In 11Â seasons at the helm of the
New Jersey City University men’s basketball program, former Siena College All-American and 16-year professional basketball player
Marc Brown has been an award-winning head coach who has demonstrated the ability to identify and cultivate talent and produce quality student-athletes while competing each year for the post-season.
Brown begins his 12th season as head coach of the Gothic Knights in 2018-19, seeking to guide the program deeper into the post-season.
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Brown is the second winningest coach in the illustrious 83-year history of the basketball program, an impressive list of Hall-of-Fame coaches that include his own legendary father,
Charlie Brown, winner of 483 games in 25 years.Â
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The two
Browns became just the third known father/son combination in the history of Division III to both win 100 career games when
Marc Brown captured his 100
th career victory in an 80-68 win over Montclair State University on February 12, 2014. The other two father-son combos to each win 100 also did so at the same school currently in Division III—Page and Charlie Moir (Roanoke) and Brian and Don Lane (Transylvania).
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Opposing teams have learned in recent years you can never count out a Gothic Knight team coached by
Marc Brown. His teams never quit. He is as tenacious a coach on the bench as he was as an All-America point guard.
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Brown’s peers have recognized his excellence on three occasions. The 2013 New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year he was also selected as the 2013 Metropolitan Basketball Writers NIT/MBWA Coach of the Year and the 2011 D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.
On campus,
Brown was presented with the
2015 BAAFSSO Stellar Service Award on May 1, 2015 as part of the 2015 Black Administrators, Alumni, Faculty, Students and Staff Organization's 29th annual Salute to Graduates of African Heritage program on campus.
He has guided NJCU to six post-season tournaments in eight seasons, including the 2011 NCAA Division III Tournament after the Knights captured the 2011 NJAC championship-a league record 12th title. NJCU has also played in the ECAC Division III Metro Tournament five times (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and reached the NJAC Tournament four times. He has recruited and coached three NJAC Rookie of the Year selections (2009, 2010, 2013).
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Brown serves as the advisor to NJCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and oversees most of the athletic department's community outreach initiatives.
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Originally appointed interim head coach on October 1, 2007,
Brown, the 10
th head coach in the illustrious history of the men’s basketball program, was appointed to the position permanently in July 2010.
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In his first season in 2008, he contributed to the national media campaign for All-NJAC and All-Region standout Dana John, whose life story was chronicled by such major news outlets as ESPN and ESPN The Magazine.
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Brown, the youngest son of retired NJCU basketball coaching icon
Charlie Brown, succeeded his father as head coach after retiring as an active player in 2007. The younger Brown, who had coached during the off-season throughout his professional playing career, enjoyed 16 standout seasons on the court 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.
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When originally hired in 2007,
Brown said: “To follow my dad is an honor, because he’s a legend as a coach and a man. For me, if I can do half of what he’s done in the last 25 years, I will be successful. While I have some big shoes to fill, I will continue to run this program with dignity and class and try to mold these young student-athletes into men, because that’s really what it’s about. That’s what it was about for me.â€
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Among
Brown’s coaching assignments were as head coach for NJCU during the 2002 and 2007 George Ballard College Men’s Summer League as a head coach in the Jersey Shore Professional Summer League in Belmar, NJ. In 2002, NJCU won the George Ballard Summer League. In 2007, the NJCU summer team went 8-0 in the regular season, and 9-1 overall, advancing to the semifinals.
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Mike Deane, who coached
Brown at Siena, stated: “I have not coached or recruited a finer player or coached a guy who understands what needs to be done more than
Marc Brown. His apprenticeship as a coach has been playing in the European and South American theatre. He is a hybrid of the coaches he has played for, and his preparation and knowledge of basketball is unquestioned. He is very intelligent and has grown up in a basketball family.â€
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Siena’s all-time leading scorer with 2,284 points in a four-year career that spanned 1987-91,
Brown, a 1998 inductee into the Siena Athletic Hall of Fame, 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.
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His number (4) was retired by Siena on
December 13, 2010 at halftime of a joint basketball doubleheader in Albany featuring NJCU and RPI with host Siena at the Times Union Center.
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He 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.
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He also finished his career as Siena’s all-time leader in assists (796, 6.5 apg) 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. The three-pointer and assist records have since been broken, with the latter mark holding the test of time for nearly 20 years before being eclipsed in 2010.
