JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University second-year head men's basketball coach MARC BROWN will be inducted into his second different Hall of Fame on Thursday, May 7 when the former basketball star is enshrined in the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame as part of that school's fourth annual induction ceremonies.
Brown, a three-year star point guard for the Cougars from 1984-87 earned First-Team All-State, First-Team All-Essex County, First-Team All Iron Hills Conference and First-Team All Orange honors as a senior in 1987 when he helped lead Columbia to a conference championship and to the state sectional finals before losing to Elizabeth. Columbia also reached the county semifinals with him at the point, as he averaged 22 points and eight assists per game.
Playing for Coach Tom Reilly, Brown also earned All-Conference and All-Orange honors as a junior in 1985-86, after becoming a starter midway through his sophomore campaign the prior year.
“It is obviously an honor and it really came out of nowhere,” Brown recalled of learning of his induction after a phone call from legendary Columbia girls' coach Johanna L. Wright, who also will be inducted. “I first learned of the Hall of Fame a few years ago when Mark Bryant was inducted. While I'm honored, I'm also happy to be able to get in touch again with the people responsible for my development as a player, especially Coach Reilly. When he came in as coach during my sophomore year it made a big impact on my career. I certainly share this honor with the Columbia coaching staff.”
Brown, previously a 1998 inductee into the Siena College Athletic Hall of Fame, was an All-American for the Saints from 1987-91, before engaging upon a standout, 16-year professional career from 1991-2007 in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and in various major professional leagues in Europe and South America, most notably the French A League and Brazilian Pro League
Siena's all-time leading scorer with 2,284 points in a four-year career, Brown was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the year as a senior in 1991, and a Division I Honorable Mention All-American by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) that year. He was also named Honorable Mention All-America in 1989 by The Sporting News.
Brown was also selected First-Team All-MAAC in 1990, and was a two-time First-Team All-North Atlantic Conference (NAC) pick in 1988 and 1989 before Siena joined the MAAC. He was named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team in 1990 and 1991. Brown was tabbed Second-Team All-East by Eastern Basketball in 1991 after earning Honorable Mention status from the publication in 1990. Basketball Times named him Honorable Mention All-East in both 1990 and 1991, and he was a 1990 United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District 2 choice.
He also finished his career as Siena's all-time leader in assists (796, 6.5 per game) and three-pointers made (224) and led the school to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 1991. He still holds the single-game school record with 15 assists vs. Army on February 3, 1990.
Of course, what Brown may most be remembered for as a collegian came in the opening round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament when he scored a then-career-high 32 points and converted two free throws with three seconds remaining to help orchestrate #14 seeded Siena's stunning 80-78 upset of #3 Stanford University—among the biggest upsets in college basketball history.
At the time of his graduation, he was one of only three players in Division I history to score over 2,000 career points and accumulate at least 750 assists, joining Syracuse's Sherman Douglas and future NBA Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton, of Oregon State.
Brown's induction will be on May 7 at the Maplewood Country Club at 28 Baker Street in Maplewood, beginning at 6:30 p.m. He will be inducted in a class that includes: James Valestin, `52 (football), Lynn Fader, `58 (all-around), Roger E. Flax, `61 (tennis), Marybeth (Kakoleski) Gigel, `77 (softball), Regina Sullivan, `79 (basketball), Gail Bryant, `81 (track), Laura Wilkes Evans, `91 (all-around) and Wright. Columbia's 1978 and 1979 state championship soccer teams will also be inducted.
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