Columbia men’s basketball has hired Jake Brown as an assistant coach, head coach Jim Engles announced today. Brown, who spent the 2018-19 season on Engles’ staff as a graduate manager, re-joins the Lions after two years as an assistant at Howard University.
“Jake’s familiarity with our program and relationship with our veteran group is going to be a great asset for us as we move into the upcoming season,” Engles said. “He’s a hard-working individual that has gained a lot of great experience in a relatively short amount of time. We’re really excited to welcome him back to Columbia.”
At Howard, Brown coached Makur Maker, who became the first five-star recruit to commit to an Historically Black College or University (HBCU) since ESPN started ranking prospects in 2007, during the 2020-21 campaign. In his first season, he coached a pair of All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) student-athletes, including the Bison’s all-time Leading Scorer Charles Williams and 2019-20 MEAC Rookie of the Year, Wayne Bristol, Jr.
During his first stint at Columbia, Brown assisted coaches and full-time support staff members in administrative duties deemed necessary by the head coach, aided with preparation for practices, game management for home games and team travel responsibilities, and acted as video coordinator with video edits for scouting reports and recruiting purposes.
Brown also spent a year on Muhlenberg men’s basketball coaching staff upon completing his playing career at Middlebury College.
With the Panthers, Brown was a two-year captain and starting point guard for Middlebury squads that won the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship. Both teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament and won at least one game in both 2016 and 2017.
While in college, he spent the summers as the Head of Player Development at the Alexander Basketball Academy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he coached and mentored more than 100 international student-athletes from more than 35 countries. Brown has also run his own basketball camps in his hometown of Hawley, Pennsylvania and in Bermuda.
Columbia Hires Jake Brown as Assistant Coach