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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.
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But what he 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. His teams held 1-1 records in the NCAAs and 2-2 in the NIT.
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“His career was unprecedented and unparalleled there,†Deane, who coached the Saints from 1986-94, and won 166 games (166-77, .683), said of
Brown’s Siena legacy. “He generated a following that put Siena in a place as probably the strongest low-to-mid major on the east coast because of the atmosphere he created. I may have orchestrated it, but he created it. It was a pleasure to coach him. He was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of guys.â€
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Brown, known by the nickname
“Showbiz,†because of his flashy play-making ability at the point guard position, finished his overall career averaging 18.6 points per game, tallying 2,284 points, 796 assists, 372 rebounds, 221 steals and 11 blocks in 123 games. He was a career .481 shooter and .784 from the line.
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At Siena,
Brown’s teams compiled a four-year record of 89-34. He is one of only four players to win 25 games in two seasons, one of only five players to win 20 games in three seasons, and one of only three players to play on three post-season teams. Siena won the NAC Championship in 1988-89, finishing 25-5 overall and 16-1 in the league. The Saints won the league regular season title in 1988 (23-6, 16-2) and 1989, before winning the MAAC regular season crown in 1991 (25-10, 12-4).
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As a senior in 1991,
Brown averaged 23.3 points per game, scoring 816 overall, with 179 assists, 139 rebounds and 70 steals in 35 games. He shot .480 from the field and .799 from the stripe.
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In 1989-90, he averaged 16.9 per game (489 points) with 196 assists, 94 rebounds, and 49 steals in 29 games, shooting a career-best .811 from the line and a .446 clip from the field.
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As a sophomore in 1988-89, he averaged 19.5 points per game (584), with 199 assists, 98 rebounds and 59 steals in 30 games, shooting .484 and .789, respectively.
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Brown broke onto the scene during the 1987-88 campaign when he shot .528 from the floor, and achieved a career-best 222 assists, to go along with 395 points (13.6 ppg), 43 steals, 41 rebounds and five blocks. He hit .714 of his free throws.
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“He took 15 credits every semester without ever taking summer classes and gradated right on time,†Deane recalled. “His nickname was
“Showbiz,†but he was all biz. He got it done. He knew exactly why he was there [in college] and what he had to do.â€
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After his brilliant collegiate days, he embarked on a professional career that spanned 16 years and six countries. From 1991-93 he played with the Albany Patroons of the CBA before his first appearance in Europe, playing for Oliverense, Proliga of Portugal from 1993-94. He returned to the CBA in 1994-95 with the Fort Wayne Fury.
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A six-year run with the Confederacao do Basquete (CBB) in Brazil ran from 1995-2001. From 1995-97 he suited up for Corinthians, played for Flamengo from 1997-98, and ran the point for Uberlandia from 1998-01.
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In 2001,
Brown signed with Marinos, of the Ligue Profesional de Basket (LPB) in Venezuela. In 2001-02,
Brown made his first appearance in France with Graveline of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB).
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Brown missed the entire 2002-03 season after undergoing quad tendon surgery. After recovering from his leg injury,
Brown resumed his career in Brazil in 2003-04, returning to Flamengo for a second stint. He returned to France in 2004-05 with Reims of the LNB. In 2005, he played his final season in Brazil for Telemar, Nossa Liga of the NLB. In 2006, he returned to Reims in France, and finished the year in Mexico with Xalapa of the Ligue Nacional de Basquetbol (LNBP). He completed his final professional season in 2007, playing for Hyerez-Toulon, of the French LNB.
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Brown, who graduated from Siena in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, used his business background to handle his own contract negotiations as a professional athlete. Additionally, he recruited and negotiated contracts that placed seven American players in the Brazilian Pro League.
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In addition to his experience coaching summer leagues, he was the assistant coordinator of the Summer Coaching Clinics for Students at Montclair State University from 1996-2002. From 1993-94, he served as the Summer Supervisor for the Orange (NJ) Recreation Department.
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On May 7, 2009, he was enshrined in his second hall of fame when he was inducted into the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame as part of that school’s fourth annual induction ceremonies.
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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.
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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.
Brown, 46, currently resides in Union, NJ with his wife, Marisa, and their two sons—Marc, Jr. (9) and Mason (3).
