JERSEY CITY, NJ…All fans will be admitted free of charge on Saturday, November 15 when New Jersey City University dedicates center court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center as “Charlie Brown Court” between games of its 2008 season-opening doubleheader. NJCU will bestow the ultimate honor on retired men's basketball coaching icon CHARLIE BROWN when the dedication ceremony is held prior to NJCU's game against York College (NY) at 4 p.m. The women's basketball team will host Drew University at 2 p.m.
A two-day celebration of the career of
Brown, a 1965 graduate of the institution (M.A., 1985)who retired in September 2007 after 25 years at the helm of the Gothic Knights, will commence with a special retirement dinner on Friday, November 14 from 6-10 p.m. at Casino-In-The-Park in Jersey City. The cost for the dinner is $125 per person, with all proceeds to benefit a “Coach” Charlie Brown Endowed Scholarship Fund for NJCU students.
NJCU will become the first school among the 25 Division I, II and III institutions in the state to dedicate its game court to a coach. Brown will become one of only a handful of coaches anywhere in the United States in Division I, II, III or NAIA history to receive this honor.
Brown has been a basketball icon in New Jersey for almost 50 years having etched his name into record books as a player and coach, while carving a legacy of winning at NJCU and across the state and nation.
He completed his silver anniversary and final season as head coach of the Gothic Knights during the
2006-07 season, and his 483-218 ledger in 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 41st 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 qualified for the post-season in every one of his 25 years as head coach, including 12 NCAA Tournaments and 13 ECAC Tournaments. He 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 led NJCU to five NJAC
Championships (
1986, 1990, 1992, 1995, and 2004), adding to NJCU's conference record of 11 overall titles.
The 1986 Kodak Division III National Coach of the Year, Brown was a three-time National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Atlantic District Coach of the Year (1986, 2004, and 2007), six-time NJAC Coach of the Year (1986, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2004, and 2007) and three-time Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year (1990, 1992 and 2004).
For more information on the event or to purchase tickets to Coach Brown's retirement dinner, please contact the NJCU Office of Development at 201-200-3489.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
