7 boards per game in his career.
An All-Hudson County basketball player at Jersey City's Lincoln High School, where he graduated in 1960, Brown served the city as a principal in the Jersey City Public School System until his retirement in the summer of 1998, before becoming full time at NJCU. His dedication to education has helped his players at NJCU achieve a graduation rate of more than 65 percent in recent years, a percentage that was closer to 12 percent when he was hired in September 1982.
Prior to taking the reigns of the NJCU basketball program,
Brown served as head coach at Lincoln for 16 years between 1966-1981, securing a career record of 231-150 in 381 games at the high school level (.606 winning percentage).
Brown, the first African-American high school coach in Hudson County history, guided the Lions to three Hudson County championships (1969, 1974, 1978), and earned Hudson County Coach of the Year honors in those three seasons.
Brown also led Lincoln to state sectional championships in 1969, 1973, 1974, and 1978.
A charter member of the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame on October 13, 1979 in men's basketball, cross-country, and outdoor track & field, Brown received the school's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992. The NJCU Board of Trustees issued a Resolution honoring his 400th win on February 24, 2003.
As a former teacher and middle school principal, he has long worked as a mentor within the community. For years, Brown has organized recreational basketball programs and has run the George Ballard College Summer League for 16 years.
In addition to his duties as men's basketball coach, Brown has been the advisor of NJCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB), organizing and conducting community service programs that have enhanced the University's community outreach efforts. Among the numerous major projects he has organized each year is National Student-Athlete Day, an event that draws hundreds of local students to the University each April.
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